Published: 28 January 2020

The number of AMRC members participating in the latest UK Health Research Analysis has nearly doubled since 2014, bringing the total to 91 charities. This gives a more accurate representation of the medical research charity sector and the unique role it plays in the UK’s health research landscape.

The UK Health Research Analysis report is a collaborative effort led by the Medical Research Council, on behalf of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) and is the most comprehensive overview of public and charitable health research funding in the UK. It provides an analysis of spending across all areas of health research in addition to a detailed assessment of individual areas of health and disease. The four previous reports have been shared widely in the UK and had a major impact, providing the basis for high level strategy discussions and informing a number of joint funding initiatives.

Overall, AMRC charities constitute 40% of the total spend in this latest report, which makes them the largest funder group in the report. Collectively AMRC charities provide the largest proportion of public funding for multiple stages of the research process, including normal development and the cause of disease, detection and diagnosis of health conditions, and the development of treatments and interventions. In addition, the analysis shows that charities support the majority of public funding for cancer, cardiovascular, and inflammatory and immune conditions in the UK. More detail on the unique role of charities in the UK health research landscape can be found in our infographic “Completing the puzzle”.

Dr Jocelyn LeBlanc, Research, Data and Impact Manager at the Association of Medical Research Charities commented: “Our members spend over £1.3 billion a year on health research in the UK, which leads to the production of hundreds of medical research products, influences thousands of policies and practices and stimulates billions of pounds of further funding.

“It’s fantastic to see the vital contribution of our member charities recognised in the UK Health Research Analysis. We would like to thank staff at our member charities for taking the time to provide their data for this important piece of work.

“We hope to see this information used by the government and other funders to review co-ordination of UK health research and identify opportunities for future collaboration and innovation.”