EP 109: From the Archives: Professor Sir Rory Collins on the Origins and Future of the UK Biobank
October 12, 2023
This week, we’re re-sharing one of our favorite episodes from the early days of The Genetics Podcast - one that many newer listeners may not have heard!
Tune in as Professor Sir Rory Collins, Founder and Chief Executive of the UK Biobank, talks to us about the origins and evolution of this world-changing project that has catalysed a wave of new discoveries by levelling the playing field in data access.
In this inspiring conversation, Professor Sir Rory Collins describes the ‘’If you build it, they will come get it” attitude of the UK Biobank. He believes that the pioneering and collaborative nature of UK Biobank means that the biggest impacts are yet to come.
The conversation finishes with details on their COVID-19 work (as of 2020), which involved members from the original 500,000 strong UK Biobank cohort, as well as family members of these participants.
This week, we’re re-sharing one of our favorite episodes from the early days of The Genetics Podcast - one that many newer listeners may not have heard!
Tune in as Professor Sir Rory Collins, Founder and Chief Executive of the UK Biobank, talks to us about the origins and evolution of this world-changing project that has catalysed a wave of new discoveries by levelling the playing field in data access.
In this inspiring conversation, Professor Sir Rory Collins describes the ‘’If you build it, they will come get it” attitude of the UK Biobank. He believes that the pioneering and collaborative nature of UK Biobank means that the biggest impacts are yet to come.
The conversation finishes with details on their COVID-19 work (as of 2020), which involved members from the original 500,000 strong UK Biobank cohort, as well as family members of these participants.
Summary:
00:00 Introduction to the UK Biobank and its impact
01:23 Origins and purpose of the UK Biobank
06:20 Involvement of private industry in funding data collection
08:47 Access to data by academic and commercial researchers
11:07 Opportunities for enhancing participant characterization
14:25 UK Biobank's major findings expected in the next 5-10 years
15:51 Democratizing access to UK Biobank data for global researchers
17:15 Open access approach fosters creativity and peer review
19:05 Practical value of polygenic risk scores in healthcare
22:05 Participant trust in sharing data for good science
23:46 COVID-19 study: Rapid data collection and involvement of family members
29:15 Discussion of a potential UK Biobank 2.0
31:38 Future focus on omics assays and health outcome phenotyping
33:12 Phenotyping health outcomes using advanced techniques
34:42 Closing Remarks