The DownSyndrome Achieves (DSA) Biobank is now offering at-home services to families willing to donate biological samples for use in medical research projects.

“We’ve partnered with a third-party phlebotomy company to collect blood samples in participants’ homes,” said Lito Ramirez, CEO of DownSyndrome Achieves and the parent of a teen with Down syndrome. “This will make participation much, much easier by eliminating travel and disruptions to schedules.”

The DSA biobank at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital stores blood, saliva and tissue samples of people with Down syndrome and their families for use by researchers in need of biospecimens. The main focus is to support projects that will lead to improvements in the life and health of people with Down syndrome.

Currently, Ramirez said, DSAchieves is supporting research into keratoconus dystrophy, an eye disease that is prevalent in people with Down syndrome and also on the rise in other populations.

For more information, go to dsachieves.org or email [email protected] to find out how to help with the keratoconus dystrophy study.