MRC Open Council Meeting 2011

John Savill

Medical Research Council

12 July 2011

• Encourage and support high-quality research with the aim of improving human health.

• Produce skilled researchers.

• Advance and disseminate knowledge and technology to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness in the UK and worldwide.

• Promote dialogue with the public about medical research.

MRC mission

• Encourage and support high-quality researchwith the aim of improving human health.

• Produce skilled researchers.

• Advance and disseminate knowledge andtechnology to improve the quality of life andeconomic competitiveness in the UK and worldwide.

• Promote dialogue with the public aboutmedical research.

• Work with industry to drive economic development

Post-CSR10

MRC regional spend 2009/10

2009/10 £m % of total spend

England 531 76

Scotland 66 9

Wales 9 1

N Ireland 1.5 <1

Wales

Grants £7.1m

Studentships £1.7m

South West England

Grants £12.3m

Studentships £2.3m

2010 Spending Review

• Overall UK science resource budget maintained in cash terms at £4.6 billion a year

• MRC research spend maintained in real terms

• Commitment budget £375m per annum

• MRC capital figures from 2012/13 to 2014/15 are indicative

• Not shown:– Depreciation and impairments (total £188m over the four-year

period)– Capital contributions earmarked for the MRC LMB and the Francis

Crick Institute

2010/11baseline

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 Total

Resource £546m £536m £546m £560m £575m £2,217m

Capital £135m £33m £29m £31m £31m £124m

Current major MRC investments in Wales and South West England

• Cardiff University– 1 MRC Centre– SARTRE (Cardiff/Bristol)– Programme grants in immunology and infections,

neurosciences, vision and public health

• University of Bristol– 2 MRC Centres– ALSPAC– Programme grants in neurosciences, public health and

ageing

• Universities of Southampton, Exeter and Plymouth– MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit – trial grants in mental health and neurosciences

Molecular and Cellular

Medicine Board

MRC strategy and delivery

Strategy Board

Population and Systems

Medicine Board

Infections and Immunity

Board

Neurosciences and Mental

Health Board

Population Health Sciences Group

Translational Research Group

Global Health Group

Training and Careers Group

Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme

Methodology

Panel

MRCMRCT

NIHR

Patients and carers

UK Government Departments

OSCHR

Medical charities

ParliamentariansPolicy-makers

Industry

International

Public

Research Councils

Research community

Universities

NHS

Learned societies

UK Clinical Research Collaboration

Partnership working

Technology Strategy Board

NIHRMRC

HM Treasury

DH

Devolved Administrations

Funding flowPolicy input

BIS

OSCHR

Coordinated public sectorhealth research strategy

Research

Discovery and exploratory research Application and delivery research

MRC lead NIHR lead

Pharmacogenomics

Animal/human models

Regenerative medicine

Genetics/genomics

Structural biology

Imaging

Systems medicine

Global health

Ageing: life course

Stem cells

Infections

Population science

Experimental medicine

Methodology

Global health

Stratified medicine

Public health

E-health

HTA Trials

EME Trials(Late stage III)

Programmes in

Applied research

Research for Patient Benefit

Invention for Innovation

Service Delivery and Organisation

CSO (Scotland)

NISCHR (Wales)

HSCNI (Northern Ireland)

Current focuses of MRC activity

• Huge scope for research linking health-related records – Between routine datasets– To primary research data

• MRC-led mapping exercise on behalf of major funders to review UK capability in e-health informatics research– Need to build skills in complex data linkage and analysis

• MRC-led call for centres in e-health informatics research– 10 funding partners

Building sustainable skills in e-health informatics research

e-health

e-health informatics research centres

e-health informatics research centres

e-health

Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Approaches

– transplantation: stem cells, progenitors or tissue– stimulation of dormant repair processes– cells as delivery vehicles: genes, cytokines, small molecules– engineered cells / synthetic biology

MRC StrategyMaximise competitiveness and impact by:• Giving a high priority to fundamental stem cell research• Furthering translation• Building further capacity• Developing joint strategies for academic industry collaboration• Develop partnerships with other funders (UK & abroad)

Next stage: MRC-led Forward Look to be published late 2011

Neuroscience & Mental Health

Major initiatives:

• Neurodegeneration and dementia

• Mental Health

• Addiction

Underpinning support for:

• Brain banking

• PET imaging

International Partnerships:

• Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN)

• EU Joint Programming in Neurodegeneration (JPND)

The Francis Crick Institute

• MRC, Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, University College London

• Due to open 2015

• Scientific Vision and Research Strategy published:

“Its goal will be to understand the basic biology underlying human health, driving forward better treatment and prevention of the most significant diseases affecting people today.”

THANK YOU