UK Biobank (core renewal)
Lead Research Organisation:
UK Biobank
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
UK Biobank is supported by The Wellcome Trust, The National Institute of Health Research, The Medical Research Council, The British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK. The figures presented on this record represent the Medical Research Council funding contribution only with some additional UKRI Infrastructure funds in addition.
UK Biobank is a prospective study of 500,000 men and women aged 40-69 years at the point of recruitment (2006-10). The study has collected extensive phenotypic and genotypic detail about its participants, including data from questionnaires, physical measures, sample assays, accelerometery, imaging, genome-wide genotyping and long-term longitudinal follow-up for a wide range of health-related outcomes. The resource is regularly augmented with additional data and is available to academic or commercial researchers world-wide to use for any type of health-related research that is in the public interest. It has been established primarily for the conduct of prospective studies investigating the relevance of a wide range of exposures to health outcomes that occur during long-term follow-up. The ongoing identification and adjudication of increasing numbers of incident cases of the commoner conditions in the resource will support extensive and powerful research into their determinants and the range of diseases that can be studied reliably will widen as the numbers of incident events of different types increase during follow-up over the next 5-10 year period. As a result, UK Biobank provides researchers from around the world with greater opportunities to better understand early disease stages and their diagnosis, and can support the development of new treatments for diseases of mid-to-later life.
UK Biobank is a prospective study of 500,000 men and women aged 40-69 years at the point of recruitment (2006-10). The study has collected extensive phenotypic and genotypic detail about its participants, including data from questionnaires, physical measures, sample assays, accelerometery, imaging, genome-wide genotyping and long-term longitudinal follow-up for a wide range of health-related outcomes. The resource is regularly augmented with additional data and is available to academic or commercial researchers world-wide to use for any type of health-related research that is in the public interest. It has been established primarily for the conduct of prospective studies investigating the relevance of a wide range of exposures to health outcomes that occur during long-term follow-up. The ongoing identification and adjudication of increasing numbers of incident cases of the commoner conditions in the resource will support extensive and powerful research into their determinants and the range of diseases that can be studied reliably will widen as the numbers of incident events of different types increase during follow-up over the next 5-10 year period. As a result, UK Biobank provides researchers from around the world with greater opportunities to better understand early disease stages and their diagnosis, and can support the development of new treatments for diseases of mid-to-later life.
Technical Summary
The UK Biobank resource has been established primarily for the conduct of prospective studies investigating the relevance of a wide range of exposures to health outcomes that occur during long-term follow-up. There are now sufficient numbers of incident cases of the commoner conditions to support extensive and powerful research into their determinants.
There is regular augmentation of UK Biobank’s capability for effective use as a prospective resource by the widest possible range of researchers. This activity has included: streamlining resource access management systems; imaging assessments; an agile response to the SARS-2 Covid pandemic; ‘omics; whole genome sequencing and turning biological samples into genotypic and biomarker data to make the resource more accessible to researchers studying a wide range of different conditions.
During the next few years, it is intended to develop UK Biobank as a UK national infrastructure and the resource will move to new premises at the University of Manchester where sample throughput will be accelerated with new robotics and freezer systems, making more large scale studies possible. UK Biobank will make increasing amounts of genotype and biomarker data available. It will seek to extend cohort-wide record linkage to primary care health; develop other linkages relevant to health; complete imaging assessments on close to 100,000 participants, including repeat imaging on a subset; develop and implement further enhancements (such as metabolomics) and introduce changes relating to participant involvement and to address equality diversity and inclusion. Communications will be expanded to a wider audience to help ensure that researchers from around the world are well informed about UK Biobank’s enhanced capabilities in order to maximise suitable use of the resource over the next few years.
There is regular augmentation of UK Biobank’s capability for effective use as a prospective resource by the widest possible range of researchers. This activity has included: streamlining resource access management systems; imaging assessments; an agile response to the SARS-2 Covid pandemic; ‘omics; whole genome sequencing and turning biological samples into genotypic and biomarker data to make the resource more accessible to researchers studying a wide range of different conditions.
During the next few years, it is intended to develop UK Biobank as a UK national infrastructure and the resource will move to new premises at the University of Manchester where sample throughput will be accelerated with new robotics and freezer systems, making more large scale studies possible. UK Biobank will make increasing amounts of genotype and biomarker data available. It will seek to extend cohort-wide record linkage to primary care health; develop other linkages relevant to health; complete imaging assessments on close to 100,000 participants, including repeat imaging on a subset; develop and implement further enhancements (such as metabolomics) and introduce changes relating to participant involvement and to address equality diversity and inclusion. Communications will be expanded to a wider audience to help ensure that researchers from around the world are well informed about UK Biobank’s enhanced capabilities in order to maximise suitable use of the resource over the next few years.
Organisations
- UK Biobank (Lead Research Organisation)
- AbbVie Inc (Collaboration)
- AstraZeneca (Collaboration)
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Collaboration)
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Collaboration)
- Pfizer Inc (Collaboration)
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (Collaboration)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (Collaboration)
- Biogen Idec (Collaboration)
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Rory Collins (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Morgan KE
(2019)
Reflection on modern methods: calculating a sample size for a repeatability sub-study to correct for measurement error in a single continuous exposure.
in International journal of epidemiology
Ni G
(2019)
The genetic relationship between female reproductive traits and six psychiatric disorders.
in Scientific reports
Broce IJ
(2019)
Dissecting the genetic relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease.
in Acta neuropathologica
Freidin M
(2019)
Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies genetic locus on chromosome 9 associated with Modic changes.
in Journal of medical genetics
Mackay A
(2019)
The association between driving time and unhealthy lifestyles: a cross-sectional, general population study of 386 493 UK Biobank participants.
in Journal of public health (Oxford, England)
Prakash SK
(2019)
45,X mosaicism in a population-based biobank: implications for Turner syndrome.
in Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics
Hoppe LK
(2019)
The Associations of Diuretics and Laxatives Use with Cardiovascular Mortality. An Individual Patient-Data Meta-analysis of Two Large Cohort Studies.
in Cardiovascular drugs and therapy
Atkins JL
(2019)
Impact of Low Cardiovascular Risk Profiles on Geriatric Outcomes: Evidence From 421,000 Participants in Two Cohorts.
in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
Millard LAC
(2019)
MR-pheWAS with stratification and interaction: Searching for the causal effects of smoking heaviness identified an effect on facial aging.
in PLoS genetics
Privé F
(2019)
Efficient Implementation of Penalized Regression for Genetic Risk Prediction.
in Genetics
Georgakis MK
(2019)
Genetically Determined Levels of Circulating Cytokines and Risk of Stroke.
in Circulation
Calvin CM
(2019)
Predicting incident dementia 3-8 years after brief cognitive tests in the UK Biobank prospective study of 500,000 people.
in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association
Niedzwiedz C
(2019)
Depressive symptoms, neuroticism, and participation in breast and cervical cancer screening: Cross-sectional and prospective evidence from UK Biobank
in Psycho-Oncology
Tanigawa Y
(2019)
Components of genetic associations across 2,138 phenotypes in the UK Biobank highlight adipocyte biology
in Nature Communications
Prins FM
(2019)
Genetically Determined Physical Activity and Its Association with Circulating Blood Cells.
in Genes
Sanderson E
(2019)
An examination of multivariable Mendelian randomization in the single-sample and two-sample summary data settings.
in International journal of epidemiology
Rhodes JA
(2019)
Association of DAT1 genetic variants with habitual sleep duration in the UK Biobank.
in Sleep
Muilwijk M
(2019)
Contribution of type 2 diabetes to all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence and cancer incidence in white Europeans and South Asians: findings from the UK Biobank population-based cohort study.
in BMJ open diabetes research & care
Zwakenberg S
(2019)
Circulating Phylloquinone Concentrations and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Mendelian Randomization Study
in Diabetes
Kendall KM
(2019)
Cognitive performance and functional outcomes of carriers of pathogenic copy number variants: analysis of the UK Biobank.
in The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
Haeberer M
(2020)
Social inequalities in tobacco-attributable mortality in Spain. The intersection between age, sex and educational level.
in PloS one
Bai WY
(2020)
Identification of PIEZO1 polymorphisms for human bone mineral density.
in Bone
Fan X
(2020)
Vitamin D Status and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Large Cohort: Results From the UK Biobank
in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Weissbrod O
(2020)
Functionally informed fine-mapping and polygenic localization of complex trait heritability.
in Nature genetics
Petermann-Rocha F
(2020)
Comparison of two different frailty measurements and risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID-19: findings from UK Biobank.
in BMC medicine
Meisner A
(2020)
Combined Utility of 25 Disease and Risk Factor Polygenic Risk Scores for Stratifying Risk of All-Cause Mortality.
in American journal of human genetics
Wootton RE
(2020)
Evidence for causal effects of lifetime smoking on risk for depression and schizophrenia: a Mendelian randomisation study.
in Psychological medicine
O'Halloran R
(2020)
BMI and Cause-Specific Hospital Admissions and Costs: The UK Biobank Cohort Study.
in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
Perez-Cornago A
(2020)
Examination of potential novel biochemical factors in relation to prostate cancer incidence and mortality in UK Biobank.
in British journal of cancer
Beesley LJ
(2020)
The emerging landscape of health research based on biobanks linked to electronic health records: Existing resources, statistical challenges, and potential opportunities.
in Statistics in medicine
Zhou X
(2020)
Whole-Genome Approach Discovers Novel Genetic and Nongenetic Variance Components Modulated by Lifestyle for Cardiovascular Health.
in Journal of the American Heart Association
Gulick CN
(2020)
Physical activity, dietary protein and insulin-like growth factor 1: Cross-sectional analysis utilising UK Biobank.
in Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society
Raisi-Estabragh Z
(2020)
Age, sex and disease-specific associations between resting heart rate and cardiovascular mortality in the UK BIOBANK.
in PloS one
Tarroni G
(2020)
Large-scale Quality Control of Cardiac Imaging in Population Studies: Application to UK Biobank.
in Scientific reports
Linge J
(2020)
On the Definition of Sarcopenia in the Presence of Aging and Obesity-Initial Results from UK Biobank.
in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
Yuan J
(2020)
Leveraging correlations between variants in polygenic risk scores to detect heterogeneity in GWAS cohorts.
in PLoS genetics
Cortes A
(2020)
Identifying cross-disease components of genetic risk across hospital data in the UK Biobank.
in Nature genetics
Oster J
(2020)
Identification of patients with atrial fibrillation: a big data exploratory analysis of the UK Biobank.
in Physiological measurement
Batty GD
(2020)
Psychosocial factors and hospitalisations for COVID-19: Prospective cohort study based on a community sample.
in Brain, behavior, and immunity
Cheesman R
(2020)
Familial Influences on Neuroticism and Education in the UK Biobank.
in Behavior genetics
Ning K
(2020)
Association of relative brain age with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetic variants.
in Scientific reports
Langner T
(2020)
Identifying Morphological Indicators of Aging With Neural Networks on Large-Scale Whole-Body MRI.
in IEEE transactions on medical imaging
| Description | Impact of clinically silent atrial fibrillation on cerebrovascular disease and cognitive decline in the UK Biobank Imaging Cohort |
| Amount | £2,474,260 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RG/18/6/33576 |
| Organisation | British Heart Foundation (BHF) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2019 |
| End | 06/2024 |
| Description | UK Biobank - Data Analytics Platform |
| Amount | £20,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 01/2023 |
| Description | UK Biobank - The Repeat Imaging Project |
| Amount | £2,500,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | R39738/CN039 |
| Organisation | MRC Dementias Platform UK |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 01/2023 |
| Description | UK Biobank - Whole genome sequencing of 50,000 UKB participants |
| Amount | £30,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | UK Biobank- Expansion of the UKB imaging to a 4th centre and repeat imaging assessment of 10,000 participants |
| Amount | £8,500,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 12/2022 |
| Description | Biobank Enhancement |
| Organisation | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | exome sequencing of 50,000 participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | creating vast amounts of genetic data to be used by researchers accessing UKBiobank |
| Impact | exome data |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Biobank Enhancement |
| Organisation | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | exome sequencing of 50,000 participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | creating vast amounts of genetic data to be used by researchers accessing UKBiobank |
| Impact | exome data |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | AbbVie Inc |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | Alnylam Pharmaceuticals |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | AstraZeneca |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | Biogen Idec |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | Bristol-Myers Squibb |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | Pfizer Inc |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Genetic enhancement |
| Organisation | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company |
| Department | Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (TPUSA) |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Partnership with Regeneron and GSK to complete exome sequencing of 450,000 UKBiobank participants |
| Collaborator Contribution | The exome sequence of 50,000 UKBiobank particpants were generated through a partnership between UKB, Regeneron and GSK. Regeneron is leading a consortium of biopharma (listed) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 participants by 2020. GSK has committed an additional £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UKB, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines. |
| Impact | The first tranche of data have been incorporated back into the UKBiobank resource for the global health community to use. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | UK Biobank GP linkage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | UK Biobank event for the General Practice Data for Planing and Research programme (GP linkage). 1,200 attendees |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UK Biobank Scientific Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The UK Biobank Scientific Symposium included presentations about the successes and future plans of the UK Biobank. It took place on 21 June 2018 in London |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | UK Biobank Scientific Conference 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The UK Biobank Scientific Conference in 2021 had 3,000 participants from the research community, professional practitioners, media, study particiapnts and other partners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UK Biobank participant imaging event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | UK Biobank for participants of the imaging work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UKBiobank participant events - 2014 - 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | UKB Biobank participants regularly attend events aimed at informing them about the work being undertaken with their data. Usually, the events last a few hours and include an overview from the chief scientist and two talks from scientists that have used UKB data. From 2014 - 2020 over 4,000 participants have taken part in events in Edinburgh (4), Manchester (4), Nottingham, Leeds, Cardiff (2), Newcastle (5), Glasgow (2), Bristol (2) and Reading(4). They are often over-subscribed and participants leave these events wishing to seek more information and support he programme in new ways (EG in imaging, genome sequencing) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | http://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk |