The Medical Research Council (MRC) has agreed to partner the Californian Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in its Disease Team Therapy Development Awards III Request for Applications (RFA 13-01), which aims to progress late preclinical and early clinical translational stem cell research.

Stem cell research offers enormous potential for the development of novel therapies, derived from or targeting stem cells, for the treatment of disease and serious injury. The application of stem cell research to clinical problems has matured to the stage that stem cell-based therapies are now poised to progress into clinical testing. The aim of RFA 13‑01 is to accelerate clinical proof of concept for potential therapies based on stem cell research through the completion of Phase I and/or Phase 2 clinical studies.

The MRC is calling for proposals from UK groups active in the late preclinical and early clinical domain that can link to Californian research teams, to establish high quality, multidisciplinary translational research programmes. Funded programmes will be milestone-driven and have the maturity and critical mass to complete early clinical testing within the four-year period of support. Further information on the initiative and details of how to submit an application is available on the MRC Calls for Proposals page