A consortium of research funders led by the Wellcome Trust today announced funding of £84 million to boost experimental medicine in the UK and Ireland, with the ultimate aim of improving health care for patients.

This major investment will be used to develop and strengthen Clinical Research Facilities, which bring together laboratory and clinical patient-based research in order to answer important questions about health and disease.

In addition to developing the Clinical Research Facilities around the UK, in Belfast, Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, The Institute of Cancer Research, Imperial College London, King's College London, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford and University College London, another facility jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Health Research Board of Ireland will be set up in Dublin.

Under the umbrella of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), this initiative has brought together the major health-related charities, the government funding bodies and health departments. It includes the Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation (BHF), Cancer Research UK, the Wolfson Foundation, the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Health Departments in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the Health Research Board of Ireland.

The consortium of funders is working in partnership to fund various elements of the new infrastructure, with the Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation collaboratively providing up to £30m for the development of new technologies in experimental medicine and Clinical Research Facilities.

See also

• Press release (Full details)
• Clinical Research Facilities (Funded activities, Special initiatives)

External links

• The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC)
• The Medical Research Council (MRC)
• The British Heart Foundation (BHF)
• Cancer Research UK
• The Chief Scientist Office
• The Department of Health's budget for health research
• The Research and Development Office for the Northern Ireland Health and Personal Social Services (R&D Office)
• The Wales Office of Research and Development for Health and Social Care (WORD)