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What is onCore UK?
onCore UK is a national cancer biobanking organisation. A cancer biobank is a collection of samples from the human body donated by cancer patients for use in cancer research. We are a charity formed and funded by the Department of Health (England), the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK.
Mission Statement
Our mission is
“To serve as an action team that informs, coordinates and develops cancer biobanking to enable research towards the discovery and development of new interventions against cancer.”
Key Objectives
Our main strategic objectives are:
- To empower research using human biosamples to find new and effective means of preventing, detecting or treating cancer.
- To improve access by researchers to the human biosamples they require for their work.
- To facilitate an environment in which patients, the public, health professionals, researchers, funders of research, policy makers and regulators can work together to support cancer biobanking and the research it underpins.
- To provide practical information, coordination and development for current and future people and organisations involved in cancer biobanking to ensure that they are not unnecessarily hindered in their work.
- To provide an accurate and regularly updated picture of the cancer biobanking provision in the UK that will inform future decisions by funders supporting research using donated human biosamples.
- To distribute the human biosamples that onCore UK has in its custody.
Activities
onCore UK works with patients and the public, cancer researchers, existing cancer biobanks, other research infrastructure initiatives, governments, regulators and funders of research.
onCore UK conducts its business within the overall scope of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) and for the benefit of cancer research.
In the past we have also worked with selected NHS hospitals in different parts of the country to collect biosamples and relevant clinical data donated by cancer patients. These biosamples are stored in a secure repository and researchers can apply to use them. We make anonymised biosamples and data available for scientifically and ethically approved research on a cost-recovery basis.
onCore UK works with other cancer biobanks in the UK via the NCRI Confederation of Cancer Biobanks (CCB), and with other biobanks internationally, to improve access for researchers to larger numbers of high quality biosamples, to harmonise how biobanks work and to share expertise for the benefit of all involved.
onCore UK also offers advice to researchers who need to collect and store samples for their own specific projects.
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