Over the next few months, we plan to launch an exciting new aspect of Our Future Health. 

We’ll start by sending letters or emails to a small group of our volunteers, inviting them to take part in new health research opportunities. We then plan to invite more people to different research opportunities in the future. 

The invitations will help researchers to conduct ambitious new health research, leading to new discoveries that help people live longer and healthier lives. 

Here’s how the invitations work, and what our volunteers can expect…

At a glance: 5 things to know

1. When you join Our Future Health, you consent to receiving invitations to new research opportunities in the future 

2. Invitations will always be sent by Our Future Health, because health researchers don’t have access to your personal details, like your name and contact information. 

3. You’re free to say yes or no. Your response has no impact on your participation in Our Future Health. 

4. You might learn new information about your health – but only if you first tell us you want it. We won’t tell you anything you don’t want to know. 

5. Not everyone will receive invitations to new research. We’ll only connect you with research where you can make a difference. 

‘An incredible opportunity for volunteers and researchers’

“These invitations to new research are a really exciting part of Our Future Health,” says Emily Binning, our Head of Technology Strategy. Emily is part of a team of people at Our Future Health who have been developing our capacity to facilitate new studies by sending research invitations.

“For our volunteers, it could mean taking part in a new research project that really makes a difference. It’s a big opportunity. You’ve already done a wonderful thing by joining Our Future Health – now you can help researchers even more, by taking part in additional research that is relevant to you.” 

Emily explains that when people volunteer to join Our Future Health, they share their health information for research purposes. They also give their consent to be re-contacted in the future and invited to new research opportunities. 

“Health researchers can apply to work with Our Future Health, to find people who might be of particular interest to their area of study. 

“Let’s say I’m a heart disease researcher and I want to conduct a study with 2,000 people who are aged 40-49 and have a history of high blood pressure. Our Future Health can help me find people who could be a good fit for my study. 

“I can then apply to work with Our Future Health to send invitations to those people,” says Emily.  

“You could think of Our Future Health as a bit like a scientific match-making service. We’re helping to connect health researchers with the volunteers they need to conduct ground-breaking new research.” 

“It means our volunteers can receive new opportunities to make a difference in health research.” 

How the invitations work – and who runs the research

Before we can send out an invitation, a lot of work will go into vetting and approving the research. 

“Researchers must prove to us that their work is for the public good,” says Emily. “We will only invite our volunteers to new studies that can improve healthcare.” 

Emily says the new research opportunities will be run by researchers from a variety of organisations. “Some will be led by NHS researchers, some by academics, some by life sciences companies, some by charities. 

“The initial invitation to a study will always be sent by Our Future Health, not researchers,” says Emily. “That’s important. It’s a big principle for us that we never share your contact details with a researcher unless you say we can. 

“Additionally, invitations to new research opportunities might provide volunteers with new information about their health. I want to emphasise that Our Future Health will always ask for your consent before you receive any new health information from us. 

“Normally, invitations will be sent by letter or email. We’ll provide you with some detail about the specific research project and ask whether you would like to know more. 

“It’s completely up to you whether you choose to take part in the new research. If you choose not to take part, we won’t contact you again about that particular opportunity.

“Either way, you’ll continue to be an Our Future Health volunteer. The information you’ve already shared with us will continue to help researchers find new ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases.” 

What the research could involve

The research projects will vary in terms of what volunteers are asked to do,” says Emily.

“For example, one research project might need volunteers to fill out a questionnaire that provides more detail about their symptoms or daily habits. Another might need volunteers to undergo a scan or medical test. Another might invite you to join a trial for a new drug or treatment. 

Emily says these new research opportunities will offer people the chance to make a positive impact. “It could lead to a new treatment, or an improved NHS screening programme that supports people like you.” 

What happens now?

 “A small number of volunteers will receive invitations over the next few months,” says Emily. “We’ll be inviting them to take part in one of two research opportunities. 

“We’re using these first invitations to find out more about how people want to receive communications from us. We want to make sure our research invitations consider the needs of our volunteers and explain everything in a clear and understandable way. We’ve already completed lots of research with the public about our invitation process and we’ll be doing lots more in the future, to make sure we get this right.  

“We will begin inviting people to more research opportunities in 2026. 

“For now, if you are interested in receiving invitations and you are already an Our Future Health volunteer, you can log into your account and check that your home address and contact details are correct. It means you will have the best chance of receiving invitations to take part in ground-breaking new health research in the future.” 

A health researcher explains the power of new invitations

“Researchers like me are genuinely enthused by the opportunity to invite Our Future Health volunteers to take part in new research,” says Anthony Khawaja, Professor at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

“Finding participants for new research can be challenging. For example, researchers might want to run studies with people who are at risk of developing a certain disease later in life – but those people are hard to find.

“Our Future Health can change that. The programme has over 2.5m volunteers who have consented to receive invitations to new research – an absolutely fantastic number.

“Researchers can work with Our Future Health to invite people to join new research opportunities. And we can make sure the people we invite represent the UK population, because Our Future Health is doing such a good job of building a diverse volunteer group. That way, new discoveries can work for everyone.

“I believe Our Future Health gives us the next stepping stone on the pathway to preventative healthcare. It’s a chance to support a pioneering new wave of healthcare that will help to tackle the onset of disease, for generations to come.”