Cardiovascular research highlights from the UK Biobank: opportunities and challenges

Z Raisi-Estabragh, SE Petersen - Cardiovascular Research, 2020 - academic.oup.com
Cardiovascular Research, 2020academic.oup.com
United Kingdom (UK) Biobank (UKB) is one of the largest and most comprehensive
population studies in the world, incorporating data from over half a million individuals from
across the UK recruited between 2006 and 2010. Participants underwent detailed baseline
assessment including characterization of socio-demographics, health status, blood
sampling, and a series of physical measures. Health outcomes for all participants are
prospectively tracked through linkages with national cohort sources (death registries, cancer …
United Kingdom (UK) Biobank (UKB) is one of the largest and most comprehensive population studies in the world, incorporating data from over half a million individuals from across the UK recruited between 2006 and 2010. Participants underwent detailed baseline assessment including characterization of socio-demographics, health status, blood sampling, and a series of physical measures. Health outcomes for all participants are prospectively tracked through linkages with national cohort sources (death registries, cancer registries, hospital episode statistics, and primary care records). Incidence of selected illnesses (eg myocardial infarction and stroke) is defined through adjudicated algorithms that incorporate data from self-report, hospital episode statistics, and death registers. Detailed baseline phenotyping of participants includes a comprehensive blood biomarker panel and full genotyping of all 500 000 participants. The dataset has been further enhanced by the UKB imaging study, which aims to image 100 000 of the original UKB participants. The imaging protocol includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart, brain, and abdomen. Since its launch in 2015, over 47 000 individuals have completed the imaging protocol, already making the UKB imaging study the largest imaging bank of its kind. Data from UKB are available to researchers from across the world through a formal access application process (Figure 1).
Oxford University Press