Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funds the Government has allocated for research into progressive supranuclear palsy in each of the last three years; and what plans the Government has to allocate further funding for research to support early diagnosis of and effective treatments for that condition.

In the last three years, the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded research relating to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) within the overall infrastructure awards for the following biomedical research centres and units. Spend specifically on research into PSP cannot be disaggregated from total spend through these awards.

- NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (£110.1 million; 2012-17);

- NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre (£58.7 million; 2012-17);

- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (£48.9 million; 2012-17);

- NIHR Cambridge Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (£4.5 million; 2012-17);

- NIHR Maudsley Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (£4.5 million; 2012-17).

The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PSP. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.