Coordinated Initiative in Experimental Medicine
Under the Experimental Medicine funding initiative, UKCRC
Partners have provided three strands of funding:
The first of these is to support research
projects and programmes and the other two are to support research
infrastructure.
Support for Research
Supported by the Medical Research Council
(MRC) and the British Heart Foundation
In 2005 the MRC provided
£15 million investment in grants focusing on the early
testing of novel treatments or interventions in human participants.
A total of 200 full applications were received, spanning a wide
range of disease areas, and the funding decisions were made in
March 2006.
Details of the
28 awards made under the scheme can be found
on the MRC’s website.
Building on the earlier initiative, the MRC launched
a second wave of funding for ‘proof of
concept’ studies to continue to strengthen experimental medicine
research in the UK. Funding decisions will be made at the end of
March 2008 and applicants will be advised of the outcome in April
2008.
The British Heart Foundation partnered with the MRC in the
second Call for Proposals which provided further funding of at
least £15 million. This is one of a suite of initiatives and
funding opportunities available for experimental medicine over the
next few years. The next available funding for Experimental
Medicine is likely to be announced during 2008.
Experimental Cancer Medicine
Centres
Supported by Cancer Research UK
and the UK Health Departments.
Cancer Research UK and the UK Health
Departments, under the auspices of the National Cancer Research
Institute, provided £35 million funding for the establishment of 17
Experimental Cancer Medicine
Centres (ECMCs).
These are: Barts and the London, Birmingham,
Belfast, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial College,
Institute of Cancer Research, King’s College London,
Leeds-Bradford-Hull-York, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford,
Southampton and University College London. In addition, two further
ECMCs in Liverpool and Sheffield have been designated ECMCs in
development.
From April 2007, each ECMC will each receive
up to £2 million over 5 years, while the Centres in Development
will be awarded £150,000 per year. The support will meet
infrastructure costs for the early testing of new cancer treatments
or interventions in human participants.
More detail on these grants can be found on
the websites of
Cancer Research UK and the
Department of Health.
Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative
Supported by the Wellcome Trust, Wolfson
Foundation, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the
Medical Research Council (MRC), the Health Departments in England,
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the Health Research Board
of Ireland.
Under a competitive process managed by the
Wellcome Trust, the funding partners collectively provided £84
million of new funding under the Clinical Research Infrastructure
Initiative (CRII). This initiative was created to provide
significant new investment for clinical research infrastructure.
Priority areas targeted by the scheme include clinical research
facilities, enabling technologies (imaging, proteomics, genomics,
diagnostics, devices), capacity for early medicinal chemistry and
pharmaceutical support.
The initiative awarded funds to develop
and strengthen UK clinical research facilities in Belfast,
Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, The Institute of Cancer Research,
Imperial College London, King's College London, Manchester,
Newcastle, Oxford and University College London. In addition, a new
Clinical Research Centre was established in Dublin, jointly funded
by the Wellcome Trust and the Health Research Board of Ireland.
More detail on these grants can be found in
the
UKCRC press release.
Links:
Overview of Experimental Medicine
National Framework for Experimental
Medicine