According to the MRC, understanding of the nature and extent of returns on the investment in medical research is a neglected area. The project will for the first time attempt to quantify the economic value of health improvements and commercial exploitation arising from health research in the UK.
The study will try to pin down the specific returns in two key areas of medical research, cardiovascular disease and mental health.
The contract for the £120,000 project has been awarded to a consortium led by the Health Economics Research Group at Brunel University. The consortium is due to deliver its findings in 2008.
The move is in direct response to the recommendation that funders should support research to assess the economic impact of medical research made in a 2006 report, Medical research: assessing the benefits to society, published by the Academy, the MRC and the Wellcome Trust.
Professor Martin Roland, who chaired the 2006 report, said medical research plays a vital role in improving national health and prosperity. “But there are increasing demands for evidence of value for money in all areas of public expenditure, and it is important that the socio-economic benefits of medical research can be clearly measured and demonstrated.”
There remains a tension between advocacy for greater investment in research and rigorous assessment of research outcomes.
Receive the Funding Newswire each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.