Health datasets to conduct research

The NIHR BioResource is a recallable resource of over 250,000 volunteers who have agreed to take part in health-related research. Patients are recruited into several participant cohorts including common and rare diseases across the general population. Our BioResource supports industry researchers to access genetic and clinical data, stored samples, recruitment of volunteers, and recall participants by genotype or phenotype.

Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) is a real-world research service supporting retrospective and prospective public health and clinical studies. CPRD research data services are delivered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency with support from us - the NIHR - as part of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Health Data Research UK (HDRUK) unites the UK's health data to enable research discoveries through access to large scale data and advanced analytics.

HDRUK provides a common entry point to discover and request access to UK health datasets. It supports the life sciences industry, researchers, clinicians and healthcare professionals to access health data tools, research projects, publications and collaborate through a community forum.

The NIHR is one of nine UK research funders awarding more than £70 million in funding to HDRUK.

HDRUK hosts 8 Health Data Research Hubs.

The UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical database and research resource, containing in-depth, de-identified genetic and health information from half a million UK participants.

The database, which is regularly augmented with additional data, is globally accessible to approved researchers from academic, charity, government and commercial organisations for health-related research that is in the public interest.

UK Biobank’s research resource is a major contributor to the advancement of modern medicine and treatment. It has enabled several scientific discoveries that improve human health in the most common and life-threatening diseases.

The Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system is a computer system that allows researchers at the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) to carry out research using information from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust clinical records. CRIS is safe and secure, and patients' personal details cannot be accessed by researchers who use it.