A new Research Analysis Platform will enable researchers based in Mexico to access genetic data from the Mexico City Prospective Study, thanks to a collaboration between Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Oxford Population Health, DNAnexus, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The Mexico City Prospective Study is a collaboration between Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Oxford Population Health. It includes data from over 150,000 Mexican adults who were originally recruited between 1998 and 2004. The study participants provided information about their lifestyles and disease history, had physical measurements recorded, and provided blood samples.
By linking the participants to national mortality records over the past two decades, researchers can now study how social, lifestyle, physical, metabolic, and genetic factors influence the major causes of death in Mexican adults. Previous major findings from the study include the much larger than expected effect of diabetes on premature death and the discovery of rare genetic mutations that are associated with protection against obesity.
The Mexico City Prospective Study encompasses genetic data that is too large to share by direct means and requires an enormous amount of computing capacity to analyse. The cloud-based informatics analysis platform, built by DNAnexus on the AWS cloud, is based on a similar architecture already used by UK Biobank. This powerful and secure cloud computing platform enables researchers to conduct analyses on the data in order to accelerate both the speed and scale of health-related research.
Using this platform, researchers in Mexico will have access to an environment that brings together data, analytical tools, and infrastructure, all in one solution. They will also have exclusive access to the data for a period of at least 12 months before researchers in other countries can submit requests for access.
Professor Jesús Alegre-Díaz, Professor of Epidemiology at UNAM and Study Principal Investigator for the Mexico City Prospective Study said, ‘Our work with Oxford Population Health, DNAnexus, and AWS presents a unique opportunity for researchers in Mexico to explore data from Mexican people ahead of the rest of the world. Improved access to the genetic data collected by the Mexico City Prospective Study will both advance medical research in Mexico and help to solve some of the most pressing health challenges faced by the world today.’
Professor Jonathan Emberson, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at Oxford Population Health and UK Principal Investigator for the Mexico City Prospective Study, said ‘The Mexico City Prospective Study is an invaluable resource for improving our understanding of how disease affects different populations and supporting the development of healthcare policies and treatments that could benefit a wider range of people. Together with our Mexican partners at UNAM, we are excited to work with DNAnexus and AWS to make this rich and vital information more accessible and cost effective for a broader range of researchers.’
Richard Daly, CEO of DNAnexus, said ‘We are honoured to be part of this exciting collaboration with Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Oxford Population Health, and AWS. Our platform will accelerate the pace and scale of medical research by enabling researchers to analyse genetic data more efficiently and securely in the cloud. This partnership has the potential to advance medical research in Mexico and contribute to addressing global health challenges in a meaningful way.’
John Davies, Director and General Manager, AWS Public Sector, Latin America, Canada, and the Caribbean, said, ‘The amount of information that the health industry manages is astronomical. We are thrilled to support the Mexico City Prospective Study and help researchers explore the data available using AWS services. In addition to being cost effective and efficient, the cloud has the power to drive innovation. We are excited to see how this can lead to new discoveries that potentially impact the lives of citizens.’
Researchers in Mexico are able to apply for access to the Mexico City Prospective Study genetic data on the DNAnexus platform now. To find out more about accessing any data from the Mexico City Prospective Study, visit the study webpages.