UK Biobank’s Board of Directors has overall responsibility for its direction and management. An Executive Management Team, with epidemiology, clinical, management, laboratory, legal, and communications expertise, oversees the development and day-to-day management of the resource and is responsible for the staff working on the study, most of them based at its coordinating centre near Manchester, with others at the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and London. The executive team receives guidance from a Steering Committee of leading UK scientists, supported by specialist working groups advising on baseline data collection, enhanced phenotyping, follow-up and outcomes adjudication, and an international perspective is provided by an International Scientific Advisory Board (see S1 Consent Form and www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/governance/). This governance structure has facilitated effective working between scientific and management disciplines, allowing UK Biobank to respond to advice from a wide network of scientists on the most scientifically valuable design and development of the resource, with project management and implementation being the responsibility of UK Biobank’s Executive Management Team and dedicated staff.
