Generation Scotland

Generation Scotland is a cohort study of volunteers and their families to better understand the role that genes and the environment play in health, wellbeing and disease. Recruiting since 2006, our volunteers have helped support research into a wide variety of conditions including heart disease, diabetes, chronic pain and mental health.

In September 2019, the Wellcome Trust awarded Generation Scotland £5 million to continue and expand our cohort. The funding will allow the study to be opened up to new volunteers and their families by the end of 2020, inviting anybody over the age of 12 to take part.

In response to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic Generation Scotland launched a project called CovidLife. This ongoing research is looking at the psychological, social and economic impacts of COVID-19, government lockdown measures, and post-lockdown recovery. TeenCovidLife examines the issues faced by 12-17 year olds during and after lockdown. These studies are being completed by Generation Scotland members and additional volunteers from across the UK.

The Generation Scotland team is based at the University of Edinburgh. To find out more about Generation Scotland, volunteering with us or access to our research resources please visit generationscotland.org or get in touch with the team at genscot@ed.ac.uk

Generation Scotland datasets in the Innovation Gateway