UK BIOBANK STATEMENT: 8 AUGUST 2005
UK BIOBANK CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Professor Rory Collins has been appointed to the post of Chief Executive and Principal Investigator of UK Biobank with effect from 1 September 2005 . The UK Biobank project – a long term study started in 2003 to support research into the separate and combined effects of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors on human health and disease – is sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and the Scottish Executive with resources totalling £58m over 7 years.
Professor Collins is currently the Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford , a British Heart Foundation Professor and Co-director (with Professor Sir Richard Peto) of the Clinical Trial Service Unit and the Epidemiological Studies Unit in Oxford . He will commit about 60% of his time to the leadership of UK Biobank.
UK Biobank is a major cohort study of 500,000 men and women aged between 40 and 69. Pilot studies are underway and the main study will commence in 2006. Professor Collins will provide overall scientific leadership to UK Biobank and, as Principal Investigator, will be accountable for finalising the main scientific protocol and implementing the Biobank programme. He will lead and draw expert advice and support from a new Regional Investigators’ Group comprising senior scientists from a series of Regional Collaborating Centres made up of groups of universities and medical schools. Tim Peakman, who has been acting Chief Executive for the past 7 months, will be appointed to the post of Executive Director and will support Professor Collins in the general management of UK Biobank.
Welcoming the appointment, Sir Alan Langlands, the Chair of UK Biobank Ltd said:
“UK Biobank is unique in its scale and design. We are delighted that Professor Collins has agreed to join us. He is a scientist of the highest international standing. He has vast experience of directing large multi-centre, multi-disciplinary trials and studies which have shaped modern public health strategies and clinical practice.”
Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, speaking on behalf of the UK Biobank sponsors said:
“UK Biobank is at a crucial stage in its development. As Chief Executive and Principal Investigator, Rory Collins will take overall charge of delivering this important national initiative. He has all the right qualities to provide international leadership in the development of biobanks and community genetic epidemiology and contribute to wider advances in population genomics. I welcome his appointment with great enthusiasm.”
Professor Collins said:
“I am pleased to take on this remarkable challenge. The UK ’s leading scientists and epidemiologists have contributed enormously to the development of UK Biobank and I will work with them to build on this momentum. The Biobank resource will provide scientists with the means to generate a wealth of new knowledge that will help us to improve health and the diagnosis and treatment of many common diseases.”
ENDS
Editor’s Notes:
- UK Biobank is a large cohort study comprising 500,000 men and women aged between 40 and 69, recruited in the UK . It began in 2003 and will run for up to 30 years. The study involves collection of data on health and lifestyle, blood sampling for biochemical and genetic analysis, and long term follow up via NHS medical records to accumulate data on health outcomes. The project is sponsored jointly by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and the Scottish Executive.
- UK Biobank Ltd was set up in December 2003 by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council as a joint venture company, limited by guarantee and with charitable status, to oversee the implementation of the UK Biobank programme.
- UK Biobank’s objectives are:
- to provide international leadership in the development of biobanks and community genetic epidemiology and contribute to wider advances in population genomics
- to create a useful and cost effective resource to support community genetic epidemiology studies
- to optimise the use of the resource by the national and international community of research scientists – including those associated with the development of UK Biobank – in order to generate new knowledge that is relevant to the promotion of good health, the prevention of ill health and the diagnosis and treatment of disease
- Six Regional Collaborating Centres (RCCs), made up of groups of universities and medical schools and known respectively as the Fosse Way Cohort, the London Consortium, the North West/Wessex Consortium, the Central England Consortium, the Scottish Consortium and the All Wales Consortium, have played a key role in shaping the project and working towards its effective implementation. The senior scientists in the RCCs will form a Regional Investigators’ Group, led by the Chief Executive and Principal Investigator which will take responsibility for the scientific development and implementation of the programme.
- Further information: Sue Wright, UK Biobank Communications: 0161 603 7603