£20m for health informatics research institute

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is investing £20m capital funding in the establishment of a UK health informatics research institute, to be known as the Farr Institute. The capital funding will add to an existing investment by charities, Research Councils and Government.

This investment will support the safe use of patient and research data for medical research across all diseases with the Institute’s independent research also supporting innovation in the public and industry sectors. Established at four major centres in London, Dundee, Manchester and Swansea, the Farr Institute will also link research in 19 universities across the UK. It builds on the four e-health informatics research centres (eHIRCs) recently funded by a consortium of three Research Councils, three health departments and four leading medical research charities. The additional £20m MRC funding for the Farr represents a doubling of UK investment in this area.

 MRC Chief Executive, Professor Sir John Savill, said: “Using the wealth of data in health records, our patient and population cohort studies and other routine datasets is central to the MRC’s mission to improve human health and contribute to economic growth. Investment in the Farr Institute represents an important part of a wider MRC strategy to integrate clinical, genetic and other biomedical data to better understand health and disease. The £20m capital funding from the MRC builds on an initiative supported by ten UK Government and charity funders. The aim is to strengthen the UK’s capacity to analyse patient records and health data in safe environments so that patients and participants can be reassured that their personal data are safe and may be used to benefit the whole UK population.”