China Kadoorie Biobank of 0.5 million adults

Chronic diseases, such as stroke, heart disease and cancer, are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Understanding their causes in different populations can lead to improvements in risk prediction, treatments and prevention. One way of doing so is through blood-based prospective cohort studies, in which large numbers of apparently healthy people from the general population are interviewed and measured, and have blood collected and tested for genetic and non-genetic biomarkers. The health status of participants is then monitored prospectively to see who develops what disease.

We have established a large prospective study of 512,000 adults in China. We will maintain and enhance the study over the next five years, including careful identification and classification of different diseases. We also plan to make this resource available to the wider research community, so that new discoveries will emerge that will benefit people worldwide.