There are two purposes to this research project.  The first is to increase our understanding of how the immune system functions.  The human immune system plays a vital role in maintaining health and protects an individual against disease by identifying and destroying foreign substances such as bacteria or tumor cells.  We will collect and store blood samples to be used in future studies.  By studying immune function in many people, we will be able to determine the range of normal variation for many aspects of the immune system.   With a better understanding of normal range of immune system activity, scientists will be able to compare and learn more about diseases caused by abnormalities in the immune system such as autoimmune disease and cancer. 

The second purpose of this research is to enroll people who are willing to serve as control subjects in future research studies into the Genotype and Phenotype Research Registry (GAP Registry).   A control subject is someone who does not have a disease or condition being studied and can serve as a comparison for people with a disease under study.

This study is part of the Tissue Donation Program at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, in the North Shore-LIJ Health System (NSLIJHS). The Tissue Donation Program (TDP) oversees a data and tissue bank, developed to support research on different diseases and conditions.   The TDP collects and stores many types of samples, along with health history information from participants. These samples and data are made available to scientists for use in medical research studies.  However, participants’ names or other identifying information are not given to the researchers.