£16.5 million boost to infection research in the UK

Investment to establish the UKCRC Translational Infection Research Initiative has been committed by a partnership of seven funders: the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Health Departments in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.

The threat presented by readily transmissible infectious pathogens is well recognised by the public, policy-makers, healthcare practitioners and scientists. Persistent viral and bacterial infections are a significant burden for the NHS and for patients. Food-borne infections are a constant threat. So is the emergence of exotic viruses, and strains of known pathogens that have become resistant to current treatments. This initiative has been established to address these threats by moving forward research in this nationally important area.

The initiative will establish a number of Consortia with the potential to make a significant national impact. These will be major collaborative research groupings that will both conduct high quality, goal-oriented research and build academic capacity, training and infrastructure in the field. In addition the initiative will provide Strategy Development Grants to enable researchers to develop realistic and relevant research strategies and partnerships.

This initiative resulted from the work of a UKCRC planning group tasked with improving research into microbiology and infectious diseases in the UK. The group’s work included a consultation of key professional organisations in the field, examination of findings from recent major reviews in the area, and of other sources of evidence such as the UKCRC’s Health Research Analysis.

The group’s work resulted in the establishment of the UKCRC Translational Infection Research Initiative, which has three key aims, based on the evidence gathered from the review. These are the need to:

• Boost capacity for translational research and applied research in the clinical and public health contexts.
• Develop research leadership.
• Encourage collaboration, communication and training and to help with strengthening research activity across this field.

The initiative will have two funding rounds, 18 months apart. The first round will consider applications for Consortium or Strategy Development Grant (SDG) funding. A second round, for Consortia only, will take place after the expiry of the grants. This will give SDG holders from the first round the opportunity to apply for full Consortium funding. It is expected that funds will be allocated to support up to 2 first round Consortia, 2 to 3 second round Consortia and up to 6 Strategy Development Grants.