CHILDREN’S CHARITIES ANNOUNCE £2 MILLION CASH INJECTION INTO CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s (GOSH) Charity and Sparks, the children’s medical research charity, have announced they will invest £2.1 million in projects across the UK specifically focused on child health research - the largest charitable call dedicated to child health research in the UK. Researchers from across the UK were invited to apply for funding as part of a process called the national call and the increased investment has been made possible thanks to the charities joining forces last year. This commitment to paediatric research funding reflects GOSH Charity and Sparks’ ambitions to help unlock breakthroughs in children’s medicines that will find treatments and cures for seriously ill children with rare and complex conditions.

The £2.1 million will fund 14 research projects at 10 different Universities across the UK from Plymouth to Liverpool, looking at treatments for a range of diseases such as stem cell therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, immunotherapy treatment for brain tumours, new treatments for children with motor neuron disease, and diagnostic techniques to determine the best treatment for children with cerebral palsy.

These projects reflect the ambition of the call to demonstrate a strong partnership between clinical and laboratory based research and will enable new treatments to be bought from the lab bench to the patient’s bedside, speeding up the diagnosis and treatment of complex conditions.

Tim Johnson, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Sparks said: “For many seriously ill children, research is their only hope, yet paediatric research is severely underfunded, receiving only five per cent of public and charitable funding research in the UK each year.

By making more money available to researchers from across the country we will help them to find new ways to diagnose, treat and cure complex diseases that affect children.”

Kiki Syrad, Director of Grants and Impact at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity says: “The invitation to researchers to apply for funding received a huge response from the paediatric research community. We look forward to seeing how these projects progress, and the call re-opening later this year.”

For further information, please contact Ruth Maurice in the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity Press Office on 020 7239 3125

About Great Ormond Street Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity:
Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children’s healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital’s pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Our patients and families are central to everything we do – from the moment they come through the door and for as long as they need us.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity needs to raise money to support the hospital to give seriously ill children, the best chance for life. The charity funds research into pioneering new treatments for children, provides the most up to date medical equipment, funds support services for children and their families and supports the essential rebuilding and refurbishment of the hospital. You can help us to provide world class care for our patients and families. For more information visit www.gosh.org

About Sparks
Sparks raises money to fund pioneering children’s medical research. Since 1991, it has funded more than 285 ground-breaking research projects in over 90 hospitals, universities and research institutions across the UK and overseas.