Medical Research Council

British public funder of medical research, founded in 1913 as the Medical Research Committee and now one of the councils of UK Research and Innovation, headquartered in Swindon with major institutes and units across the United Kingdom. Funds and carries out research from molecular biology and genetics to clinical trials and population health, supports drug discovery and experimental medicine through schemes such as the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme, and its work has underpinned many medicines and vaccines.