Funding

Biomedical research is an expensive undertaking. In 2008 research spend was around £400,000 directly through the University and £4-5 million at collaborating companies developing our research. To maintain this level of investment in scientific research, we have to seek funds from a variety of sources including government, charitable trusts and industrial partners.Below is a short description of each of our funding bodies, together with an overview of the support they have provided. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to these funding bodies, and in the case of charitable sponsors such as the British Heart Foundation, to the large number of supporters whose donations contribute significantly to the research we pursue.

Funxional Therapeutics

Funxional Therapeutics Ltd (FXT) is a privately held, clinical stage pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, UK.

FXT’s focus is on novel anti-inflammatory therapies with the lead product (FX125L, an orally available small molecule acting as a Broad Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitor) currently in Phase I studies in the USA. The clinical indications targeted with FX125L include respiratory disorders such as asthma and COPD, supported by numerous studies in animal models which have consistently suggested that in the clinic FX125L may have similar efficacy but better safety than corticosteroids and superior efficacy than montelukast.
www.funxionaltherape utics.com

British Heart Foundation

One of the leading Medical Research charities in the UK, the BHF supports a wide range of research into heart disease, including clinical studies and basic science. Between 2002 and 2009, David Grainger was a BHF Senior Research Fellow. The BHF has also funded several studentships in our group since 2000. In addition, the BHF has recently made a significant investment in cardiovascular research in Cambridge, and provides a number of central facilities to which our group has access. David Grainger is currently serving as a member of the BHF Project Grants Committee.

www.bhf.org.uk

Medical Research Council

The Medical Research Council is responsible for distributing the UK government spending on biomedical research in academic institutions. The MRC provides support in a number of ways, including career development fellowships, support for co-operative groups and through its MRC Centres. We have previously had two MRC funded students in the group. These studentships are allocated through the Department of Medicine.
www.mrc.ac.uk

NeoRx

NeoRx is a Seattle-based Biotechnology company with a focus on cancer research. Through a collaboration agreement with Cambridge University, NeoRx provide on-going support for the IRTL and work with us to develop new medicines for heart disease based around our TGF-beta project.

www.neorx.com

The Royal Society

The Royal Society is the National Academy of Sciences for the UK. Although we do not currently receive any funding from the Royal Society, they have provided generous funding in previous years when David Grainger held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

www.royalsoc.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is the major UK medical research charity and provides a significant proportion of all charitable support to medical research in the UK. In previous years, they have provided generous support through project grants and equipment grants.

BMRC

The GraingerLab is a member of the Cardiovascular Theme at the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, which has a funded a post-doctoral position involved in our clinical trials programme.

www.cuh.org.uk/research/biomedicalcampus/themes/cardiovascular_medicine.html