This article is part of the supplement: 15th Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PreS) Congress .

Poster presentation

A juvenile idiopathic arthritis biobank at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

J Ellis¹, S Macnee², A-L Ponsonby¹, J Akikusa², R Allen² and J Munro²

¹  Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

²  Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

corresponding author email

from 15^th Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PreS) Congress
London, UK. 14–17 September 2008

Pediatric Rheumatology 2008, 6(Suppl 1):P5doi:10.1186/1546-0096-6-S1-P5

Published:	15 September 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a complex disease determined by both genetic and environmental factors. Whilst prior research has provided preliminary evidence for some factors, most studies have been hindered by small sample sizes and low statistical power. It is clear that to successfully identify causal factors for complex diseases, large sample sizes and comprehensive approaches will be required. To this end, we have established the Victorian JIA Biobank (VJIAB), a collaborative effort between the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne Australia. Our aim is to collect biospecimens and extensive clinical and environmental information on 1000 cases (incident and prevalent, attending RCH Paediatric Rheumatology Clinic) and 1000 controls (healthy children, matched to cases by age and sex, attending RCH for elective surgery).