Amish Research Clinic (ARC)

Please be sure to acknowledge us in your publications: University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Amish Research Clinic– Baltimore, Maryland.

Mission Statement

The Amish Research Clinic is the backbone of the Amish Research Program and contributes to improvements in healthcare through research. It also serves as a resource for health information and knowledge to the Amish Community.

The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition and the University of Maryland School of Medicine has been studying the genetics of metabolic and cardiovascular health in the OOA since 1995. During this time the Amish studies have been supported by numerous research grants, and results from these studies have been described in many scientific publications.

The Amish community is ideal for studies due to its common lineage and homogeneous lifestyle that makes isolating genes easier for scientists. "It's been absolutely essential that the Amish are partners in our research," says Dr. Alan Shuldiner, the clinic's founder and director of the genetics and genomic medicine program at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine. "The community has rallied behind the research."

One of the remarkable things about the clinic is that its highly scientific work is conducted via a very human outreach effort. Clinic nurses, accompanied by local Amish women who know the community, recruit people for studies by driving down farm lanes, knocking on doors and asking for their help. At kitchen tables, they gather information and sometimes blood samples. Some studies occur in the homes and other studies occur at the clinic located in Lancaster, PA.

Currently active studies, funded by NIH and Regeneron Genetics, include: The Expansion Study under the Umbrella and Osteoporosis protocols (RGN), the Genetics of Response to Canagliflozin Study (NIH), the Poison Ivy Study (RGN), the KCNQ1 Cascade Study (NIH), the Hearing Loss Study (RGN), the Brain Body Connection – Longitudinal Study (NIH), the Genetic Diversity in Plain Populations Study (RGN), the SETD1A Study (NIH), the Pharmacogenetics of Response to GLP-1 Agonists Study (NIH), and the Cascade Screening Study (NIH).

Contacts