Find out more about our Biobanking and clinical phenotyping facilities in Wales
The Welsh Neuroscience Research Tissue Bank (WNRTB) serves as a repository of samples donated by patients and volunteers in England and Wales. The aim is to help research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of neurological disease.
The Welsh Neuroscience Research Tissue Bank is a collection of samples of human tissue and body fluids obtained from individuals with known neurological diagnoses or undergoing neurological investigations, as well as healthy volunteers from England and Wales. The aim of the tissue bank is to support research that can help find out more about what causes neurological disease, how to prevent it, and how to treat it.
The WNRTB is directed by Professor Neil Robertson with Dr Sam Loveless working as the WNRTB Co-ordinator.
Patients and volunteers can donate if they are:
*Samples of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF), brain and peripheral nerve tissue can only be obtained if part of routine clinical care. Healthy volunteers are only able to donate blood and saliva.
The WNRTB has full approval of the Wales REC3 National Research Ethics Service until 2024 [19/WA/0058] and all samples are held under a Human Tissue Authority Licence within a Cardiff University research lab within the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. The operation of the WNRTB is overseen by the WNRTB governance committee whose role is to ensure that samples are used appropriately in relevant research projects and is fully supported by the Cardiff & Vale UHB Trust and facilitated by clinical and neuroscience laboratory staff, managed by Dr. Samantha Loveless.
The Swansea Neurology Biobank (SNB) collects from volunteers across Wales and the UK. We are interested in the causes and treatment of conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.
Dr Owen Pickrell is the director of SNB and is supported by an advisory panel of clinical and academic researchers.
