NIHR BioResource, a national panel of over 200,000 volunteers with and without health problems who are willing to participate in research studies, last year invited over 2,000 volunteers from our General Population cohort across England to consent to the Our Future Health programme, provide a saliva sample, and complete a questionnaire online.
Our Future Health aims to recruit 5 million adult volunteers in the UK and to further accelerate research across a wide range of diseases and health conditions.
By joining the voluntary research programme, people will be able to support vital research to develop new ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases and health conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and stroke. A major focus will be developing approaches for identifying diseases such as cancer and heart disease before they become symptomatic.
Professor John Bradley, Chief Investigator of the NIHR BioResource, said:
“This is an exciting time for health research and the NIHR BioResource is pleased to have been able to support Our Future Health in our shared goal of accelerating research and improving health.”
During the pilot phase carried out at the end of last year, over 3,000 people joined Our Future Health via partnerships with the NIHR BioResource and NHS Blood and Transplant.
Dr Gail Miflin, Chief Medical Officer and Director of Clinical Services for NHS Blood and Transplant, said:
“Our Future Health is a ground-breaking research programme that will help future generations live in good health for longer. We are delighted to be working in partnership as the programme develops."
The main phase of volunteer recruitment to Our Future Health will launch in Spring 2022, where interested members of the public will be able to join this new programme.
The NIHR BioResource looks forward to working with Our Future Health in the future as we continue to recruit and recall thousands of participants to help us transform the genetics of human health research.
Dr Andrew Roddam, CEO of Our Future Health said:
“Millions of people in the UK and around the world spend many years of their later life in poor health. Our Future Health aims to tackle this and help people live healthier lives for longer, by creating the UK’s largest ever health research programme to prevent, detect and treat diseases."
Read the full press release on the Our Future Health website.
Learn more about the NIHR BioResource, including volunteering, using our participant data for research, or current job opportunities.