The Department of Health is to put £816 million in funding into research into key areas including mental health, dementia, and antimicrobial resistance.
The funding – announced on 14 September – has been awarded to 20 NHS and university partnerships across England through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Each of the 20 biomedical research centres will ‘host the development of new, ground-breaking treatments, diagnostics, prevention, and care, for patients with a wide range of diseases like cancer and dementia’. The DH said: “Leading NHS clinicians and universities will benefit from new world-class facilities and support services built by the five-year funding package totalling £816 m – the largest ever investment into health research.”
Mental health research will see funding increase to nearly £70 m, dementia to over £45 m, deafness and hearing problems over £15 m each, and antimicrobial resistance research £45 m.
Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said: “The UK has so often led the world in health research – from the invention of the smallpox vaccine, to the discovery of penicillin and the development of DNA sequencing. Today, we are making sure the UK stays ahead of the game by laying the foundations for a new age of personalised medicine. We are supporting the great minds of the NHS to push the frontiers of medical science so that patients in this country continue to benefit from the very latest treatments and the highest standards of care.”
Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Chris Whitty, said: “The future of NHS care depends on the science we do now. This new funding will enable clinical researchers to keep pushing for medical breakthroughs. The NIHR biomedical research centres announced today offer huge potential benefits for patients across the country.”