Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates: September 17, 2026 (Mandatory EOI, 4:00pm UK time) | November 5, 2026 (Invited full application, 4:00pm UK time)
Funding Amounts: Up to £5 million full economic cost over three to five years; MRC funds 80% plus 100% of permitted exceptions; £15 million total budget
Summary: Supports human experimental studies testing biological mechanisms behind variation in responses to biomedical prevention interventions and the transition from health to early disease.
Key Information: A mandatory expression of interest and invitation are required before submitting a full application.
Description
Run by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC), this opportunity supports experimental medicine research explaining why biomedical prevention interventions work differently across people. Projects must test a predefined mechanistic hypothesis through an experimental intervention or challenge in humans, focusing on pre-disease, emerging disease or early disease. The biomedical intervention must have an established safety profile, and studies must use validated biological readouts rather than infer mechanisms from observational data.
Research may investigate existing prevention interventions or biological pathways that could inform future precision prevention approaches. The goal is to improve prevention’s targeting, timing, effectiveness, efficiency and equity. MRC particularly welcomes work addressing mechanistic gaps in multiple long-term conditions and metabolic disease, including underrepresented populations where relevant.
