The city of Liverpool lies at the centre of one of the UK’s largest urban areas. Originally a port, it developed into the UK’s most important city after London during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool has a rich cultural history, but socioeconomic discrepancies led to it becoming a deprived area, with associated health burdens. However, expert research and innovation in health has clustered around this. The city has a world-class university which supports specialist health resources like The University of Liverpool Biobanking Facility. This important biobank, which now incorporates one of the oldest tissue banks in the UK, provides an invaluable resource for researchers who investigate the molecular mechanisms of medical conditions with a view to developing new treatments. The biobank staff work closely with researchers to not only expand scientific knowledge on health conditions, such as cancer, but advance medicine worldwide.