UK Biobank Cohort
UK Biobank is working with DPUK to uncover more about the causes of dementia.
Enhancing UK Biobank for dementia research
Researchers value UK Biobank as a national, and international, health resource. UK Biobank follows the health and well-being of over 500,000 volunteers giving researchers access to the anonymised cohort data. Scientists use the data to research a wide range of illnesses – including cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, and dementia. Using data on this scale increases the chances of preventing, diagnosing, and treating dementia earlier.
Collaborating with cohorts
UK Biobank and DPUK are working together to uncover more about the causes of dementia. Researchers are using cohort data to identify how to delay the onset of dementia by just a few years, so we can halve the number of people who die from the disease.
UK Biobank cohort data contains information on participant lifestyle, environment, and personal and family medical history. Additionally, it includes physical and cognitive measures, and stores samples of blood, urine, and saliva for genotyping and future analyses. Volunteers continue to contribute to their data by participating in new surveys, tests, and imaging invitations.
Increasing the value of UK Biobank to dementia research
In one key collaboration, DPUK and UK Biobank are enhancing cohort data through a programme of repeat brain imaging of 10,000 participants. This unique resource will help improve our understanding of disease progression and improves the chances of recruiting volunteers to trials at an early stage in dementia.
Meet the research team
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Andrew Blamire
Newcastle University
UK Biobank’s existing imaging study is already ground-breaking in the depth and scale of information being collected. Our extension of the study enhances this with repeat scans, not only from the brain but all body areas. Whole-body image data for 10,000 people is an extraordinary level of detail for the scientific community to work with. It will allow us – and the next generations of clinical scientists – to understand the relationship between progressive changes in the brain, body and cardiovascular systems.
- PROFESSOR ANDREW BLAMIRE, PROFESSOR OF MR PHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UK
Using UK Biobank: information for researchers
UK Biobank records include a brief, in-house cognitive test. To strengthen this resource we have developed an enhanced cognitive assessment.