Domestic Violence and Brain Injury

Lord Winston Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

It is a very good point. As all noble Lords are aware, often the challenge is getting people to come forward when they have suffered domestic violence. Some of this research shows that there are tools, such as a spit test, to understand whether someone has suffered from a traumatic brain injury. Bringing some of those things into play, so that people are identified and encouraged to come forward, is vital.

[Lord Winston (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister is to be congratulated on his call for more research. Would he care to comment on the use of organoids—clumps of generative stem cells—which act as an artificial brain in culture and show clear evidence of certain injuries, such as whether the brain may be easily propagated? That kind of research is important but is often condemned in the press. Can the Minister make sure that the Government will allow that kind of research to continue? It is completely harmless ethically.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

Yes. The main thing is that £9.5 million is being invested into research on traumatic brain injury, but this is a platform to allow spin-off research from there. When speaking to people on this, I am clear that this is not a cap: if we get good research proposals put forward in areas such as the one the noble Lord mentioned, the money is there to pursue that.