Ocular Oncology Biobank
Prof. Sarah Coupland, PI
Dr Helen Kalirai, custodian OOB
Dr Sam Barlow, Molecular Analyst
The University of Liverpool, Ocular Oncology Biobank (OOB) is a resource of tissue and blood samples donated by patients with eye cancer who have provided their consent for use in research. The OOB provides a simple and efficient way to collect and store samples according to regulatory requirements and it ensures that a high quality resource from patients with rare ocular tumours is available to researchers; from which they can draw substantial linked collections of material and associated clinical data.

The OOB operates under HTA Licence 12020 and HRA REC 21/NW/0139
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The Biobank is closely associated with the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Centre, one of only three specialist centres for patients with eye cancer in England. This ensures that patients with rare conditions such as ocular tumours are given the highest possible standard of care by an experienced specialist team.

Samples are used for research studies, which contribute to increasing the knowledge and understanding of eye cancer in order to improve treatment, and ultimately patient care. To date the OOB has supported 15 internal and external research studies.  Publications arising from the use of OOB biosamples and data can be found here. 
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If you would like more information about the OOB then please contact the biosample custodian:
Dr Helen Kalirai
Liverpool Ocular Oncology Research Group
Eye and Vision Sciences
University of Liverpool
Tel: 0151 794 9117
[email protected]
Consent Form
Patient Information Sheet
OOB-Supported Research

Research Supported by OOB Materials

The following internal and external research studies have used biosamples and associated clinical data from the University of Liverpool Ocular Oncology Biobank (OOB).

Internal Internal Research Studies

Development of cell-based in vitro and in vivo models of uveal melanoma

Eye Tumour Research Charitable Funds
  • Aughton K, et al. Characterization of Uveal Melanoma Cell Lines and Primary Tumor Samples in 3D Culture. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2020;9(7):39. doi: 10.1167/tvst.9.7.39

Characterisation of primary uveal melanoma immune microenvironment and its influence on outcome

North West Cancer Research
  • Figueiredo CR, et al. Loss of BAP1 expression is associated with an immunosuppressive microenvironment in uveal melanoma. J Pathol. 2020;250(4):420–439. doi: 10.1002/path.5384

Identification of biomarkers of metastatic disease in uveal melanoma using proteomic analyses

Pathological Society PhD Studentship
  • Aughton K, et al. Revealing the structural microenvironment of high metastatic risk uveal melanomas following decellularisation. Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):26811. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78171-2

Enhancing Prognostication in Uveal Melanoma

Dept. of Mathematics & Various Funders
  • Jones H, et al. Vascular Lakes in Uveal Melanoma and Their Association With Outcome. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2022;11(3):32. doi: 10.1167/tvst.11.3.32
  • Sabat-Pościech D, et al. Aggressive uveal melanoma displays a high degree of centrosome amplification. J Pathol Clin Res. 2022;8(4):383–394. doi: 10.1002/cjp2.272
  • Aughton K, et al. Investigating the Role of DUSP4 in Uveal Melanoma. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2022;11(12):13. doi: 10.1167/tvst.11.12.13
  • Robinson H, et al. Sensitivity and Specificity of Prognostic Systems for Metastases in Uveal Melanoma. Cancers. 2023;15(9):2610. doi: 10.3390/cancers15092610
  • Zhang H, et al. Deep Learning for Predicting Nuclear BAP1 Expression of Uveal Melanoma from H&E Sections. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2020;9(2):50. doi: 10.1167/tvst.9.2.50

Molecular characteristics of metastatic liver lesions in uveal melanoma: the search for therapeutic targets

Various Funders
  • Krishna Y, et al. Transcriptome Profiling Reveals New Insights into the Immune Microenvironment in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma. Cancers. 2020;12(10):2832. doi: 10.3390/cancers12102832

Cost effectiveness modelling in uveal melanoma using LUMPO

Various Funders

Spatial Multi-Omics Profiling in Conjunctival Melanoma and its Precursor Lesions

Pathological Society
  • Ongoing

Enhancing eye cancer diagnostics via AI applied to clinical images of uveal melanoma

North West Cancer Research
  • Jackson M, et al. Differentiating Choroidal Melanomas and Nevi Using a Self-Supervised Deep Learning Model. Ophthalmol Sci. 2024;5(2):100647. doi: 10.1016/j.xops.2024.100647
External External Collaborative Studies

Proteomics of Metastatic and Non-Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

John Crabb — Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA
  • Jang GF, et al. Proteomics of Primary Uveal Melanoma: Insights into Metastasis and Protein Biomarkers. Cancers. 2021;13(14):3520. doi: 10.3390/cancers13143520

Clinical and genetic epidemiology of uveal melanoma

Kari Hemminki — Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, DKFZ, Heidelberg
  • Thomsen H, et al. Genome-wide study finds association to DNA repair gene TDP1 in uveal melanoma. Melanoma Res. 2020;30(2):166–172. doi: 10.1097/CMR.0000000000000634

GWAS identification of risk loci in uveal melanoma

Nick Hayward — Queensland, Australia
  • Ongoing

Spatial mapping of cancer evolution in uveal melanoma

David Adams — Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
  • Ongoing

Metastatic potential of small posterior uveal melanomas

Gustav Stålhammar — Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Stålhammar G, et al. Metastatic potential of small posterior uveal melanomas. Acta Ophthalmol. 2025 Aug 21. doi: 10.1111/aos.70020

Serum biomarkers

Nordic Biosciences — Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Ongoing

RNAseq and PRAME

Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH — Tübingen, Germany
  • Complete

Validation of a molecular predictive algorithm based on H&E stained whole slide images

Rob Verdijk — Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands
  • Ongoing

Chromosome 8q in Uveal Melanoma prognosis: interdependent prognostic factor or related to genomic parameters

Natasha Van Poppelen — Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam
  • Ongoing
About the OOB: The University of Liverpool Ocular Oncology Biobank operates under HTA Licence 12020 and HRA REC 21/NW/0139. To request access to biosamples or for further information, please contact the custodian Dr Helen Kalirai at [email protected].
Liverpool Ocular Oncology Research Group