This article and associated images are based on a poster originally authored by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), BioResource, and presented at ELRIG Drug Discovery 2025 in affiliation with the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).
This poster is being hosted on this website in its raw form, without modifications. It has not undergone peer review but has been reviewed to meet AZoNetwork's editorial quality standards. The information contained is for informational purposes only and should not be considered validated by independent peer assessment.
What we do
Over 350,000 participants have been consented into the NIHR BioResource and have:
- Provided a blood sample (for DNA), plasma and serum (or DNA from saliva)
- Completed a Health & Lifestyle questionnaire (self-declared information)
- Agreed to the linking with their health-related records
- Their DNA on the UK Biobank high-density array and/or WES/WGS
Researchers can contact the BioResource for:
- Recall of participants by phenotype and/or genotype
- Request for fresh or stored samples and/or associated data
Samples
>1.6 M aliquots of plasma and serum
Recall
>350,000 participants for study inclusion
Data
>12 petabytes of health data
A national resource
We support research through the rapid identification, contact, or recall of NIHR BioResource participants at 28 centers throughout England. A further 20+ clinical research facilities (CRFs) support research on site.
Image Credit: ELRIG (UK) Ltd.
Genomic datasets
Most participant samples are genotyped.
IBD and Rare disease cohorts have been whole-genome sequenced (WGS), and >10K non-Caucasian participants have short-read WGS. The NIHR BioResource data sets continue to grow using cutting-edge technologies:
Genomics
- Genotyping with ThermoFisher UK Biobank genotyping array
- Whole exome sequencing (WES)
- Short-read WGS
- Total RNA and mRNA Sequencing
- Long-read WGS
- Generated using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) PromethION 48
Cohorts
The NIHR BioResource participants are recruited into one of eleven cohorts:
General population – >140 K Healthy Adults
Rare diseases – 60 Rare conditions, 25 K Participants, 13 K WGS
Mental health – Anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders; >44 K saliva/DNA
Common diseases – CVD, diabetes >100 NHS Trusts Recruiting
MASLD – Metabolic Liver Disease >4 K participants
D-CYPHR – Under 16 years of age >6 K saliva samples, >11 K consents
IMID – Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease; >18 K participants
COVID-19 – Asymptomatic & ICU >8 K participants
IBHO – Improving Black Health Outcomes; >5.5 K participants
IBD – Inflammatory Bowel Disease >50K participants
Paediatric IBD – Inflammatory Bowel Disease; >600 participants
Laboratory services
The NIHR BioResource labs can analyze recall samples to project requirements.
Genomics
Sample assay
- Whole blood cell counts
- Cell isolation and PBMCs preparation
- Proteomics and serological assays
The fellow NIHR facility, the Stratified Medicine Core Laboratory (SMCL), offers:
- Nucleic Acid Extraction Services
- Comprehensive Library Preparation
- DNA and RNA sequencing
- Illumina Single Cell Prep (ISCP)
- Olink Certified Service Provider
- Bioinformatics Analysis
Application process
- Complete an application form
- Applications are considered by the BioResource Scientific Committee
- Contracts for outlining work milestones and responsibilities
- Costs on a recovery basis
About NIHR BioResource
The NIHR BioResource is a national UK health-research infrastructure dedicated to accelerating medical discovery and its translation into clinical practice. The BioResource brings together researchers, clinicians, charities, industry and more than 350,000 volunteer participants to enable studies across a wide range of diseases and healthy populations.
About ELRIG (UK) Ltd.
The European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) is a leading European not-for-profit organization that exists to provide outstanding scientific content to the life science community. The foundation of the organization is based on the use and application of automation, robotics and instrumentation in life science laboratories, but over time, we have evolved to respond to the needs of biopharma by developing scientific programs that focus on cutting-edge research areas that have the potential to revolutionize drug discovery.
Comprised of a global community of over 12,000 life science professionals, participating in our events, whether it be at one of our scientific conferences or one of our networking meetings, will enable any of our community to exchange information, within disciplines and across academic and biopharmaceutical organizations, on an open access basis, as all our events are free-of-charge to attend!
Our values
Our values are to always ensure the highest quality of content and that content will be made readily accessible to all, and that we will always be an inclusive organization, serving a diverse scientific network. In addition, ELRIG will always be a volunteer led organization, run by and for the life sciences community, on a not-for-profit basis.
Our purpose
ELRIG is a company whose purpose is to bring the life science and drug discovery communities together to learn, share, connect, innovate and collaborate, on an open access basis. We achieve this through the provision of world class conferences, networking events, webinars and digital content.
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Last Updated: Dec 4, 2025