Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank at Imperial College

• Research type

  Research Tissue Bank

• IRAS ID

  223547

• Research summary

  Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank at Imperial College

• REC name

  London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/LO/0565

• Date of REC Opinion

  10 Apr 2017

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion

• Data collection arrangements

  Blood and urine samples are donated during routine clinical appointments at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for the treatment/investigation of pulmonary vascular disease. Dedicated research nurses (from the NIHR/Wellcome Trust – Imperial Clinical Research Facility) are responsible for obtaining informed written consent as well as the collection of blood and urine samples. The samples are processed following standard operating procedures, with blood separated in to plasma and serum as well as frozen aliquots specifically for DNA/RNA analysis. All the material is securely stored in the Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank at Imperial College and currently includes 43,430 samples from 1481 patients (1138 active and 343 deceased). \n\nThe Biobank forms an integral part of a bespoke system known as TRIPHIC (Translational Research in Pulmonary Hypertension at Imperial College). This includes a dedicated electronic database that was specifically designed to robustly separate the clinical and research domains and link together data about biological samples with clinical information from established electronic and written heath records. Most importantly, the system replaces all individual identifiers (e.g. NHS and hospital numbers) with a unique code for each subject. This enables authorised researchers to access coded (pseudonymised) information only and ensures that they cannot identify participants. \n

• Research programme

  The Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank at Imperial College and TRIPHIC system reflects the close and sustainable collaboration between patients and members of staff at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust including Dr Simon Gibbs, Clinical Lead and Reader in Pulmonary Hypertension) and Imperial College London (including Professor Martin Wilkins who leads the research group). This brings observations and data from the clinic to the laboratories and translates the results back to improve treatments and outcomes in pulmonary vascular diseases associated with pulmonary hypertension. It is often not apparent why the clinical condition of some patients continues to worsen, requiring a change or escalation in therapy, while other patients with same diagnosis respond much better. Understanding the molecular factors that distinguish these individuals could improve diagnosis, prognosis and treatment selection in the future. We are using modern, so-called ‘-omics’, technologies to simultaneously identify and quantify hundreds of circulating proteins and metabolites, linking them to the genetic code and specific characteristics of patients with pulmonary hypertension. The results of this research will help us better understand the overall disease process and predict the response to new as well as established therapeutic interventions.

• RTBTitle

  Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank at Imperial College

• Establishment organisation

  Imperial College London Healthcare NHS Trust

• Establishment organisation address

  The Bays, South Wharf Road,

  St Mary's Hospital

  London

  W2 1NY