Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase funding for the research and development of treatments for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.

The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

DIPG is a difficult research area with a relatively small research community, and we are relying on researchers to submit high-quality research proposals. In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research, and we expect to spend more as new research progresses. The £40 million funding remains available; if we can spend more on the best quality science we will do. It is also worth noting that all applications that were fundable in open competition have been funded.

The NIHR has supported delivery in the health and care system for eight DIPG research studies funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors since 2018.