UK Biobank International Sanctions Policy

UK Biobank is committed to ensuring that the data within the UK Biobank resource - provided by our 500,000 participants - is used solely by bona fide researchers for health-related studies which are in the public interest. All researchers and research institutions which register with UK Biobank are reviewed by trained members of the Access Team. During review, the history of the researcher and their institution are assessed to ensure they have a credible track record of conducting and publishing professional, ethical and robust health-related research.

UK Biobank also screens individual researchers and institutions to assess whether they are subject to the sanctions regime of the United Kingdom (UK) Government, United States (US) Government or European Union (EU).  If they are, then they are not permitted to access the UK Biobank resource. This screening takes place upon registration and ongoing monitoring means we can take action if an individual or institution becomes subject to sanctions at a later date.

UK Biobank is unable to accept registrations from individual researchers who are either effectively located in or whose institution is based in the following jurisdictions:

• Republic of Belarus
• Republic of Cuba
• Islamic Republic of Iran
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea
• Russian Federation
• Syrian Arab Republic
• Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

This list is subject to change. We review our data security and access policies on an ongoing basis.