MRC Open Council Meeting in Swindon
5 July 2010
The MRC invests more than £700 million a year in biomedical research. As we enter a period of change and uncertainty for investment in scientific research, this meeting provided an opportunity for members of the community to raise questions and share ideas with members of the MRC’s Council and senior managers.
MRC Chairman Sir John Chisholm and Chief Executive Sir Leszek Borysiewicz led the meeting with an audience of MRC staff from Swindon and the wider Oxford and south west region, researchers, members of the public, and staff from other research councils and partner organisations. Those in the audience had the opportunity to ask questions directly to Sir Leszek and other Council members. Topics covered included how the MRC works with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on evidence gaps in clinical guidelines and working with the private and pharmaceutical sectors.
Read the Q&A summary from the meeting
Speaking at the Open meeting, Sir Leszek stressed the importance of the MRC working in partnership: with other research councils, universities, research funders, charities, the public and many others involved in medical research.
Sir Leszek mentioned the Research Complex at Harwell as an example of how the research councils working together could provide infrastructure and facilities to support inter-disciplinary research. Another example of successful collaboration was the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI), being planned for centre London, which aims to break down barriers between different research teams and disciplines to tackle the underlying causes of our most challenging health problems.
When asked about the future of medical research in the current economic climate, Sir Leszek suggested that given that most government departments are being asked for plans to reduce their spending by an average of 25 per cent over the next four years; he anticipated that the MRC would be required to share this burden, although until the settlement was announced (in October) we would not know by how much.
Download Sir Leszek’s Open Council Meeting presentation
In addition to the MRC Open Council meeting, Council members met directors and senior teams from MRC research establishments in the Oxford and south west region to discuss their current and future research plans. The Council also held a routine business meeting.