Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Jo Platt (Labour) on Friday, 29 August 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 2 September 2025. It was answered by Kanishka Narayan (Labour) on Friday, 12 September 2025 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

ME/CFS: Research

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State fo Health and Social Care on the potential merits of funding a research hub to (a) coordinate research and (b) support early-career researchers working on ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Answer

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) work closely together to coordinate research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Extensive support is provided to early-career researchers through the NIHR Academy and NIHR Infrastructure.

ME/CFS is a priority area for UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and it has committed over £4,460,000 to ME/CFS research since 2020. NIHR has also committed approximately £3.7 million to this area across the 2019/20-2023/24 financial years.

MRC recently awarded funding to PRIME, a £800,000 partnership to build new research infrastructure for ME/CFS research. PRIME will establish new research collaborations, bringing together researchers and private sector partners, to investigate the genetics, biomarkers and disease mechanisms of ME/CFS.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
70926
Session
2024-26
Subjects
ME/CFS Research
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk