Much of our work looks for new treatments to benefit both the young and the old.
For some conditions there is no dividing line between research that benefits children and that which can help older generations. Health problems that occur in adults often have their origins in events at birth or in childhood. Treating childhood conditions early can also help to minimise the symptoms in adulthood. While improving diagnostic techniques, surgical procedures, and equipment such as MRI scanning will bring benefits to anyone of any age.
Dealing with disability
Illness and disease could strike any one of us at any time. We’re taking real steps to find ways to prevent disability or improve recovery from disabling conditions like stroke, spinal cord injury or blindness by funding a range of cutting-edge research projects.
Tackling common conditions
Many of our projects hope to improve diagnosis and treatment of common conditions such as migraine, diabetes, osteoporosis, allergic reactions and tendonitis.
Minimising chronic conditions
Around one in 400 people in the UK suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and the number of new cases is rising, especially among children. Our projects give hope to people facing a lifetime of pain and misery by improving our understanding of the causes of chronic conditions like IBD, arthritis, stroke, lung disease and incontinence.
Preventing infection
The rapid rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria means that doctors urgently need to find new treatments to combat infections like MRSA, E.coli and C.difficile. Our important work in preventing infections like MRSA will reap benefits for people of all ages, particularly the very young, the sick, and older people.
Taking on rare conditions
Our researchers are finding the causes and looking for new treatments for rare and devastating neurodegenerative conditions like motor neuron disease and Huntington's disease.
Improving surgery and technology
Our projects continue to make a real difference to surgery and medical techniques - from bone healing, to joint replacement, to brain imaging technology and improvements to transplant surgery - we invest wisely in projects that help translate modern science into clinical practice.
