£3m funding for healthcare research

According to the Department of Health (DoH), the Healthcare Scientists Research Fellowship Competition will deliver funding to researchers working to improve patient services and treatment.

Academic values and the spirit of enquiry should be pervasive throughout the National Health Service if UK health research is to thrive

Mary Manning

Executive director

Academy of Medical Sciences

The scheme's panel of representatives from the NHS, the DoH and the National Institute for Health Research will award projects which look into areas such as new diagnostic tests, ways to improve the NHS' ability to monitor disease and techniques which will allow patients to self-care.

Mary Manning, executive director of the Academy of Medical Sciences, commented: "Academic values and the spirit of enquiry should be pervasive throughout the National Health Service if UK health research is to thrive.

Professor Sue Hill, the chief scientific officer who led the initiative, also said the "innovative and pioneering fellowship scheme" will allow breakthroughs in areas such as pathology, genetics and physiology to take place.

Last week, the DoH revealed three new partnerships have been established to carry out translational research into areas such as dementia, strokes and childhood obesity.