Supplementary memorandum by the Medical
Research Council
1. Which allergic disorders receive the largest
amount of research funding from MRC, and do we think this is appropriate?
Asthma is the allergic disorder that receives
the largest amount of research funding from MRC. We believe this
is appropriate because asthma is a major and growing health problem.
Furthermore, we receive applications in response-mode, and this
is the field in which there is the largest critical mass of expertise
in the UK. Much of the research classified as asthma research
will have potential for wider applicability to allergy (see below).
Other allergies which the MRC currently supports are dermatitis
and allergy to antibiotics.
2. How much does the MRC spend on asthma research,
and how much of this is directed specifically towards allergy?
It is not easy to distinguish research on asthma
that is unrelated to other allergies, or research on allergy that
would be unrelated to asthma, especially in basic research (eg
genetic predisposition, understanding immune responses etc). According
to the way we have categorised our projects, for the five years
2001-02 to 2006-07:
— our total spend on asthma research
was £15.7 million.
— Our total spend on general research
was £13.0 million (this includes research into known cellular
components of the allergic reaction, how the allergic reaction
is induced, signalling pathways in the allergic reaction compared
with the reaction to infection, aspects of vaccine design and
stimulate allergic responses, molecular regulation of cytokines
genes known to be involved in allergic reactions, the molecular
structure of molecules in the lgE network, and some aspects of
nutrition and allergy).
— Our total spend on other allergic
diseases was £2.1 million. (this includes eczema, dermatitis
and allergy to antibiotics).
These figures are mutually exclusive, but for
the reasons given above should not be over-interpreted.
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