Research and testing that uses human tissues donated by patients during standard medical interventions has already led to improvements in treatment. It is recognised that it will be essential for the future developments in personalised medicine (Hewitt RE. Current Opinion in Oncology 2011, 23:112–119). However, the tissue is only useful to researchers and treatment developers if provided in an optimal way. Biospecimens (human tissue samples and associated clinical data) are a central component of translational research and experimental medicine, contributing towards future stratified medical treatments. Providing high quality and robust biospecimens promotes cutting edge research delivering evidence-based improvements in patient care, as well attracting external academic and private sector collaboration. Equally important is the collection of pseudo-anonymised patient information and precise tissue collection protocols. UCL has the highest concentration of biomedical research in Europe, with a patient catchment area of 4 million attending highly specialised research intensive hospitals. A research hub called Tissue Access for Patient Benefit (TAPb: www.ucl.ac.uk/tapb ) is currently under development based around the provision of tissue, research and regulatory-compliant infrastructure from these institutions. The strategies are linked with those from UCL Biobank ( www.ucl.ac.uk/biobank ), which as a research-licensed biobank, facilitates excellence in scientific and regulatory-compliant delivery. It is sponsored by the university (UCL) and the associated Hospital Trusts to deliver a translational research pathway which can be replicated in partner hospitals across North London in the first instance, and then in future to surrounding satellite sites around the South East of UK, and beyond. It will integrate the large and diverse patient population, high quality research and existing support facilities to provide researchers a single point of contact for accessing ethically approved tissue samples. Importantly, researchers have the option of applying for ethical approval of their projects through the existing local ethical review board that is linked with the consent pathway within each hospital. Results will be presented on the initial activities. Currently the TAPb project is running a two-year single site feasibility study at the Royal Free Hospital, which will then be expanded across each UCLP hospital. The business model is based around costs for providing the service to be charged to the end user/researcher at a not-for-profit, full cost recovery rate, which covers: research ethical approval, patient consent, contractual frameworks, tissue collection, sample processing, sample and data storage, regulatory reporting and provision of relevant clinical data. Identified ‘pinch points’ will be highlighted. Transparent itemisation will allow end users to choose which services they wish to engage within the pathway; public and professional opinion-seeking meetings have been held to gauge a wider understanding and provide education on health-care implications of these strategies. The information gained will be delivered as a Quality and Information System capable of easy web access, external peer review and audit, as well as a sustained translational research service. Source of funding: We acknowledge support provided by joint grants from UCL Enterprise Office , UCL Business, UCL Partners. Conflict of interest: None declared. b.fuller@ucl.ac.uk