Although progress has been made in understanding the development of chronic diseases and cancer in the last 20 years, we still have a lot to learn if we are to detect diseases sooner and improve the treatments available for affected people in the future. Many of our research projects use blood, body fluids, tissues or cells to help us understand what is wrong. In order to help with our research, in Newcastle we are co-ordinating a local collection of stored blood, fluids and tissues, taken at the time of routine tests or planned operations, but which are extra to those needed for diagnosis.