Quality in Organ Donation v3 (Renewal)

• Research type

  Research Tissue Bank

• IRAS ID

  324365

• Research summary

  Quality in Organ Donation (QUOD)

• REC name

  North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/NW/0097

• Date of REC Opinion

  16 Jun 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion

• Data collection arrangements

  Biological samples (blood, urine and tissues) are obtained from organ donors. Tissue samples collected include kidney, ureter, liver, bile duct, pancreas, spleen, heart and lung. Biopsies taken will not affect the use of the organs for transplantation.
  Whole organs (heart, lung, pancreas, liver, kidney) are used for research only when not able to be transplanted.
  Samples are anonymised and identified only with the ODT number and the month and year of birth of the donor. Consent/authorisation is obtained from relatives or those in a qualifying relationship as defined by the Human Tissue Act. Written information is provided by the Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation.
  Samples are collected from 61 hospitals across the UK, 41 of which are located in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where a HTA licence (12608) covering the removal of biological samples from deceased individuals is in place. The other 20 hospitals are located in Scotland where the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act does not require a HTA licence for these activities.
  Upon collection, samples are transferred to 1 of the 9 QUOD regional centres in the UK, where they are initially processed. Tissue samples are transferred to the QUOD hub in Oxford for further processing within 7 days of being collected, due to HTA regulations. Serum/plasma/urine samples (non relevant HTA material) are periodically transferred to Oxford.
  In Oxford, samples are held under the University of Oxford HTA licence 12217 or transferred for long term storage to the UK Biocentre facility in Oxford under HTA licence 12624.
  Whole organs offered for research by NHSBT can be accepted by QUOD for immediate use in approved research projects. Samples can be collected and stored in the biobank, as described above.
  Clinical data is provided by NHSBT and includes donor history, organ retrieval, photographic imaging, organ preservation, transplant and outcome data.

• Research programme

  QUOD is the national bioresource for deceased donation in the UK. QUOD facilitates research by collecting blood, urine and tissue samples of appropriately consented and/or authorised organ donors, the subsequent processing and storage of these samples in a central biobank, resulting in the availability of a wide variety of samples and associated clinical data to researchers. QUOD aims to improve organ quality by: 1.Identifying novel biomarkers in the donor that can be used to predict outcomes after transplantation 2.Characterising pathways of injury and repair, identifying new targets for donor intervention 3.The formation of a national UK Consortium, promoting collaboration on donor management, organ retrieval and organ preservation with scientific and clinical experts The QUOD programme is a collaboration between NHSBT and academic centres, hosted by the University of Oxford and is a unique, nationwide programme encompassing all organ retrieval zones in the UK. QUOD has been operational since 2013 and has to date collected samples from over 6500 organ donors.

• Storage license

  12217

• RTBTitle

  Quality in Organ Donation (QUOD)

• Establishment organisation

  University of Oxford

• Establishment organisation address

  John Radcliffe Hospital

  Oxford

  OX3 9DU