The primary scientific goal of this research project is to apply multiplex proteomic profiling of 56,000 UK Biobank plasma samples to facilitate the identification of new drug targets, the validation of existing targets and therapeutics, and the discovery of biomarkers that may correlate with treatment response or aid in stratifying patients and diseases at a genetic or molecular level. The generation of blood-based proteomic data will enhance existing genetic and primary care data, helping to advance the development of new medicines and ultimately benefit patients. The research will also accelerate our understanding of the roles of hundreds of circulating biomarkers in human health and disease – many of which may be directly amenable to pharmacotherapeutic intervention.
The research project will generate proteomic data on 53,000 UK Biobank participants, which will take approximately nine-to-fifteen months to to complete, with an additional nine-month exclusivity period. We will combine these data with phenotypic and genetic data that are already available from UK Biobank participants, with the purpose of improving our understanding of the relationship between genetic variation, protein drug targets, and human traits. This resource will be one of the largest of its kind and will be made available to the UK Biobank and all approved UK Biobank investigators. We anticipate that this resource will accelerate research into the role of protein biomarkers in human health and disease and has the potential to transform the fields of human genetics and biomarker profiling by conducting one of the largest and most well-powered studies of its kind to date.
The scope of this research project includes: (i) transfer of de-identified phenotypic data and publicly available genotype data to Applicants (UKB-PPP), (ii) transfer of plasma biospecimens from UK Biobank to Olink, (iii) proteomic profiling of blood samples by Olink, (iv) transfer of proteomic data from Olink to the UK Biobank and from UK Biobank to the UKB-PPP consortium (v) analyses of the datasets in accordance with the goals, aims, and study designs described in this application by the Applicants (UKB-PPP), either jointly or independently. Under this research project, the Applicants endeavour to profile blood samples from 50,000 UK Biobank participants. The Applicants have established various project phases, in which they aim to sequence a certain number of samples per project phase. The project phases and target number of participant samples to be profiled is detailed in the applicable section above (Section A4).