T1184 - IP20 Blood Sample Collection

Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) is a longitudinal social survey of households and individuals living in the UK. Data collection began in January 2009 and participants are interviewed annually. In Waves 2 and 3 of the Study (2010-13) a wide range of objective health measures were collected via a nurse visit, including venous blood samples from which we produced a range of analytes, extracted DNA and produced genetic and epigenetic data. A similar exercise is being undertaken at Wave 16 (2024-26), where the nurse visit has been replaced by participants collecting samples/measurements themselves.

This contract covers the data collection and analysis for a further bio-data collection on the Study’s Innovation Panel (2027) ahead of a potential roll out on the main Study sample at Wave 22 (2030-32). The Study is designed and managed by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex (“the University”). The Principal Investigator of the Study is Professor Michaela Benzeval. Survey fieldwork is carried out by Verian. The Study is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and pseudo-anonymised data are shared with broader research community.