• A BioResource is a biobank of biological and phenotypes that can be used for scientific and medical research purposes.

• It is also a bank of volunteers who can be recruited to clinical trials and other studies on the basis of clinical and biological data, such as genotype or biomarkers.

• Our BioResource is focused on mental and neurological health.

What are our aims?

• Our aim is to collect this information from up to 50,000 volunteers by 2017.

• We hope that this huge library of information will improve our understanding of different psychiatric and neurological illnesses.

• We hope that this large number re-contactable volunteers will enable future research that will help develop innovative treatments more quickly.

Why are we doing this?• Recruiting volunteers for studies can be costly

and time-consuming....

Why are we doing this?

• Having a library of information that is ready and waiting in the BioResource means that valuable research can start as soon as studies have been approved, saving time and money.

Who are we?

• Principal Investigator– Dr Gerome Breen• Co-ordinator/Manager – Cerisse Gunasinghe• The recruitment team – Ade, Alvin, Bonnie, Dami,

Roshan.• Working in collaboration with SLaM Pharmacy CAG• The lab team – Led by Charles Curtis• We are a multi-disciplinary team and come from

different backgrounds, including nursing, psychology and occupational therapy.

Who are we working with?

• We are working with:The Maudsley in-patient and out-patient clinics; The Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences; Guys and St Thomas’; Lambeth and Lewisham CMHTs; Southwark IAPT; Charlotte’s Helix; Epilepsy and MND clinics at Kings College Hospital; local and National CAMHs.

• SELCoH – Community volunteer database

Who are our volunteers?

• Anyone registered with the NHS can volunteer to take part!

• We hope to get a real variety of different service-user volunteers with a range of diagnoses, as well as volunteers from the general population.

• So far we have recruited volunteers with ADHD, MND, Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Depression, Eating Disorders, Chronic Fatigue, Epilepsy, Dementia, Bi-Polar Disorder, Anxiety Disorders....

How does it work?• The BioResource Team provides the link

between the volunteer, the BioResource database, the lab, and the research teams.

How will the BioResource be used?

• Two ways:• Studies can apply to use some of the

anonymised biological and clinical information.• This information would be filtered by the

BioResource team, then handed over.• This can be done because of the nature of our

HTA license and ethical approval to grant use of info/samples for omics and similar studies.

How will it be used?

• Alternatively, studies can request clinical and biological information AND request the volunteers’ involvement in a follow-up study.

• Volunteers are selected based on their clinical and biological information, and whether they consented to be approached about future research.

• They are then contacted by the BioResource team to see whether they would like to take part in the research project.

How will it help?

• The BioResource is already making a difference. • Researchers are currently analysing our

volunteers’ blood samples to help them understand more about Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia, Motor Neurone Disease, Schizophrenia and Psychosis.

• These are just some of the ways the BioResource will help to support research for many years to come.