Human tissue is often used by researchers to improve their understanding of how diseases start and progress. Within Cardiff University there are over 300 research projects that use human tissue donated from patients or healthy volunteers, in addition to eight research tissue banks that help facilitate access to patient tissue.

The use of human tissue for research is regulated under the Human Tissue Act 2004 by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA). Guidance on the required HTA standards and information on donating tissue for research has been provided by the HTA and can be found on the HTA website.

In early December 2015 the HTA undertook an inspection of Cardiff University, the first since 2008.  The inspection focussed on the University-wide governance arrangements for human tissue research, led by the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, and a number of projects held under the HTA Research Licence.

Projects were inspected across the Heath and Cathays sites within the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Biosciences, Optometry & Vision Sciences and Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The inspectors were highly impressed with the facilities and people they visited at both School and College level, concluding that all applicable standards had been met.

During the feedback session, and reiterated in the report, the inspectors highlighted the following areas of good practice:

  • The robust system of governance and clear reporting line from the researcher through to the Vice Chancellor
  • The invaluable University-level support provided by the HTA Manager; of particular note were the documented procedures, training and template documentation available through the intranet
  • The crucial role of the Human Tissue Officers in providing a) local support to researchers and b) a link between the researcher and the HTA Manager
  • The impressive internal audit and adverse event reporting systems and the follow up of corrective and preventive actions from these

The human tissue research community within Cardiff University has made a substantial effort over the last few years to adopt the standards required under the Human Tissue Act and this has been reflected in the successful outcome of the inspection.