T1023 - Understanding Society Wave 16: Blood Sample Analysis

Descriptions

Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) is a longitudinalsocial survey of households and individuals living in the UK. For Understanding Society, datacollection began in January 2009 and participants are interviewed annually. In the secondand third waves (2010-12) a wide range of objective health measures were collected by anurse, including venous blood samples from which we produced a range of analytes,extracted DNA and produced genetic and epigenetic data. This data has been extensivelyused by the public health and social science research communities. This contract covers awave of bio-data collection at Wave 16 (2024-26), with the emphasis being on participantscollecting samples/measurements themselves. The survey is designed and managed by theInstitute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex.At Wave 16 of Understanding Society (2024-2026) we are planning to collect a range ofbiomarkers. This includes asking participants for their permission to send them a kit toenable them to collect a capillary blood sample and return it to a laboratory for analysis, withsome results being fed-back to participants (HDL, HbA1c, Total Cholesterol), othersprovided to the research community and blood stored for future use.Collection of the capillary blood sample should enable measurement of analytes that overlapwith those collected at Waves 2 and 3 from venous blood.The successful contractor is responsible for kit fulfilment, sample analysis, reporting