Patient privacy is of course a concern, as is informed consent.
When most of the study subjects volunteered, genomic research wasn't yet dreamed of. Also a possible conflict of interest would exist if Boston University researchers had a financial interest in the new company. Furthermore, until now, any researchers who wanted to could access the Framingham data, and researchers were expected to contribute their findings back into the study's pool of information. This kind of sharing might not work for Framingham Genomic Medicine biz-dev types. Ledley said he and his colleagues take none of these issues lightly.