The LHA has robust governance mechanisms to ensure that all our activities meet the highest standards. Our Steering Committee and a Risk Management Sub-Committee were established in 2008 to ensure that:

• Unit activities meet the highest standards of ethical practice in epidemiological research
• Ethical, scientific, financial, health and safety and intellectual property matters are properly executed under the leadership and management of the Director
• Policies and procedures are in place to safeguard the reputation of the study, the interests of study members and the security of the data
• The scientific potential of NSHD is maximised through the provision of scientific advice to the team and their collaborators and by ensuring that policies and procedures are in place that facilitate data discovery and use by bona fide researchers
• The potential for NSHD research findings to improve human health is maximised

The role of the Steering Committee is to take a high level strategic view of current and future Unit activities. The Risk Management Sub-Committee takes a more operational view of these activities focusing on the two main types of risk:

1. financial and business risks and opportunities - arising from, but not limited to, infrastructure provision, information technology services, DNA and tissue management, ethics, intellectual property, knowledge transfer, human resources (including health and safety and capacity building), and MRC-wide strategies and policies, and

1. risks to the reputation or interests of NSHD, UCL, or to MRC more widely, or to study member participation arising from but not limited to the collection and use of NSHD data