14 August 2013
GoSHARE is after your blood - help world-leading research in Tayside
Photo/filming call: 11am, Wednesday August 11th,
Medical School (meet at Ninewells main reception)
Professor Palmer and a patient volunteer will be available for interview
Every day in Tayside around 7000 samples of blood are discarded after use. Now researchers are asking the public to let
them use that blood to boost world-leading research into diseases such as cancer, diabetes and asthma.
The GoSHARE project launched by the University of Dundee, in partnership with NHS Tayside, is pioneering an easy way
for people to help the fight against disease. It only takes one minute to sign up to GoSHARE but the benefits may be felt
for generations to come, say researchers.
People can sign up at www.goshare.org.uk or complete FREEPOST brochures that will
be widely distributed throughout Tayside
including GP surgeries and pharmacies.
'Every day people are giving blood samples for testing at their doctor or in hospital but from each sample there is some blood
left over,' said Colin Palmer, Professor of Pharmacogenomics at the University of Dundee. 'What we are asking people in Tayside
is that they give us permission to use this blood for research. Over the past 15 years around 10% of the Tayside population
(40,000 people) have signed up to genetic studies and this has resulted directly in major discoveries of genetic variants for
eczema, asthma, diabetes and heart disease amongst others.
'All people need to do is register online or give us written permission. It literally takes a minute and they do not need
to do anything else - there is no need for a special sample of blood to be taken and they do not need to make a visit to their
doctor. All the samples which we are given access to will be made anonymous using a barcode system.
Dr Ellie Dow, Consultant in the Department of Blood Sciences at NHS Tayside, said, 'Recent investment in cutting edge
laboratory automation in Tayside has allowed us to not only provide a top quality clinical service, but also allows us to
make best use of blood from clinical tests for research. This will greatly accelerate the pace of medical research in
the future, but we need the permission from everybody in Tayside to make this work.
'This research will allow us to find new ways to improve the safety of drugs and develop new ones to combat these
major diseases. It will allow us to further develop our research into the relationships between genes and disease,
and responses to treatment. Genetic research will help us to understand why people get different diseases, and why
certain treatments work well for some people but not for others.
'What we are working on all the time is research that could benefit this and future generations. We are marvellously
supported in all of that by the public in Tayside and we hope that they will help us reach our target of 100,000 people
joining GoSHARE.'
The use of 'spare' blood is resourceful and unique, and is made possible only by the close collaboration between
the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside, as well as the installation of new technologies which allow the quick and
effective tracking of blood samples
GoSHARE is being launched only in Tayside but is a sister study to the wider Scottish Health Research Register
(SHARE), a nationwide project to develop a research register of people aged 16 and over, living in Scotland, who are
interested in helping with medical research.
Research is an essential part of the process of developing new treatments and cures for conditions including heart
disease, diabetes and cancer. The aim of SHARE is to make it easier for researchers in Scotland to carry out medical
studies.
The Tayside launch is being supported by Dundee's Lord Provost Bob Duncan, who will host a civic reception for GoSHARE
in the City Chambers on Friday August 16th.
SHARE is a partnership between the NHS in Scotland, the Scottish Government and Universities in Scotland.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902 |
