Brain: Research
(asked on 10th December 2021) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Government has spent on research into (a) dementia prevention and (b) brain health in each of the last three years; and what plans he has to increase funding for research in those areas.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Funding for dementia research is allocated via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The following table shows spending on research into dementia prevention by each organisation in each of the last three years. Spending by the MRC in 2020/21 is not yet available.
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
MRC | £10.8 million | £6.7 million | N/A |
ESRC | £0.7 million | £0.7 million | £1.1 million |
NIHR | £1.8 million | £1.5 million | £1.7 million |
Total | £13.3 million | £8.9 million | £2.8 million |
The following table shows spending on research into ‘brain health’ in each of the last three years. Figures for the MRC’s spend reflect research into neurodegeneration, epilepsy and stroke which is directly relevant to brain health research, as the MRC does not have a specific brain health research portfolio. Spending by the MRC in 2020/21 is not yet available.
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
MRC | £71.1 million | £68.1 million | N/A |
ESRC | £0.1 million | £0.2 million | £0.4 million |
NIHR | £3.9 million | £5.8 million | £5.4 million |
Total | £75.1 million | £74.1 million | £5.8 million |
The Government has committed to invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases, including dementia. We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for future years in 2022. This will include our ambitions for dementia research.