Apply for access
Application process
An application form can be found here.
We welcome applications from academic partners in Low & Middle Income Countries, and depending on funds available may consider a fee reduction.
Please contact [email protected] if you would like to work with Genes & Health.
Priority areas
We welcome applications in all areas. Where necessary we will prioritise research studies in the following areas:
- Research described in core awards funding Genes & Health
- Research in four areas prioritised by our local communities: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mental health, cancer.
- Other research that is i) exceptional science; and/or ii) will bring substantial resource to Genes & Health; and/or iii) of strategic importance for Genes & Health
- Research that has been independently and expertly peer-reviewed to the highest standards (e.g. Wellcome, MRC, NIH)
Recall studies
It is important to note that Genes & Health exclusively conducts Recall Studies that pose minimal risk to participants. Typically, participation requirements are limited to the donation of small samples of blood or urine. Volunteers will never be asked to participate in early-phase clinical trials or undergo any form of medical treatment as part of these studies.
Genes & Health stringently prioritises recall studies based on the following criteria: - recall with very high scientific/volunteer value - recall for core G&H projects, e.g. mental health phenotyping funded by our MRC Longitudinal Population Study award - recall for G&H investigators who have made a major contribution to the wider resource
We get many proposals for small low impact studies, which are unlikely to be supported.
Letters of support
We will consider writing Letters of Support for Fellowships, and other types of grant applications.
If you wish to use Genes & Health provided these include resource support for Genes & Health. We would also be willing to give provisional approval, but with a suspended start date (and no guarantee of starting), if required for ethics or governance purposes for a study. Please contact one of the study leads by email to discuss.
Applying for Data Access
Researchers wishing to access our data should initiate the process by completing the application form, and sending it to [email protected]. The Genes & Health Executive Committee carefully reviews each application. Data-only applications are light touch and the review process usually completes at the next month’s Executive meeting. Some applications in sensitive areas (e.g. mental health) may be sent for further review by the Community Advisory Board.
Upon receipt of the application, the researcher(s) affiliated institution(s) is(are) required to enter into a data access agreement (DAA) and pay an access fee and fee per user. All data users are obligated to complete mandatory NHS Information Governance training before being granted access. Subsequently, approved applicants will obtain access to our secure online analysis platform to commence their work.
Notably, fees associated with application and data access are structured to cover administrative costs; they are not intended as a revenue source for Genes & Health. Genes & Health is not for profit.
Access to Genes & Health data is provided for approved projects within our Trusted Research Environment (TRE). The TRE is a secure online platform that was initially built in collaboration with the University of Helsinki and the Finngen study, it has now branched and is maintained by the Wellcome Sanger Institute human genome informatics team. It is designed to offer researchers the capability to utilise high-performance computing resources and contemporary genetic analysis tools, all while ensuring the stringent security of data is maintained. Within the TRE, researchers are provided with a linux desktop and terminal. For users who provide their own Google Cloud Billing Account and have an individual sandbox build, access to full high performance compute (using WDL) can be provided.
The administration and oversight of the TRE are handled by the Wellcome Sanger Institute as Data Processor, which holds certifications from both the NHS Data Security Protection Toolkit and ISO27001. Queen Mary University of London is the Data Controller.
Approved researchers utilising the TRE have the ability to analyse health and genetic data for their projects. However, the TRE’s policies strictly prohibit the downloading of participant data from the platform. Researchers can download the summarised results of their research projects only after undergoing a controlled data out review process to ensure no sensitive data is included in the downloaded information.
The user guide for the Genes & Health TRE is here https://e4c14f23.tre-documentation.pages.dev/
