In 2021/22, the Academy of Medical Sciences convened a Working Group of experts from academia, industry, charities and the NHS to explore the actions needed to future-proof health research in the UK.

The final report, published in May 2023, has been produced by 30 experts from across the UK, including established and emerging research leaders, patients, carers and representatives from the public, private and charitable sectors. It details key threats to UK health research and the steps needed to protect it.

Issues identified by the report
The current UK health research system is no longer fit for purpose because:

It presents too many barriers to too many people,
it discourages the movement of people between sectors,
It fails to cover the full cost of health research, and
It does not do enough to support research in the NHS.
At risk is the UK’s ability to deliver world-leading health research and the benefits that brings to patients and the public.

Solutions to future-proof the research system
Excellent research needs a strong, future-proofed research system that allows talented researchers, science and innovation to thrive. This project develops a vision for what sustainable health research in the UK should look like.

The report urges all stakeholders, including UK policymakers, and funders, to address the glaring issues, and offers four key recommendations:

We must place people at the heart of the UK health research system. Research culture and career structures can be narrow, inflexible, precarious and exclusive, undermining the ability of diverse individuals, including patients, and those with broad expertise to fully explore their potential and deliver innovations.
We must ensure talented people can develop careers that span sectors to address a lack of movement of researchers between roles in public, private and charitable research sectors.
We must ensure that the true cost of excellent health research is adequately covered, to address a funding model which relies on cross-subsidy from international students as the total cost of research in universities is not covered by any funder.
We must maximise the research potential of the NHS, which currently struggles to make health research part of the norm.

Find out more:
acmedsci.ac.uk/future-proofing-research
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The Academy of Medical Sciences is the independent, expert voice of biomedical and health research in the UK. Our Fellowship comprises the most influential scientists in the UK and worldwide, drawn from the NHS, academia, industry, and the public service. Our mission is to improve the health of people everywhere by creating an open and progressive research sector. We do this by working with patients and the public to influence policy and biomedical practice, strengthening UK biomedical and health research, supporting the next generation of researchers through funding and career development opportunities, and working with partners globally.

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