The Early Life Cross-Linkage in Research, Born in South London (eLIXIR BiSL) project uses opt-out consent to collect routine maternity and neonatal clinical patient data, mental health data and primary care data. It is also collecting blood samples from mothers to build a unique bioresource that can be used to investigate the underlying biological processes involved in pregnancy and those influenced by environmental factors. NIHR Maudsley BRC and King’s College London researchers are already using this valuable resource.
With over 80,000 pregnancies now included in the dataset and funding from organisations such as the Medical Research Council (MRC), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), eLIXIR is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable and granular resources for early-life research. Since launching the team has expanded nationwide, now collaborating on more than twenty active studies from investigating COVID-19’s impact on fetal brain development, to understanding ethnic differences in maternal mental health.
Furthermore, as the eLIXIR children,and their mothers, grow older, the team continues to expand the database. They are currently in the process of linking to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and the National Pupil database (NPD), to create an even more comprehensive picture of how early-life health influences long-term educational and social outcomes.
Get Involved
Collaboration is at the core of eLIXIR’s work. If you are interested in using the database for research or want to learn more, please contact the eLiXIR-BiSL team at Lucilla.poston@kcl.ac.uk, Study Principal Investigator, tisha.dasgupta@kcl.ac.uk, Study Coordinator, or through the HDRUK website, Dataset – Health Data Research Innovation Gateway.
