ASPREE’s largest sub-study has collected and stored blood and urine specimens from more than12,000 participants to date. Research using these samples may result in the identification of components (‘biomarkers’), such as proteins or genes that may help predict disease or even good health, in older people.

The ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank is the first of its kind with a focus on older people. Because each sample is associated with a wealth of information about each participant’s health, future researchers will be able to compare biosamples from those who develop older onset disease such as dementia and cancer, versus those who do not.