1.  The Medical Research Council (MRC) welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the S&T Committee. The MRC provided written evidence to the Review team. This is available on our website[16].

  2.  The Cooksey Review provides a perceptive analysis of the "gaps" in the translational pathway—firstly between discovery—ie lab, clinic, or population based which yields new knowledge or opportunities and the development of new treatments or interventions, and secondly between acquiring the evidence base for change, and actually introducing new policies or treatments into clinical practice. We welcome the Report's recognition of the strength of the UK health research base and share the review team's belief (Paragraph 4.24) that current funding levels for basic science should be sustained, on the understanding this means in real terms. Supporting research with the aim of improving human health is at the heart of the MRC's mission. As we said in our submission to the Review, we fully embrace the Government's vision of a more integrated health R&D system across the entire UK, and we welcome the opportunities set out in the Report.

  3.  The MRC is fully committed to strengthening translation of scientific discovery into benefits for society, and has been in the forefront of efforts to improve scientific links between basic, clinical, and population level research, and to strengthen applied health sciences, mostly through our Health Services and Public Health Research Board. MRC Technology has also proved highly successful in commercialising discoveries from MRC's intramural programmes, creating new high-skill jobs in the UK, and generating revenue which is ploughed back into research.

  4.  Other specific MRC activities relevant to addressing points made in the Review include:

—  The MRC has begun a pilot scheme for "Research translators". The aim is to develop a cadre of individuals with the expertise to make new links between science and the users of the science. This initiative was supported in the Cooksey Review as addressing a skills gap (paragraph 7.17).

—  A "Translational Research Workshop" planned for 20-21 February 2007. The aim of the Workshop is to identify ways of improving the assessment methods, funding criteria, and funding rules for the growing volume of applied and translational research in MRC's portfolio.

—  We are holding a series of "Showcase events" involving MRC scientists and senior people from pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Four such events are planned covering different aspects of the MRC's portfolio; the first was held in December 2006, the remainder are scheduled for 2007.

—  The establishment in 2006 of a Council Subcommittee on Evaluation. The Committee is developing a programme of evaluations, including one, jointly with the Wellcome Trust and the Academy of Medical Sciences, on "Assessing economic benefits of medical research in the UK".

  5.  We welcome the Review's endorsement of our own view, and that of the other Research Councils, that the MRC remain part of RCUK, as it is crucial that we retain, and build upon, our current links with other Research Councils (paragraph 5.68). This should help ensure that research at the boundaries of health research and other disciplines receives adequate funding and attention.

  6.  There are a number of topics which will need clearer definition as we go forward and put into operation the recommendations of the Review. We will also need to develop, with NIHR and OSCHR, plans for transferring responsibility for funding in areas such as HSR (Health Services Research) and Health Technology Assessment—in ways that do not disrupt the research, and which improve clarity for applicants and users of research alike.

  7.  We look forward to working with Professor John Bell as the interim chair of the new Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR), and with all the other partners in the new organisational structures including in particular the NIHR and the Devolved Administrations.

  8.  I have already met John Bell to discuss the role of OSCHR, and have discussed with him and with OSI the possibility of seconding staff to OSCHR.

  9.  MRC Council will discuss the Review again at its meetings later in January (29), and in March.

January 2007