In giant's footsteps

Medical breakthroughs, new medicines and changes in the lifestyles of millions have resulted from previous Oxford-led research initiatives.

Most famously, a medical research project conducted by Prof Collins's mentor and colleague, the late Sir Richard Doll, not only established the link between lung cancer and smoking to save millions of lives, but it continued over half a century to provide a wealth of data on tobacco's deadly effects.

But what is now being proposed is on an altogether different scale from Sir Richard's pioneering investigation into the smoking habits of 40,000 doctors back in 1951.

For scientists are now trying to find 500,000 people in Britain, currently aged between 40 and 69, prepared to take part in the medical research project called UK Biobank.

Volunteers will be invited to attend a local assessment centre, like one to open in Oxford's Westgate Centre on Monday, to answer questions about their health and lifestyles and have some physical measurements, as well as giving samples of blood and urine.

And this huge army of volunteers will effectively help create a bank of knowledge that should prove invaluable for decades to come for researchers studying the causes of illness and new treatments.

Not only is it hoped that it will throw new light on why people develop cancer, heart disease and other common killers, it will also greatly add to knowledge about rarer and less high-profile conditions such as mental illness, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and motor neurone disease.

Prof Collins became co-director, with Professor Sir Richard Peto, of the University of Oxford's Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU) 22 years ago.

In 1996 he was appointed professor of medicine and epidemiology at Oxford and he has now been appointed principal investigator and chief executive of UK Biobank.

In many ways, Prof Collins was the natural choice to mastermind the creation of this treasure trove of health information. His work has been in the establishment of large-scale epidemiological studies of the causes, prevention and treatment of heart attacks, other vascular disease, and cancer.

He works in Oxford's new £23m medical research facility, the Richard Doll Building, near the Churchill Hospital, and sees Oxford's involvement in the massive project as maintaining a proud and important tradition.

Thousands of letters have already been sent out to residents across Oxford, inviting them to "improve the health of future generations".

To participate, volunteers have simply to go along to an assessment centre, which opens on Monday at the Westgate Centre, where it will be based for six months.

Every assessment lasts 90 minutes, with much of the information about health, lifestyle, work and family history obtained by a touch-screen questionnaire.

As well as being quick and efficient, it also means that volunteers can be asked questions of a fairly delicate nature without embarrassment or fear of being overheard.

For example Prof Collins reveals that volunteers will be invited to disclose the number of sexual partners that they have had.

"I think that will prove the one that most people will find most difficult. But the whole thing is completely confidential and people are entitled to pass on any questions they wish to," he said.

Long thought has gone into what volunteers will be asked. Interestingly, the decision was taken to ask about drinking habits but not about experience or use of illegal drugs.

Months were spent developing what will effectively be a conveyor belt of volunteers, supervised by trained nurses.

"Rather appropriate for Oxford, don't you think," chuckled Prof Collins, not forgetting that the city is perhaps as well known for car production as it is for medical research.

The volunteers move from the screens to interviews about past illnesses, operations and medication they might be taking. Blood pressure and various measurements will also be taken. These will include hand grip, lung function, body fat (using a harmless current through your body) and bone density (using a device applied to the heel).

If the prospect of having to give blood and urine samples leads you to pause for thought, just think about the challenge of having up to 15m samples properly catalogued and stored.

A centre has been created in Manchester and the Oxford professor is particularly delighted with the use being made of robots to separate samples and ensure they may easily be retrieved.

Volunteers will leave with a print-out, summarising their measurements. While it should not be viewed as a 'body MOT', nurses would certainly advise volunteers to see their GP if blood pressure, for example, were found to be high.

But Prof Collins says volunteers should regard their involvement as a selfless act for future generations.

"It should be said that UK Biobank is not intended to directly help those taking part. I think it should be viewed like giving blood. Only this is to give future generations a much better chance of living their lives free of diseases that disable and kill."

But will all this effort result in cures and lives being saved, like the great Richard Doll study?

Prof Collins replies without pause: "I think it must find new causes of disease. It is like the Richard Doll study times a million. Sir Richard Doll looked at death. This study not only looks at the illnesses that kill you but vast range of diseases that bring terrible misery. It also involves a much more detailed assessment, with blood and urine samples."

Then there are the sheer numbers, with 500,000 volunteers. Recruitment will involve half a dozen assessments centres running around the country, each taking information from a 100 people a day and running for six months, during the next four years.

For years after the assessments, researchers will follow the health of volunteers, through their health records, or other records that could be related to health, such as job and residence.

But it will probably be a decade before the UK Biobank bears real fruit - effectively, when a sizable proportion of the people begin to develop illness.

UK Biobank has been jointly set up by the Department of Health, the Medical Research Council, the Scottish Executive and the Wellcome Trust medical charity, with funding in excess of £60m.

It is also being supported by the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK, with more than 20 universities, including Oxford, closely involved.

Prof Collins says that in addition to the sheer volume of data, it is the richness of the information that makes the survey unique.

There has been an explosion in research technologies in recent years, many coming on the back of the genetics revolution adding to the knowledge about the way our bodies work.

But Prof Collins will tell you it is never enough.

He said: "It's hard for us to imagine the sorts of research that might be possible in ten or 20 years' time, and scientists will be helped by being able to return to samples of blood and urine collected many years before."

He believes that the Americans would dearly have loved to carry out such a project but easy access to medical records in the States made it impossible.

The data, however, will be made available to researchers from around the world.

In any case, the rich variety of the British population, in terms of ethnic and social backgrounds and lifestyles, made this country a particularly fertile ground for a trial.

And, of course, in Prof Collins, they have the perfect man at the helm.

As he led me down the central staircase of the Richard Doll Building, he revealed that he had understandably had to think hard about taking on such a project that would take up years of his life.

He had been on holiday when he was first asked whether he wanted to head the project.

On returning, he went with colleague Sir Richard Peto to see the seriously-ill Richard Doll in hospital.

"It was shortly before he died," recalled Prof Collins. "I asked Sir Richard what he thought and he said that I should take it on. I could hardly say no after that, could I?"

• Anyone wishing to take part in the Biobank trial should contact Prof Rory Collins at UK Biobank, 1-2 Spectrum Way, Adswood, Stockpot, Cheshire, SK3 OSA, email ukbiobank.ac.uk or call on freephone 0800 0276276.