Precision medicine relies on research data that reflect population diversity, yet ethnic minority groups remain under-represented in many large UK research resources. We compared UK Biobank, 100,000 Genomes Project (100k GP) and two biobanks focused on breast cancer and pancreatic cancer collections — Breast Cancer Now Biobank (BCNB) and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Tissue Bank (PCRFTB) — to assess representation, engagement and research use.

Large national resources provide scale and statistical power, while disease-focused biobanks offer greater cancer-specific granularity and improved ethnic diversity, particularly in geographically diverse regions such as North East London. Embedding diversity at the point of sample collection strengthens inclusive research and equitable precision healthcare.