Health and Healthcare Technologies Event University of Bath Katie Finch Medical Research Council [email protected] 12 th May 2011
Mar 28, 2015
Health and Healthcare Technologies Event
University of Bath
Katie FinchMedical Research [email protected] May 2011
MRC mission
• Encourage and support research to improve human health
• Produce skilled researchers
• Advance and disseminate knowledge and technology to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the UK and worldwide
• Promote dialogue with the public about medical research
Recent achievements
• New therapies• MRC contribution to over 10% of global pipeline of therapeutic
antibodies, including Humira®.• Clinical practice
• Compression stockings have no effect preventing DVT in stroke patients: saves NHS £7m and 320,000 nursing hours a year;
• Use of CBT in social recovery of schizophrenia patients with psychosis; review of evidence of increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Diagnostics• New cancer diagnostics based on test for minichromosome
maintenance (MCM) proteins.• Screening programmes
• Flexi-Scope bowel cancer screening to be rolled out over next four years.
• Vaccines• MenAfriVac: 40¢ meningococcal meningitis vaccine received WHO
prequalification in June 2010.
MRC funding
MRC gross research expenditure - £758.2m in 2009/10.• 279 new grants to researchers.• £366 million on grants and training awards in universities and
medical schools.• £375 million for over 500 programmes in our research units
and institutes.• Over 4,500 publications in peer-reviewed journals in 2009.• Licensing income receipts of £66.2 million:
• over £500 million total cash generated since 1998.People• 4,000 people employed in our units, institutes and centres.• Over 5,700 research active staff supported by the MRC.• £78.2 million on training and career development:
• around 350 fellows and 1,500 postgraduate students.
Partnership working
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
Regulatory bodies
MRCNIHR
HM Treasury
BIS
Devolved Administrations
Funding flowPolicy input
DH
OSCHR
Coordinated public sectorhealth research strategy
Research
MRC remit and partners
• MRC - basic research to early clinical trials• Underpinning and aetiological• Prevention• Detection and Diagnosis• Treatment development and
evaluation• Phase 1 & 2 trials
Basic research
Discovery Preclinical Early
Clinical Late
Clinical HTA
MRC
BBSRC
Medical Charities
TSB
NIHR
EME
STRATEGY UPDATE
Research Changes Lives
MRC Strategic Plan 2009-2014Over the next five years the MRC aims to support medical research which increases the pace of the transition to better health. We will achieve this through:
• Strategic Aim One: Picking research that delivers
• Strategic Aim Two: Research to people
• Strategic Aim Three: Going global
• Strategic Aim Four: Supporting scientists
Research Changes Lives
1. Picking research that delivers: Setting research priorities which are most likely to deliver improved health outcomes
• Research priority theme one: Resilience, repair and replacement• Natural protection• Tissue disease and degeneration• Mental health and wellbeing• Repair and replacement
• Research priority theme two: Living a long and healthy life• Genetics and disease• Life course perspective• Lifestyles affecting health• Environment and health
Research Changes Lives
2. Research to people: Bringing the benefits of excellent research to all sections of society• Translation of research• Regulation, ethics, governance and working with decision-makers• Communication
3. Going global: Accelerating progress in international health research• Partnerships and shaping the agenda• Global health
4. Supporting scientists: Sustaining a robust and flourishing environment for world-class medical research• Capacity• Use of population-based data• Research environment
Spending Review–key messages
• Overall Science and Research resource budget maintained at 2010/11 levels in cash terms
• MRC resource expenditure will be maintained at 2010/11 level in real terms (~10% cash increase by 2014/15)
• £220m capital to MRC from DH budget for UKCMRI construction costs
• MRC capital budget reduced by 57%
• Reform, Research Concentration, Economic Impact, Working in Partnership are all important themes on which we are expected to deliver
• All ROs are expected to manage demand
• Efficiency savings target for MRC: £53.3m by 2014/15, to be achieved in part by implementing Wakeham recommendations and pay restraint
• Both targets will be very challenging
• All MRC savings to be recycled into our science programmes
Spending Review–Impact
MRC Delivery Plan
• Strategic programmatic themes• Major activities that will rapidly deliver gains in health and
wellbeing, together with increased economic impact.• National capability
• Develop and sustain research infrastructure for delivering highest quality biomedical research, driving interdisciplinarity and engaging with partners.
• Cross-council and multidisciplinary priorities• Lead on Lifelong Health and Wellbeing and work with other
research councils on other priority challenges.• Other government initiatives
• Translational medicine, NC3Rs, Stem cells, TSB• Skills base
• Strengthen and sustain skilled researchworkforce, support future research leaders andrespond to industry needs for well-trainedresearchers.
Strategic programmatic themes
1. New frontiers in biomedical research
2. Living a long and healthy life
3. Health research is global
4. Population health sciences
• Stratified medicine• Regenerative medicine, stem
cells and tissue repair• Systems medicine
• Mental health and wellbeing• Lifestyle and behaviour:
obesity, addiction• Healthy ageing
• International leadership• Global health
• e-Health research• Population-based cohorts• Public health infections
research
Training and careers
• Development of new postdoc collaborative fellowships with industry
• Sustain support for MRC early and intermediate fellowships
• Improve the attractiveness of MRC Senior Fellowships to the best candidates
• Potentially open up MRC studentships to excellent EU students in strategic skills shortages
• Survey: signals from students and early researchers
• What is it? - turning discoveries into clinical benefits, while maintaining the basic research that drives it.
• MRC’s translational strategy is:• building on the MRC’s existing role in pushing forward
basic knowledge to improve people’s health and wealth;
• strengthening the support and oversight of the translational processes.
Basic medical research
Prototype discovery and design
Pre-clinical development
Early clinical trials
Late clinical trials
Translation
Translational research
• Overall spend on Managed Programs to Increase to £50 M pa by 2014 (have allocated £47 M since 2008)
• Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme• Developmental Clinical Studies• Translational Stem Cell Research Committee
• Developing novel ways of supporting translational activities
• Enhance support for Experimental Medicine• Maximising best use of resources and infrastructure• Increasing the UK capacity/capability for translational
research
Working with industry
• Widen our engagement and adapt to a changing innovation ecosystem• Pharmaceutical• Biotech• Devices and diagnostics
• Research partnerships• Explore and fund innovative models of pre-competitive and
collaborative research partnerships• Stratified Medicine and Systems Medicine agendas• Regenerative medicine
• Health Sciences Collaborations, partnerships with TSB• Opportunities for MRC to add value and provide leadership
• MRC leading for other research councils on engagement at policy level with Pharma companies
FUNDING
Roles of Boards and Panels
• Primary decision making bodies on MRC funding• Grants, Units and Institutes
• Ensure balance of portfolio is right for area of responsibility
• Shape strategy in their areas: directly, through Strategy Board and via interaction with Overview Groups
• Join up with other bodies to ensure seamless support for science
• Consider the impact and value of the research in their areas
Boards and Overview Groups
Molecular and Cellular
Medicine Board
Strategy Board
Population and Systems
Medicine Board
Infections and Immunity
Board
Neurosciences and Mental
Health Board
Population Health Sciences Group
Global Health Group
Training and Careers Group
Translational programmes
Training programmesTranslational Research Group
Types of Research Support
• Question Driven Research grant
• Personal Support Driven Fellowship
• The project / programme• The people• The ‘place (s)’
• The person• The project• The ‘place’
Which Scheme?
• Standard “response mode” grants• Research grants• New investigator research grants• Programme grants
• Strategic initiatives (Calls)
• Personal support – variety of fellowships
Eligibility
Clinical Panel
Clinical Research Training Fellowship
Clinician Scientist Fellowship
Senior Clinical Fellowship
MRC Fellowship Panels
Strategy Board
Non-Clinical Panel
Career Development Award
Senior Non-Clinical Fellowship
Strategic Panels
Biomedical Informatics Fellowships Panel
Career Development Award inBiostatistics / Methodology Research /
Economics of Health / Population Health Scientist Fellowships Panel
Training and Careers Group
MRC post doctoral fellowships Non Clinical, Clinical and some of Strategic Skill fellowships
-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 11 12
Yrs Post PhD
Career Development
Award
Senior Non-Clinical
CRTFClinician Scientist
Senior Clinical
ClinicalLectureship Senior Clinical
Lectureship
Population Health Science
Bioinformatics, Biostats, Economics of Health
Methodology DevelopmentNIHR ‘Walport’
Lectureships aligned with MRC clinical
fellowship schemes
Key:
Timelines
• Note deadlines• Process – is there an outline or pre-sub stage?• Plan ahead – need apply 1 year in advance• Process time for grants i.e. time until a decision
usually 14 weeks (3 months) for applications declined at triage stage
within 23 weeks for a funding decision by a Board/Panel (6 months)
• Start date is usually 6 months after funding decision
Lifelong Health and Wellbeing:A Strategy for Collaborative Ageing Research
in the UK
The challenge of an ageing population
The Challenge
The UK’s population is ageing
Life expectancy has increased by 30 years in last century
Overall decrease in fertility rate
Currently one in six people is over 65 this will rise to one in four by 2033
Over 85s are the fastest growing segment of the population
Inequalities - life expectancy varies between UK regions by 14 years
The Drivers
Ageing is a major risk factor for disease and disability
Increased pressure on public services, welfare, health and social care – current
models are unsustainable
Social and economic opportunities
Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW)
Current major cross-Research Council programme in ageing
Strategic coordination of ageing research across the Research Councils
Supports research targeting factors throughout life that determine health and wellbeing in older age
LLHW Strategic Aims
Develop interventions that lead to improved health and quality of life in older age
Inform policy and practice including services and technologies to support independent living
Increase capacity and capability in ageing-relevant research
LLHW Joint funding initiative
Funding partnership between five research councils and four health departments Support for multi-disciplinary research addressing factors that influence health and quality of life in older age
Build capacity in multi-disciplinary ageing research community
£30m commitment since 2008 to three LLHW phases
Strategy for Collaborative Ageing Research in the UK
Purpose
Identify opportunities for greater impact through cross-sector approaches
Build on existing strengths
Add value to initiatives and activities of individual funders
Create new partnerships, across academic disciplines and stakeholder communities – Government, private and third sector
Set priority areas for LLHW programme over CSR2011
Developed by Research Councils and UK Health Departments under LLHW programme – published September 2010
Priorities for CSR 2011
• Achieving good cognitive function and mental wellbeing in later life
• Promoting physical health in older age
• Extending healthy working lives
• Enhancing mobility and independence in an ageing population
Successful proposals
• Encompass the remit of more than one Research Council – creative multi-disciplinary approaches
• Not usually supported by individual funders
• Research excellence, impact and importance
• Robust methodology and design
• Add value to the programme
• Encourage stakeholder engagement and capacity building
‘If you want to age well, you should start early’
www.mrc.ac.uk/llhw
Assessment Process (MRC)
(short-listed applications only)• All short-listed applications are assessed by the
Research Boards/Panels • Applicants can respond to the reviewers comments
(Grants)• Discuss reviewers critique at interview (Fellowships)
• applications scored (1-10)
• feedback will be given on all applications reviewed by the Board/Panel
Assessment process (MRC)
Referee Assessment (all grant and fellowship applications)• applications refereed – 3 - 5 reviewers• UK and International• applications scored (1-10)
Board/Panel Assessment (grants)• Triage (shortlisting)
• allows Boards/Panel to focus on those proposals most likely to be funded
• decisions are made based on the views of the reviewers & Board/Panel members
• unattributed reviewers’ reports fed back to applicant
Core Assessment Criteria- Grants
• importance • scientific potential
• people and Track record• environment• research plans
• resources (justification; good value for money)• ethical issues or risks to human participants• appropriate use of animals
• Referees
• Triage
• Board
And finally…
Review internally• mentors for new applicants
Tip: get a second opinion, proof read & spell check
MRC is looking for quality not quantity
Remember…
Your application will only be as strong as its weakest link
Deliverability
Resources
Design
Need & Potential for Impact Ethics