Motor Neurone Disease

(asked on 26th June 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding available for research into motor neurone disease research.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 2nd July 2018

The Department funds research mainly through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR and other research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including motor neurone disease (MND). In 2016-17, the NIHR invested £4.58 million into MND and closely-related conditions research.

The NIHR Research Infrastructure supported 23 studies and trials on MND and closely-related conditions in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, Units and other research infrastructure during 2016-17. The majority of these studies have been funded by research charities including the Motor Neurone Disease Association, other research funders and the life sciences industry. In April 2018, the NIHR Clinical Research Network was supporting 19 non-commercial studies and clinical trials on MND and closely-related conditions.

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