The Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS) is a large population-based prospective cohort study initiated in 1996. Approximately 75,000 Chinese women who lived in Shanghai were recruited into the study. In addition to survey data, blood and urine samples were collected from most study participants at the baseline recruitment. This cohort of women has been followed for cause-specific mortality and site-specific cancer incidence. The resources from this study have been used to support multiple projects that investigate genetic and other biomarkers as well as lifestyle factors for the risk and/or prognosis of cancers and other chronic diseases. The SWHS is jointly conducted by scientists at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Shanghai Cancer Institute and the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

A detailed description of cohort methodology and characteristics can be found in this paper: Wei Zheng, Wong-Ho Chow, Gong Yang, Fan Jin, Nathaniel Rothman, Aaron Blair, Hong-Lan Li, Wanqing Wen, Bu-Tian Ji, Qi Li, Xiao-Ou Shu, Yu-Tang Gao. The Shanghai Women's Health Study: rationale, study design, and baseline characteristics. Am J Epidemiol. 2005 Dec 1;162(11):1123-31. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwi322. Epub 2005 Oct 19.

Investigators who are interested in using cohort data or/and biological samples are required to register and submit an application.