The borders of the UK medical research funding map were expanded today with the publication of an in-depth analysis of spending by 29 member charities of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) on research across all areas of health and disease. The report, “From Donation to Innovation: An analysis of health research funded by medium and smaller sized medical research charities” is published by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) and AMRC to coincide with AMRC's AGM and Conference in London.
This report reveals the first national picture of how smaller and medium sized medical research charities (with annual research spends of up to £17 million in 2004-05) spend their funds on different types of research, ranging from basic laboratory studies through to the development of diagnostics and the treatment and management of disease.
The analysis shows that approximately half of the combined funds of the participating charities are targeted at research into understanding the cause and development of disease. Furthermore the majority of charities spend the largest proportion of their funds supporting research in these areas. Across all the categories, 93.7% of the charities’ combined funds are focused in disease-specific areas such as cancer and stroke, rather than in generic research which can apply to any disease.
The report also features a detailed breakdown of funds in different areas of research for a selection of 15 disease areas, including cancer, inflammatory and immune, and neurological disease.
The information in this report will be tremendously valuable to health and medical research charities in developing their research strategies, informing future funding decisions and paving the way for partnerships and collaborations. Participating charities can see at once where they fit into the bigger picture of the UK health research environment, whilst others can use the findings as a benchmark to measure their own contribution. Importantly, the report is a major demonstration of openness by the participants, allowing donors, patients and researchers to see how charity funds are spent.
The UKCRC carried out the analysis, in collaboration with the AMRC. Liam O’Toole, Chief Executive of the UKCRC, commented:
“This is a valuable opportunity for participating charities to compare their portfolios with other funders to see how the research they support fits with the national picture. The analysis also gives a more comprehensive picture of the charity sector contribution to health research in the UK.”
The analysis builds on the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC)’s UK Health Research Analysis, published in 2006, which examined the research portfolios of the 11 largest government and charity funders of health-related research in the UK. The 2006 analysis included the three largest UK health research charities: Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, which are also AMRC members. The new analysis broadens this national picture of research funding by examining the funding activities of other AMRC member charities. Collectively, the two analyses now present an overview of the distribution of 96% of AMRC members’ research funds.
Commenting on the findings, Simon Denegri, Chief Executive of the AMRC, said:
"Donors, supporters and colleagues in the research community who work with these charities should be highly encouraged by this study. Charities are becoming ever more strategic and focused in the way they fund research in the UK and are clearly motivated by both the desire to spend donations on research which will have the highest impact for their patient group but also to do this in ways which are complementary to the work being funded by Government and others. This study will be important to charities as they think about their future funding and will hopefully be a basis for collaboration with other funders and research organisations in the coming years.”
The 1496 research awards in this analysis represent an expenditure of £63.7m during the 2004-2005 financial year on research projects, programmes and training in the UK. The analysis does not include overheads such as buildings and administrative costs.
17 October 2007
Further Information:
Sara Ellis
Communications Officer
0207 269 8826 (day)
s.ellis@amrc.org.uk
Simon Denegri
Chief Executive
0207 269 8820 (day) 07793441277 (mobile)
s.denegri@amrc.org.uk
Background Information:
1. The report is called: ‘From Donation to Innovation: An analysis of health research funded by medium and smaller sized medical research charities’
Published October 2007, it can be downloaded from the UKCRC website:
http://www.ukcrc.org/publications/reports.aspx
2. The UKCRC UK Health Research Analysis of the portfolios of the 11 largest Government and charity health research funders in the UK was published in May 2006. This was the first ever detailed analysis of a nation’s health research funding, and included the three largest UK health research charities: Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, which are also AMRC members. The report is available as a download from the UKCRC website.
3. The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), established in 2004, is a partnership of organisations working together to establish the UK as a world leader in clinical research by harnessing the research potential of the National Health Service.
The Partners comprise the key stakeholders that shape the health research environment, including research funders, the NHS, government, industry, academia, regulators, charities and patients.
The UKCRC Partners are working together to address a broad agenda of issues affecting clinical research through several interconnected areas of activity. These are: developing the infrastructure to underpin clinical research in the NHS, building up an expert workforce to support clinical research, streamlining the regulatory and governance environment, developing incentives for research in the NHS and coordinating research funding. The Partners have already implemented many of the changes needed to transform the clinical research environment in the UK.
Detailed information on UKCRC activities can be found in the UKCRC Progress Report 2004 – 2006, which is available on the UKCRC website: http://www.ukcrc.org/.
4. The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), a UKCRC Partner, is a membership organisation of the leading medical and health research charities in the UK. Established in 1987, AMRC’s membership comprises 113 charities, which fund research aimed at combating diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, as well as rarer conditions such as cystic fibrosis or motor neurone disease. In 2005/06 AMRC members together allocated over £716 million to medical and health research in the UK.
Working together with member charities and partners, AMRC aims to support the sector’s effectiveness and advance medical research by developing best practice, providing information and guidance, improving public dialogue about research and science and influencing government. Reflecting its strategic priorities of Support, Leadership and Influence, it develops policies and guidelines, through consultation with members, to help them improve their effectiveness; particularly in the area of grant-making.
Further information can be found on the AMRC website: http://www.amrc.org.uk/
5. The charities who took part in the analysis are:
Action Medical Research
http://www.action.org.uk/
Alzheimer's Research Trust
http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/
Alzheimer’s Society
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/
Arthritis Research Campaign
http://www.arc.org.uk/
Association for International Cancer Research
http://www.aicr.org.uk/
Asthma UK
http://www.asthma.org.uk/
BackCare
http://www.backcare.org.uk/
Breakthrough Breast Cancer
http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/
Breast Cancer Campaign
http://www.breastcancercampaign.org/
BUPA Foundation
http://www.bupafoundation.com/
Diabetes UK
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/
Epilepsy Research UK
http://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/
Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity
http://www.gsttcharity.org.uk/
Kidney Research UK
http://www.kidneyresearchuk.org/
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
http://www.ludwig.ucl.ac.uk/
Marie Curie Cancer Care
http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/
Medical Research Scotland
http://www.medicalresearchscotland.org.uk/
Motor Neurone Disease Association
http://www.mndassociation.org/
Multiple Sclerosis Society
http://www.mssociety.org.uk/
Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/
National Osteoporosis Society
http://www.nos.org.uk/
Parkinson’s Disease Society
http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
http://www.roycastle.org/
SPARKS The Children’s Medical Research Charity
http://www.sparks.org.uk/
St Peter’s Trust for Kidney, Bladder & Prostate Research
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/uro-neph/spt
The Stroke Association
http://www.stroke.org.uk/
Tenovus
http://www.tenovus.com/
WellChild
http://www.wellchild.org.uk/
Yorkshire Cancer Research
http://www.ycr.org.uk/web/ycr