NIHR BioResource Volunteers
By gaining more information about our genes we can look more closely at how diseases develop. This can help to identify better treatments in the future.
What is a BioResource Volunteer?
A volunteer is anyone – with or without a health condition – who is willing to take part in a research study.
Why do we need volunteers?
20 million people in the UK live with chronic diseases, which have a major impact on their quality of life.
The support and goodwill of our volunteers is vital to the success of the NIHR BioResource. It is our volunteers that make the BioResource unique, supporting a diverse range of health research, such as:
- How genes affect a variety of diseases and illnesses
- Understanding the specific genes involved in the development of a disease
- Identifying better treatments
- Disease prevention
What happens if I join?
If you decide to join, we will make an appointment for you to donate a blood sample, from which we extract your DNA. You will also fill in a questionnaire about your health and lifestyle. If you match the criteria for a study, we will invite you to take part. You decide whether you want to take part and we will not invite you to more than four studies a year. We give your sample a unique ID, so that research teams will not know who you are. If you have already joined the BioResource but we have not invited you to be part of a study, don’t worry, your sample is still helping our researchers.
What happens next?
Once you have registered your interest:
- We will book you in for an appointment at our Clinical Research Facility
- Our nurse will go through the documentation with you and will answer any questions you have
- You will sign a consent form, and complete the questionnaire
- We will then take a blood sample and we enter your data into our secure database
Volunteer today!
We are always looking for volunteers, so why not contact us for more information or to register your interest.
BioResource Participant Information Sheet