In the world of medical research, breakthroughs often come after years of hard work. One such project is UK Biobank, led by Rory Collins, which collects health data from half a million people over time. This data is available to any researcher, making it a valuable resource for scientific innovation.
Since its inception in 2006, the data from UK Biobank has been used in over 3,000 scientific papers and has led to groundbreaking concepts like the polygenic risk score. With over 2,800 projects still ongoing, the full impact of this data will continue to unfold. The project also aims to collect more data as participants age, with the hope of shedding light on late-life diseases such as dementia. To make the data more diverse, UK Biobank has supported international data-gathering projects in countries like Mexico, China, and the U.S., with plans to expand to more countries in the future.
Collins remains driven by the impact that UK Biobank is having on medical research despite the challenges ahead. He considers himself fortunate to work on such a groundbreaking project that has led to numerous scientific publications without him even having to write a single word.