Donors

Donors are extremely important to the Biobank. Whether you are healthy or unwell, your samples are vital to research.

How to donate

If you are receiving treatment at one of the hospitals we cover, you may be approached by a member of staff to ask you to donate to the Biobank. Samples will be taken alongside any samples you are giving as part of your clinical care or we may ask to access any leftover clinical samples after they are no longer needed by the hospital.

We are also looking for healthy volunteers aged 16+ to donate to the Cardiff University Biobank. We collect samples of blood, urine and/or saliva, which are crucial in medical research. They allow researchers to make direct comparisons with samples from patients with diseases. This is why we need to build up a large collection of healthy volunteer samples for researchers to access.

We hold regular donation sessions at the Biobank.

Please email cubiobank@cardiff.ac.uk if you would like to be added to our database of healthy volunteers. We will then be able to let you know the dates and times of future clinic collections where you can donate samples to the Biobank at your convenience.

Donor feedback

Donor, 47, during saliva and blood donation visit

So much of our work would not be possible without the support of our donors. Donors are treated with the utmost respect and dignity and we strive to make donating at the Cardiff University Biobank a simple and enjoyable experience. We ask all our donors to complete an anonymous feedback form to allow us to improve our donation process. The feedback from all donations is overwhelmingly positive with 100% of donors confirming they would be happy to donate again in the future.

A typical donation is shown below:

1. Book

Book appointment using the booking app

2. Information

Receive the information sheet and consent form via email

3. Visit

Attend appointment and discuss donation with a Biobank consenter

4. Consent

Give consent for the donation by signing a consent form

5. Donate

Donate samples which are usually blood and saliva

6. Questionnaire

Complete a health questionnaire whilst enjoying tea and biscuits!

Protecting your data

Any data will be held by the Biobank whilst still required for research, and then for 15 years after this point unless a different retention time is required by the funder or clinical trial.

Data will be stored to annotate samples stored in the Biobank. All data when given to research projects will be given in an anonymous form. No donor identifiable information will be given to researchers. Data could be provided to research projects from academic institutions like universities as well as commercial companies such as drug companies.

The controller of any data held about our donors is Cardiff University. Learn more about data protection at the University.

The Biobank's Data Protection contact is: