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MRC grants 1990-2010

Graham

Senior Moment
Messages
5,188
Location
Sussex, UK
Hi @JohntheJack : it's true enough. They have only funded 6 biomedical trials since 1990 - probably since pre-1980 judging from the correspondence that was locked away in Kew. Five of them were in response to the demands by 123 MPs in 2011 when they signed an Early Day Motion: the other was a follow-up to one of them. The total came to £1.6 million plus the follow-up.

I have a spreadsheet from the MRC that covers that period: it was on their website. When I found out these results, I checked with them and they were unable to add any more. Oddly enough, their spreadsheet disappeared from the website, but I still have the copy. Mind you, they didn't fund that many psychosocial studies into ME either.

NIHR (the research arm of the NHS) has similar research funding, and has spend nothing at all: I have a massive database that can be trawled, but it takes ages to separate fatigue, chronic fatigue, CFS etc. Again I wrote to them to check and they couldn't give me any examples; they said that they did provide equipment and services to biomedical studies (but I bet they charged them). Strangely enough their database disappeared as well, but eventually I tracked it down and have a copy of that.

The massive charity that funds an enormous amount of research - Wellcome Trust - has funded nothing.
 
Messages
13,774
I've often seen stated that the MRC didn't fund a single biological study into ME for the whole of the 1990-2010 period. Does anyone know for sure whether that's true, please? (Or, even better provide evidence for it?) Thanks.

It might be trick to even say what a 'biological study' is? Does Wessely's autonomic study count, which found abnormalities but which he argued were likely a result of deconditioning and not worth investigating?

The massive charity that funds an enormous amount of research - Wellcome Trust - has funded nothing.

Haven't they now agreed funding for the ME biobank the MEA is involved with? edit: As was pointed out below, it's just that this project has been moved through to the next round of assessment for funding, not that funding was agreed.
 
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MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK

Dolphin

Senior Member
Messages
17,567
CFS/ME projects funded by the MRC: Those projects live from 1993/4* to June 2008:

*really from 1990.
 

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Dolphin

Senior Member
Messages
17,567
CFS/ME projects funded by the MRC: Those projects live from 1993/4 to June 2008:

http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...pending-on-research-into-me-in-last-10-years/

Parliamentary Question: MRC spending on research into ME in last 10 years
Figures for the Medical Research Council’s research spend on ME over the last 10 years were released in a written answer by Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts yesterday.

He was answering a written question tabled by Ian Swales (Liberal Democrat MP for Redcar). The MP had asked the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of expenditure from the public purse on biomedical research relating to myalgic encephalomyelitis in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Willetts replied:

The Medical Research Council is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The selection of projects for funding by MRC is determined through peer review.

“Biomedical” is not a category the MRC would normally use to classify research in its portfolio. In the last 10 years, MRC expenditure on research relating to CFS/ME was as follows:

£
2000/01 0
2001/02 0
2002/03 0
2003/04 141,000
2004/05 559,000
2005/06 752,000
2006/07 800,000
2007/08 1.35 million
2008/09 728,000
2009/10 109,000
Projects included within these figures are as follows:

Professor R K Morriss, university of Liverpool-Exploratory RCT of training general practitioners to manage patients with persistent medically unexplained symptoms (MUS).

Professor P White, Queen Mary College, London-The PACE trial; A RCT of CBT, graded exercise, adaptive pacing and usual medical care for the chronic fatigue syndrome.

Dr A Wearden, university of Manchester-Randomised controlled trial of nurse-led self-help treatment for primary care patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Dr K Bhui, Queen Mary College, London-Chronic Fatigue and Ethnicity.

Professor F H Creed, university of Manchester-The feasibility of a population-based study of CFS, IBS and CWP.

Dr C Clark, Queen Mary College, London-General and specific risk markers and preventive factors for chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndromes.

Further information about most of these projects can be found on the MRC’s online research portfolio at:

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/ResearchPortfolio/index.htm

Mr Swales has already tabled an Early Day Motion on ME Research which so far has the support of 78 other MPs. A daily update can be found by clicking HERE.
 

JohntheJack

Senior Member
Messages
198
Location
Swansea, UK
Hi @JohntheJack : it's true enough. They have only funded 6 biomedical trials since 1990 - probably since pre-1980 judging from the correspondence that was locked away in Kew. Five of them were in response to the demands by 123 MPs in 2011 when they signed an Early Day Motion: the other was a follow-up to one of them. The total came to £1.6 million plus the follow-up.

I have a spreadsheet from the MRC that covers that period: it was on their website. When I found out these results, I checked with them and they were unable to add any more. Oddly enough, their spreadsheet disappeared from the website, but I still have the copy. Mind you, they didn't fund that many psychosocial studies into ME either.

NIHR (the research arm of the NHS) has similar research funding, and has spend nothing at all: I have a massive database that can be trawled, but it takes ages to separate fatigue, chronic fatigue, CFS etc. Again I wrote to them to check and they couldn't give me any examples; they said that they did provide equipment and services to biomedical studies (but I bet they charged them). Strangely enough their database disappeared as well, but eventually I tracked it down and have a copy of that.

The massive charity that funds an enormous amount of research - Wellcome Trust - has funded nothing.

That's great. Thanks very much, Graham. And good work on getting all the facts.