How to access brain tissue for research
The UK Brain Banks Network can supply tissue samples to academic and industry researchers. All Brain Banks in the network have approval to provide tissue samples to research projects, including those for pilot studies, based on their scientific merit and whether the proposal is likely to raise ethical issues if peer review and ethics approval has not yet been obtained. Equivalent stringency will be required of industry-funded science or work from overseas laboratories on which decisions will be made on a case by case basis.
In the future researchers will be able to search an online database that carries details of all the tissue samples available throughout the Network. Until then, researchers seeking brain tissue samples can contact the Director through the Network Co-ordinating Centre at: james.ironside@ed.ac.uk , copied to sheila.clark@ed.ac.uk .
MRC banks
MRC supports a number of brain tissue banks around the UK:
- Edinburgh Brain Banks
- London Neurodegenerative Diseases Brain Bank
- Newcastle Brain Tissue Resource
- Sheffield Brain Tissue Bank
- Thomas Willis Brain Collection, Oxford
- Brain UK, Southampton
Charity/NHS partner banks
- Cambridge Brain Bank
- Manchester Brain Bank
- Multiple Sclerosis Society and Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders
- South West Dementia Brain Bank
- Brains for Dementia Research Co-ordinating Centre
Banks outside the UK
A list of brain banks in Europe, the USA and Canada and other parts of the world is provided by the European brain banks network, BrainNet Europe.