Network Summer 2005 News, Views and Information from the Medical Research Council
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network Summer 2005 News, views and information from the Medical Research Council In this issue MRC announces plans for Funding schemes review strengthening UK clinical research A look at year one of the new grant schemes page 4 The Spring edition of Network referred to how the MRC’s scientific strategy is shifting in Regulatory emphasis towards a more translational approach. Now, following publication of the MRC’s Delivery statement Plan in May and the Government’s 2004 Spending MRC publishes policy Review allocations, Network is able to report on on research regulation the practical steps that the MRC is taking to page 8 implement its clinical research agenda. Research Increased investment governance In recent years the MRC has spent around a third working group of its funds on clinical and public health research Units pool resources and training – around £127m per annum. But from to develop practical 2005 onwards this amount is set to rise, to about £162m by 2007/08, following the MRC’s allocation guidance for use in the 2004 Spending Review (see table overleaf). MRC-wide This significantly increased commitment results page 9 from £25m new money from the spending review specifically earmarked for clinical and public health Unit profile research during 2006-08, and from the MRC’s special redeployment of a further £37m of its existing MRC units and centres funds from 2005 onwards. The importance of partnership working in public The MRC’s ambitions for clinical research make health science When drawing up its Delivery Plan, the MRC close partnership working more important than page 10 took care to listen to the views of the scientific ever. For example, the MRC/Health Departments community and other key stakeholders. The plan Joint Health Delivery Group that was set up in Global research stresses the need to speed up the rate at which 2004 to enhance partnership working across medical science generates health benefits, so public funders of medical research, and the MRC’s ethics clinical and public health research feature work with government agencies and funders in Addressing key issues strongly, as does the importance of translating the charity, public and industrial sectors through with our African basic research findings. For although the MRC the UK Clinical Research Collaboration research partners funds a vast range of scientific activities, all share (UKCRC). These initiatives will help to ensure page 14 one central aim – the need to improve and that all the UK’s public funders of clinical and maintain human health.Achieving this goal relies translational research achieve maximum synergy on clinical research and its related disciplines to in the science they support. Plus translate discoveries from basic research into New faces, research new and improved treatments, and to feed clinical MRC objectives for clinical research centre news, board research findings back to the laboratory.The • Increased support for clinical trials and their and award MRC has funded 10 new clinical trials since development, including evaluation of public deadlines, research November 2004 – evidence that its translational health interventions. roundup, MRC drive was already starting to gather momentum • Calls for proposals in experimental and people and more… last year. translational medicine. For example, as part >> page 2 2 MRC | network Summer 2005 << Clinical research of an initiative with its UKCRC partners, the MRC has allocated 2004 Spending Review – MRC allocation £15m for a call for proposals in experimental medicine in September The MRC’s allocation under the 2004 Spending Review (SR2004) rises from a baseline 2005. (including non-cash items) of £478.8m in 2005/06 to £546.5m in 2007/08. The 2005/06 • Capacity building, particularly by financial year is the last year of the previous Spending Review period (SR2002) and is the increasing the numbers of clinical base year for SR2004. The table below shows the resource (non-capital) allocations for training fellows at pre- and post- 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08. doctoral level, and encouraging more applications from allied health A proportion of the MRC’s extra resource allocation (£42.4m) is to meet additional costs professionals and those in following introduction of full economic costing (FEC) in universities. An additional £7.9m underpinning non-clinical disciplines. has been provided to help the MRC to implement the recommendations of the Roberts Also building capacity in population Review. The remainder (£5m extra in 2006/07 and £20m in 2007/08) will be used to take health sciences to strengthen public forward the clinical research agenda. The MRC’s capital allocation also increases during the health research capacity, and SR2004 period from £34.6m to £41.9m. developing a cadre of research translators. Resource allocation £m 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 • Increased support for large-scale epidemiological studies. Resource allocation 444.2 465.2 504.6 • More focus on co-ordination of Less funds for FECs1 14.4 27.9 existing investments: building Less Roberts funds2 1.5 6.4 methodological networks across MRC Less non-cash items 16.1 16.1 22.1 units, and establishing an MRC Net cash funding 428.1 433.13 448.13 institute for population health sciences Increase over 2005/06 5.0 20.0 to draw together existing MRC investments and create a focus for 1 FECs = full economic costs. new research and support for public 2 Allocated to Research Councils in response to the Roberts Review, SET for Success, 2002. 3 health elements of the UKCRC. Totals do not agree due to rounding errors. Translational research About a third of the MRC’s current to disease.All of these activities will be Training expenditure is on research linked to clinical co-ordinated with the MRC’s plans for To address the current shortage of practice or population studies.To help other areas of research, including clinical researchers, the MRC is working strengthen translation of basic research infections, biomarkers, regenerative closely with the DoH Research Capacity findings into health benefits for people, the medicine and translational brain sciences. Building Programme and the MRC will be increasing its support for And in order to promote new and existing implementation group for the experimental medicine, and for clinical approaches to translational research, the UKCRC/Modernising Medical Careers trials and other population-level studies – MRC will be encouraging the exchange of Subcommittee.The additional funds for example, on interactions between ideas, methods and people between the received in SR2004 will enable the MRC environment, behaviour and predisposition basic and clinical areas. to increase the number of clinical Population sciences Clinical research glossary Investigation undertaken in populations (e.g. descriptive epidemiology, cohorts, randomised trials, and case-control designs involving people) Clinical research to identify mechanisms of health or disease, or to test the validity and Research based on humans and designed to answer questions about importance of new discoveries, interventions, or treatments. health and disease. In addition to direct examination of individual patients and populations, it includes the study of biological samples and personal Translational research data deriving from the individuals concerned. It also includes research on The process of the bidirectional transfer of knowledge between basic volunteers, or on populations of apparently healthy individuals, where work (in the laboratory and elsewhere) with that in the whole patient. such study relates to a disease process being investigated. Translational research ranges from exploring fundamental scientific questions and applying the resulting knowledge to the patient, to Experimental medicine bringing insights from studies in the patient back to the laboratory Investigation undertaken in humans, relating where appropriate to in model systems for further exploration.These efforts will lead to model systems, to identify mechanisms of pathophysiology or disease, better understanding of the mechanisms of disease and the or to demonstrate proof-of-concept evidence of the validity and maintenance of health, as well as to new methods of diagnosing, importance of new discoveries or treatments. treating and preventing disease. Summer 2005 MRC | network 3 Key concepts in medical research research fellowships it can award at Discovery Science for Health PhD level – from the current level of 30 per year to 50 by 2007. Implementation & The MRC will also be providing funds Delivery to enhance research capacity in nursing Translational Research Translational and allied health professions, and to Clinical Research increase training in the disciplines that underpin clinical, health services and Experimental Population public health research, such as health Medicine Sciences economics and statistics. Implementing strategy Basic Research The MRC has set up two Council subgroups to oversee the implementation of the strategic aims The term “medical research” encompasses “translational research”.“Experimental outlined in the Delivery Plan – the a broad range of activities within basic and medicine” crosses the boundaries Clinical Research Oversight Group, clinical research, all aimed at improving or between basic and clinical research; there chaired by Professor John Savill, and maintaining human health. In simple terms, is also the analogous discipline of the Public Health Research Oversight “clinical research” involves research on “population sciences”