Research initiatives
The MRC focuses its funding on research areas which make a difference to human health, on behalf of the taxpayer. Here is an overview of the different research areas we fund, including broad research initiatives such as speeding the development of basic discoveries into new drugs and treatments.
- Addiction research strategy
- The MRC is leading a strategy for addiction research involving discussions with stakeholders about areas of priority need and calls for grant applications
- Autism
- Our work with scientists, professional groups and families to increase understanding of the causes and epidemiology of autism
- CFS/ME
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex and debilitating condition with a wide range of symptoms
- E-Health informatics research
- An initiative with leading UK research funders to ensure the UK is secured as a world leader in health informatics research and in particular in E-health records linkage
- Experimental medicine
- The MRC is the lead public sector organisation for Experimental Medicine and co-ordinates activities on behalf of UK Clinical Research Collaboration partners
- Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW)
- Multi-disciplinary research addressing factors across the life course that influence healthy ageing and wellbeing in later life
- Mental health research
- MRC's objectives aim to understand the mechanisms of obesity and related disease, and develop interventions to prevent or treat these conditions
- Methodology research
- Methodology research, from an MRC perspective, is the study of how best to design, analyse and evaluate medical and health research
- National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI)
- A national initiative to encourage and support research into chronic disease prevention
- Neurodegeneration
- MRC focuses covering dementias, prion diseases, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, all forms of motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis
- Neuroimaging
- PET imaging is essential in translational medicine and for aspects of new drug development, particularly drugs for neurological and psychiatric indications
- Obesity research
- MRC's objectives are to understand the mechanisms of obesity and related disease, and develop interventions to prevent or treat these conditions
- Regenerative medicine and stem cells
- Regenerative medicine holds the promise of revolutionising patient care in the 21st century
- Translational research
- Aims to increase the scale and speed of progress from scientific discovery to clinical benefit