Population and Patient Data Sharing Initiative for Research into Mental Health
This call is now closed for applications and is available for reference purposes only.
MRC invites proposals to exploit high-quality existing data in novel ways to advance knowledge of factors affecting addiction and mental illness and inform research for new treatments. Proposals must be submitted via Je-S by 4pm on 29 September 2011.
- Background
- Aim of call
- Funding provided
- Scope of the call
- How to apply
- Assessment criteria
- Timeline
- Contact
Background
During the latter half of 2010, MRC led a review of mental health research on behalf of the OSCHR partners. The report of the review presented recommendations across the full spectrum of mental health research and highlighted particular opportunities in population-based research. This call responds to one of the conclusions of that review.
The review noted that the UK funders, and the research councils in particular, have made significant investments in high quality, data-rich cohorts (population and patient-based). A number of these studies include data pertinent to addressing important research issues in mental health and wellbeing. It was concluded that significant advance might be possible through modest investment in the analysis of data drawn from different cohorts and databases in the UK and internationally.
Aim of call
Grants awarded through this call will enable scientists to develop and test hypotheses about the natural history and aetiology of mental illness. Outcomes will contribute to the development of potential preventive interventions, treatments, as well as informing social and health policy.
This call will promote novel ways of using existing data and could provide opportunities for early career researchers to acquire new skills.
Funding provided
An overall budget of approximately £1m is available to support research proposals submitted against this call. The call will fund approximately five grants of 12 to 18 months duration.
Scope of the call
The focus of this call is to support research that will, at low cost, provide insights into the natural history and aetiology of addictions (substance misuse and gambling) and mental illness (e.g. depression, anxiety, affective and conduct disorders and spectra associated with development such as autism).
Applicants are reminded that the objective of this call is to use existing resources to help develop hypotheses – funding for major new research projects will be provided separately and cannot be accommodated within the scope of these awards.
Areas supported by the call:
- Secondary data analysis and validation across existing cohorts (including international cohorts) with the aim of combining data collected for different purposes, and analysing this in a novel way.
- Research that brings together more than one dataset, including record linkage to routine health data.
- Exploratory studies that are hypothesis generating.
- Genetics studies that focus on gene-environment interactions or use genes as instruments to understand more about underlying causal mechanisms.
- Survey data, if collected longitudinally.
- Methodological work, such as proper quantification of measurement error and especially verification of data across datasets.
Areas excluded from the call:
- New data collection.
- Studies aimed primarily at gene discovery.
Resources that identify cohorts:
The following resources provide details of existing longitudinal data sets - including purpose, methodology, timing, coverage, availability and contact details:
- The MRC and MHRN cohort survey includes MRC-funded cohorts as well as major cohort studies of a study size of 1000+. In all 96 cohorts are included.
- Keeping Track covers data sets collected by governmental, academic, private social research, medical and private industrial sources. It includes household panel surveys, studies following the health of individuals, birth cohort studies, studies following the quality of a product design, and administrative records.
- International Journal of Epidemiology and Oxford University Press have published a series of articles reviewing international health-related cohorts – search for ‘cohort profile’ here.
How to apply
You should submit your proposal using the Research Councils’ Joint electronic Submission (Je-S) System. Guidance on setting up a Je-S account and on filling out the Je-S forms can be found here.
When adding a new proposal, you should select Council ‘MRC’, document type ‘Standard Proposal’ and Scheme type ‘Research Grant’. On the Project Details page you should select the ‘Mental Health Data Share Sep11’ Call.
Under ‘Classification’, please select Board: ‘Neuroscience and Mental Health Board’ and Panel Portfolio: ‘Mental Health and Addiction’.
Note that clicking ‘submit document’ on your proposal form in Je-S initially submits the proposal to your host organisation’s administration, not to the MRC. Please ensure you allow sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process between submitting your proposal to them and the call closing date. The MRC must receive your application by 4pm on 29 September 2011.
What to submit:
- Case for Support (maximum of 8 pages)
- CV for each named researcher (maximum of 2 pages)
- List of publications for each named researcher (maximum of 1 page)
- Justification of Resources (maximum of 2 pages)
- Pathways to Impact (maximum of 2 pages)
For guidance on completing the different components of the proposal, including formatting requirements, refer to the relevant sections of the MRC Applicants Handbook.
Ensure that your case for support addresses all assessment criteria listed below and also includes a review of the cohort/dataset resources which already exist for this area (both in the UK and internationally) and confirm how the proposed research will provide significant added value.
Assessment criteria
Applications will be assessed by expert peer-review. The MRC will assess whether the proposal:
- targets an area of unmet clinical and social research need;
- exploits high-quality existing longitudinal data;
- enables new interventions to be tested more quickly or test/generate hypotheses about the natural history of mental illness and wellbeing;
- brings databases together in a novel way;
- exploits robust protocols for phenotyping/characterising individuals in the databases which are appropriate for the mental health issue to be studied;
- complies with MRC’s policy on access to and sharing of data;
- has been submitted by applicants who have, or have enlisted, appropriate skills and track record;
Timeline
Date |
Activity |
June 2011 |
Launch call |
29 Sept 2011 |
Deadline for applications |
Oct-Dec 2011 |
External peer review |
Feb 2012 |
Award Panel meeting |
Contact
If you have a query about the call, contact: