Medical Research Council (UK)
 |
Current MRC logo |
The
Medical Research Council (MRC) is a
UK organisation dedicated to "promot[ing] the balanced development of medical and related biological research in the UK".
The MRC is one of eight
Research Councils and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the
Office of Science and Technology, which - in turn - is part of the
Department of Trade and Industry.
It is governed by a council of 14 members, which convenes every two months. Daily management is in the hands of the Chief Executive. Members of the council also chair specialist boards on specific areas of research. For specific subjects, the council convenes committees.
The MRC funds research centres, three main institutes (in
Cambridge,
Mill Hill and
Hammersmith) and 35 smaller units nationwide. Overseas facilities are located in
Gambia and
Uganda.
The MRC started as the
Medical Research Committee in
1913, its prime role being the distribution of medical research funds under the terms of the
1911 National Insurance Act. This was a consequence of the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis, which recommended the creation of a permanent medical research body. The mandate was not limited to tuberculosis, however.
In
1920, it became the Medical Research
Council under
Royal Charter. A supplemental Charter would be approved by the Queen at the
17 July 2003 Privy Council.
Important early work carried out under MRC auspices was:
* Identification of the dietary cause of
rickets by
Sir Edward Mellanby* Discovery, in
1918, that
influenza is caused by a
virus* Description of
neurotransmission and the first
neurotransmitter,
acetylcholine, by
Sir Henry Hallett Dale and
Otto Loewi, leading to a
Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in
1936;
* Development of
penicillin by
Sir Alexander Fleming,
Sir Ernst Boris Chain and
Lord Florey, gaining them the
1945 Nobel Prize;
* Linkage of
lung cancer to
tobacco smoking by
Sir Richard Doll and
Sir Austin Bradford Hill in the
British doctors study, published in
1956;
* Discovery of the structure of
DNA by
James D. Watson,
Francis Crick,
Rosalind Franklin and
Professor Maurice Wilkins. They would receive the
1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for their discovery.
* Development of
magnetic resonance imaging in
1973 by
Professor Peter Mansfield and independently by
Paul Lauterbur. This would lead to the
2003 Nobel Prize.
* Development of
monoclonal antibodies by
César Milstein and
Georges Köhler in
1975 (
1984 Nobel Prize)
* The identification, in
1983, of
folic acid as a preventive measure for
spina bifida and
neural tube defects
* Large studies, in the
1970s and
1980s, showing that
aspirin can decrease the risk of
cardiovascular disease.
* The publication of the
genome of
C. elegans, the first multicellular organism to receive this treatment, in
1998.
* The ongoing
Heart Protection Study, showing benefits of primary prevention with
simvastatin in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
In all, scientists associated with the MRC have received 22 Nobel Prizes in both Medicine or Physiology and Chemistry.
As Chief Executive Officers (originally secretaries) served:
* 1914-33: Sir
Walter Morley Fletcher* 1933-49: Sir
Edward Mellanby* 1949-68: Sir
Harold Himsworth* 1968-77: Sir John Gray
* 1977-87: Sir
James Gowans* 1987-96: Sir Dai Rees
* 1996-2003: Professor Sir
George Radda* 2003-
present: Professor
Colin BlakemoreCambridge
*
Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB)
*
Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBU) - formerly known as the
Applied Psychology Unit (APU)
*
Biostatistics unit*
Centre for Protein Engineering*
Dunn Nutrition Centre*
The Hutchison/MRC Research CentreImperial College London/Hammersmith Hospital
*
MRC Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC)University College London
*MRC
National Survey of Health & Development: the 1946 cohort longitudinal study, originally of health and child development and, more recently, of ageing.
Mill Hill
*
National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR)*
MRC official web site*
Cognition and Brain Sciences dept., Cambridge
