GCAT | Genomes for Life
Datasets
-
Variables
-
The GCAT Cohort is a population-based study from Catalonia, established with active follow-up to explore various health outcomes. Between 2014 and 2018, participants aged 40 to 65 were voluntarily recruited, primarily through blood and tissue donation centers of the Blood and Tissue Bank of Catalonia, though participation was not limited to regular donors, only living in Catalonia was the restriction criteria to participate. All participants provided informed consent, allowing access to their electronic health records (EHRs) from the public healthcare system for yearly passive follow-up (2010-2024), under the PADRIS framework. Active follow-up has been conducted in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023.They also agreed to be contacted regularly to provide updates on lifestyle factors and additional health information.
Data collection included anthropometric measurements, blood samples, and comprehensive self-reported questionnaires covering sociodemographic factors, lifestyle habits, and health conditions. For a subset of participants, multiomics data has been generated, including genotyping (SNP-Array), whole-genome sequencing (WGS), metabolomics, proteomics, and epigenetic information. Participants maintain the right to opt-out or withdraw consent for specific aspects of the research.
The study protocol is outlined in Obón-Santacana et al. (2018) and flagship paper (1-3). The GCAT study was approved by the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital Ethical Committee (PI-13-020).
References
1. I. Galvan-Femenia et al., Multitrait genome association analysis identifies new susceptibility genes for human anthropometric variation in the GCAT cohort. J Med Genet 55, 765-778 (2018).
2. M. Obon-Santacana et al., GCAT|Genomes for life: a prospective cohort study of the genomes of Catalonia. BMJ Open 8, e018324 (2018).
3. J. Valls-Margarit et al., GCAT|Panel, a comprehensive structural variant haplotype map of the Iberian population from high-coverage whole-genome sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res 50, 2464-2479 (2022).
Acknowledgement
The authors of the study would like to acknowledge all GCAT project investigators who contributed to the generation of the GCAT data. A full list of the investigators is available from www.genomesforlife.com, specially former one, Anna Carreras. We thank Dr. Joan Grifols on behalf of the Blood and Tissue Bank from Catalonia (BST) and all the GCAT volunteers that participated in the study. This study was carried out using data provided by the Catalan Agency for Quality and Health Assessment, within the framework of the PADRIS Program.
Biotechnology Plan Applied to Health (co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities with funds from the European Union NextGenerationEU; from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR-C17.I1) and from the Generalitat de Catalunya).
- Start Year
- 2014
- End Year
- 2024
- Funding
- GCAT Genomes for Life, a cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, from Research Institute Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), was funded by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIII-MINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya [ADE 10/00026]. IGTP is part of the CERCA Program / Generalitat de Catalunya.
- Supplementary Information
- https://www.germanstrias.org/en/strategic-projects/gcat/1/gcat-genomes-for-life Access to the data: http://www.gcatbiobank.org/investigadors/en_gcat-data-access/
Visit GCAT
Design
- Study design
- Cohort
Marker Paper
Obón-Santacana M, Vilardell M, Carreras A, et alGCAT|Genomes for life: a prospective cohort study of the genomes of CataloniaBMJ Open 2018;8:e018324. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018324
PUBMED 29593016
Recruitment
- Sources of Recruitment
-
- Individuals
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 19,329
- Number of participants with biosamples
- 19,329
- Supplementary Information
- Volunteers from the resident population of Catalonia, aged 40 to 65, who have been living in Catalonia for more than 5 years
Access
Availability of data and biosamples
| Data | |
| Biosamples | |
| Other |
Availability of access information
On the study website : http://www.gcatbiobank.org/
By contacting the study representative
Sector of research
| Data | Biosamples | |
|---|---|---|
| Investigators from the public sector | ||
| Investigators from the private sector | ||
| Investigators from not-for-profit organization |
Transfer
| Data | Biosamples | |
|---|---|---|
| Can leave the study facility | ||
| Can leave the country |
The data can be accessed by means of a legal agreement (DTA, MTA). Please find more information here: http://www.gcatbiobank.org/investigadors/en_gcat-data-access/
Cost
| Data | Variable Cost |
| Biosamples | Fixed Cost |
Cost reduction for co-analyses
| Data | |
| Biosamples |
Please be advise that a testimonial amount will be charged to cover the administrative process.
Timeline
Populations
Self-reported survey and Anthropometric measures
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - All population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40 - 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 19,329
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-Baseline
- Start Date
-
2014-04
- End Date
-
2018-04
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
Inferred Environmental Exposures derived from EXPANSE PROJECT DATA ( Air pollution, Light at Night, Green spaces, Deprivation index, Noise near the house
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - All population with Geocoded position at baseline
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 18,897
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-baseline
- Start Date
-
2014-04
- End Date
-
2018-04
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
- Others : Biometric measures
Yearly up date from the PADRIS Program (Diagnostic, Drug prescription, Biochemical test, Medical Procedures)
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
66
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - All population with CIP identifiable
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 18,266
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
EHR
- Start Date
-
2006-12
- End Date
-
2023-01
- Data sources
-
- Others : Catalan Public Healthcare System
150 metabolites and Lipoproteins from non-fasting plasma samples analyzed by NMR and G-MS and L-MS
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
66
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population selection CORE
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 5,200
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-Baseline
- Start Date
-
2014-04
- End Date
-
2018-04
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
96 proteins from inflamatory profile from non-fasting serum samples analyzed by OLINK
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- Spain
- Health Status
-
- Health status - Selected from a set of Immune-related disease diagnostic individuals
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 866
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-baseline
- Start Date
-
2014-04
- End Date
-
2018-04
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
Genome Array SNP / Mega EX 2
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
66
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population selection CORE SPAIN
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 4,988
- Number of participants with biosamples
Paired Whole Genome Sequencing by Illumina
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population selection
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 808
- Number of participants with biosamples
Custom Exome Hereditary Cancer Candidate Genes by Illumina
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- Cancer health status exclusion - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 200
- Number of participants with biosamples
HbA1C (hemoglobin A1C) is a blood test that shows the average blood sugar level over the past two or three months.
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - All population from middle recruitment phase
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 6,036
- Number of participants with biosamples
Genome Array SNP / GSA
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
66
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- Severe COVID cases selection - Random population with genotype data
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 2,747
- Number of participants with biosamples
Custom Exome COVID 19 Candidate Genes by Illumina
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
66
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- Severe COVID cases selection - Random population with genotype data
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 2,294
- Number of participants with biosamples
Self-reported survey
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
93
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - All population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 10,087
- Number of participants with biosamples
Self-reported survey
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
66
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 9,269
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-covicat-2020
- Start Date
-
2020-05
- End Date
-
2020-11
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
SARS-COV-2 antigens by LUMINEX (custom plex1)
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
93
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 4,284
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-covicat-2020
- Start Date
-
2020-05
- End Date
-
2020-11
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
Self-reported survey
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
93
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 8,215
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-covicat-2021
- Start Date
-
2021-05
- End Date
-
2022-02
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
SARS-COV-2 antigens by LUMINEX (custom plex 2)
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
93
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 1,090
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
- Start Date
-
2021-05
- End Date
-
2022-02
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
Self-reported survey
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
74
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status - Random population + LonCovid Patients entrichement
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 5,215
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
GCAT-covicat-2023
- Start Date
-
2023-02
- End Date
-
2023-09
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
SARS-COV-2 antigens by LUMINEX (custom plex 3)
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
74
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- No health status selection - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 1,450
- Number of participants with biosamples
Data Collection Event
Questionnaire / Biosamples
- Start Date
-
2023-02
- End Date
-
2023-09
- Data sources
-
- Questionnaires
- Biosamples
1300 proteins from immune and casdiovascular profile from non-fasting serum samples analkyzed by OLINK
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
40
- Maximum age
-
65
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- Health status - Paired samples from individuals from follow up 2 with COVID19 infection and LongCovid follow up diagnostic in follow Up 4
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 171
- Number of participants with biosamples
900 individuals (Selected) epigenotyped by EPIC 2.0 Array by IJC
Selection Criteria
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- Cardiovascular prevalent cases exclusion - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
- Supplementary Information
-
The collection of the dataset is still in progress
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- 900
- Number of participants with biosamples
400 individuals ( 50 % T2D) epigenotyped by EPIC 2.0 Array by CEGEN
Selection Criteria
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- T2D health status selection - Random population
- Other criteria
- All GCAT Participants are aged 40- 65 at recruitment and should (i) possess an Individual Health System Identification Card, (ii) be current residents of Catalonia, and (iii) understand one of the two official languages in Catalonia, which are Catalan or Spanish.
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- Number of participants with biosamples
400 individuals (Long Covid Follow up-4 ) epigenotyped by EPIC 2.0 Array by CEGEN
Selection Criteria
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- Spain
- Territory
- Catalonia
- Ethnic Origin
-
- N/A
- Health Status
-
- Health status - Paired samples from individuals from follow up 2 with COVID19 infection and LongCovid follow up diagnostic in follow Up 4
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
Number of participants
- Number of participants
- Number of participants with biosamples