Clinical research is at the heart of our mission to promote research that will improve and maintain health. We have a long and distinguished history of supporting a wide range of clinical research, and of training future clinical research leaders. The MRC is among the largest non-commercial funder of clinical trials in the UK, and MRC-funded clinical research over many years has made major contributions to clinical practice and public health (see History/Achievements).
Clinical trials
Our funding for clinical trials comes to around £18m a year (2001 figure, excluding cancer trials in long-term follow-up) and we currently fund 183 trials covering all aspects of medicine from prevention and diagnosis to drug and primary healthcare treatments for a broad range of health problems (see box).
Strengthening UK clinical research
We remain committed to applying the research we fund to benefit people’s health and well-being, and to working with our partners to strengthen UK clinical research. There is a need for more support and investment in clinical research, particularly in three main areas:
- increasing the number of highly capable clinical researchers;
- targeting key areas in clinical research where more support is needed, including investigating disease mechanisms at the whole person level; translational research; and clinical trials;
- helping to translate research findings more effectively into clinical practice and policy to benefit patients.
Working with its partners, the MRC is calling for the Government to prioritise these areas in its investment decisions.
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MRC Clinical trials
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