23 Apr 07

Residents of Oxford are currently being invited to take part in a multi-million-pound visionary medical project that will help tackle disease far into the future.

UK Biobank is one of the biggest prospective epidemiological research studies ever undertaken. The project aims to recruit 500,000 people aged 40-69 across Britain over the next few years, take blood samples from them and track their long-term health, providing a massive resource for future medical researchers. Around 15 million blood and urine samples will eventually be stored for decades in specially designed laboratories near Manchester, at temperatures of about -200C.

The project is based at the University of Manchester but is led by Professor Rory Collins at Oxford University's Clinical Trials Service Unit, and draws heavily on Oxford's expertise in epidemiology.

Following the first wave of recruitment in Manchester, the project is recruiting people from Oxford. Around 15,500 letters asking people to take part landed on residents' doormats on 11 April and many thousands more will arrive over the coming months.

Recruitment is by invitation only, though most people aged 40-69 who live within a 5-10 mile radius of the Oxford assessment centre (at the Westgate shopping centre) can expect an invitation. As well as being asked for small samples of blood and urine, participants will be asked about their current health and lifestyle - those with poor health are as important to the project as healthy participants - and have various measurements taken, such as blood pressure, weight, lung function and bone density.

Professor Valerie Beral, Head of the Oxford's Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit and a leading scientist for UK Biobank, said: 'UK Biobank will provide important data for scientists of the future when they are trying to work out what causes some people, and not others, to develop a particular disease. The resource will help untangle the complex interplay of nature (that is, genes) and nurture (such as lifestyle).'

Professor Collins said: 'In setting up UK Biobank for researchers in the future - those who may only be in primary or junior school now or not even born - we are establishing a blood-based resource to find out more about disease, and making a significant contribution to improving the health of future generations.'