How did you hear about the UK Biobank (UKB) user group?
I think that I first heard about the user group Summer 2023. It was advertised in an email from Research IT. . I’d been using the UKB for a few years, but mostly in isolation from other users at Manchester. I was keen to hear about research using the resource from others from the university.
What is your role at the University and how does it interact with the user group?
I’m Research Fellow in the Division of Immunology, Immunity to Infection and Respiratory Medicine, School of Biological Sciences. Much of my work involves large cohort resources like UK Biobank and Our Future Health and exploring how working night shifts (or other disruptions to your circadian clock) affects asthma risk. So the user group is a natural fit as a way to keep up to date with the latest research from UoM researchers using UKB, the latest updates from UK Biobank themselves and hopefully provide a jumping on point for newer users to get support/advice.
How did you get into your domain?
I did a PhD in Statistics and Operational Research at Lancaster University and wanted to apply my technical skills to more applied areas. Biology was a great fit as there was lots of large, messy data sets to grapple with. To complement the biomedical ‘omic data sets we were analysing we pivoted to also look at large population datasets to answer our hypotheses.
What does your role in the user group involve?
My main role, alongside the other group leads is planning quarterly meetings featuring a range of speakers (both from UoM and further afield) and helping to maintain the Teams space
What would you like to see the user group doing over the next 12 months?
Over the next 12 months I would like to see the group to continue to host meetings and events showcasing the diversity of data within the UK Biobank as well as the amazing research produced by UoM researchers.
I’d also like to see an increased focus on connecting researchers. I think having the Teams page in particular is a great place for researchers to connect and support one another. I don’t utilise it enough myself, but I’d like that to change.
Lastly I think that we can be driven more by the needs of group members (and potential future group members). We really want to hear suggestions for future group activities from the UKB user community – it could be speaker, training or event suggestions.
What do you hope to come out of the user group?
I think that the UoM UKB users group can help to increase collaboration between researchers across the university, provide support for existing users of UKB in maximising what they get from the data. And lastly provide support to researchers just starting to use (or thinking about using) the resource. Breaking down the barriers to hopefully encourage more people to use it and start producing impactful research quicker.
How can members of the user group support you / get involved?
We would love to hear ideas on future sessions; both from members who have attended sessions, but also from those who haven’t. What topics do you want covered? What support do you need? What would encourage you to attend the next meeting?
Also I’m always excited to hear about the latest research. It could be presenting at one of the meetings, but equally could be just sharing on the Teams page. It might not even be your research you want to share, just something exciting you’ve noticed from the latest literature.
Feel free to message/email either myself, Nils, Charlotte, Will or Andrew or post up on the teams channel.
What do you enjoy most about the user group?
I really enjoy hearing from people who are passionate about the data and best it can be used to make meaningful contributions to increasing our understanding of health and how we can use this knowledge to improve lives.
Fun fact?
UK Biobank is in the process of moving their headquarters to Manchester Science Park, due to be there for this summer. This will hopefully lead to opportunities for greater conversation and collaboration between their 350 strong team and University of Manchester researchers!!
Combined with the UKB steering group at the University this should result in a powerful tri-fector that should help facilitate high quality research from UoM researchers.
To find out more about the UoM UK Biobank user group visit the Communities page.