Experimental medicine stage one
Forecasted
Experimental medicine stage one supports academic researchers conducting human intervention studies to understand disease mechanisms and identify opportunities for future therapies or diagnostics.
Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates (Anticipated): February 2027 (Stage two) | April 2027 (Stage one) | September 2027 (Deferred stage two) | October 2027 (Stage one)
Funding Amounts: No funding or duration limit; 80% of full economic costs and 100% of permitted exceptions
Summary: Supports academically led human intervention studies testing mechanistic hypotheses about the causes, progression and treatment of disease.
Key Information: Human interventions must have established safety profiles; treatment safety or efficacy studies are not supported.
Description
The Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, funds academically led experimental medicine research conducted in humans. Projects must address a clearly articulated gap in understanding human pathophysiology, test a mechanistic hypothesis through an experimental intervention or challenge, and demonstrate a clear path to clinical impact. All disease areas are welcome, with interventions including pharmacological, immunological, physiological, psychological and infectious challenges.
The goal is to generate mechanistic insights that identify opportunities to modify disease pathways or enable future therapeutic or diagnostic approaches. Supported work includes novel readouts or technologies and established drugs used in new settings to probe mechanisms. Early efficacy signals may be secondary measures, but mechanistic understanding must remain the primary focus. Healthy participants may be included where their selection is justified.
