Funding to address gaps in current understanding of the causes, progression and treatment of human disease through experimental intervention or challenge in humans.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) provides experimental medicine grants to support academically-led experimental medicine projects that address gaps in current understanding of the causes, progression and treatment of human disease through experimental intervention, or challenge, in humans. Those aiming to take the next step towards becoming an independent researcher may apply as a ‘new investigator’.

Projects funded through this opportunity should be based around a clear gap in understanding of human pathophysiology and have a clear path to clinical impact. The ambition is to produce new mechanistic insights, including those that may identify opportunities to modify disease pathways and enable the future development of novel therapeutic or diagnostic approaches.

All disease areas and interventions are in scope. The challenge may be, but is not limited to, pharmacological, immunological, physiological, psychological, infectious etc. Proposals may include:

• The use of novel readouts or technologies especially related to early evaluation of clinical efficacy or pathogenic mechanism.
• The use of drugs, other interventions or measures with established safety profiles in new settings/conditions: eg repurposing drugs as tool compounds to probe disease mechanism.
• Characterisation or phenotyping of subjects using samples from clinical studies may be included where there is a clear link to a current treatment strategy but should not be the sole focus of the proposal:
  • Limited, hypothesis-driven, retrospective sample analysis may be included at the start of the project to improve the design of the interventional, experimental medicine study.
  • Milestone criteria should clearly detail what data are required from the confirmatory analysis for the project to progress.

Applicants must be researchers based at an institution eligible for UKRI funding and show that they will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work, and be looking to investigate the causes, progression and treatment of human disease.

Applications from early career researchers are welcomed. The new investigator grant is aimed at researchers who are capable of becoming independent researchers and who are now ready to take the next step towards that goal. To be eligible to apply as a ‘New Investigator’, applicants should be able to clearly demonstrate that their skills and experience at the time of their application match those of the ‘transition to independence’ career stage, as set out in the applicant skills and experience table.

There is no formal limit to the total amount that can be requested, although all costs requested must be justifiable in the context of the proposed work. Additionally, there is no formal expectation of the duration of Experimental Medicine grants. Project duration should be dictated by the timelines required to complete the proposed work. The MRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) and 100% of permitted exceptions.