Research budget cuts worry for animal disease centre

While Moredun, the animal disease research centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh, had to shelve this year’s centenary celebrations due to the Covid pandemic, not only did research continue through the crisis, but the institute also played a key role in helping the NHS deliver testing for the virus.

But despite the organisation yesterday reporting a healthy balance sheet and positive income from its commercial activities, directors and scientists flagged up growing concerns over the allocation of ever-diminishing Government research budgets.

Speaking at a briefing, chair of the Moredun Foundation, Aberfeldy farmer Ian Duncan Millar, warned that the environment for research funding was currently extremely competitive:

“Like farming and many other businesses, Moredun has introduced a whole suite of efficiency measures over the years - but we have now reached the situation where, if any further cuts are faced, we will be forced to reduce the headcount which, in turn, would force us to step back from important areas of research.

“And such an eventuality could see research centres begin to lose critical mass – which would mean that if we were called upon to help in specific areas which would benefit the whole of society, we might find that we have lost both the people and the skill-sets which are required.”

Highlighting the importance of investing in people, the Institute’s director and chief executive, Julie Fitzpatrick, said that the skill set and facilities available at the institute had allowed it to step in swiftly to set up an academic node with the NHS to help provide the techniques and technologies to carry out Coronovirus-19 testing:

“With staff already trained in working with dangerous pathogens we were able to harness that skill-set and handle the required testing procedures for Covid quickly, while also being able to carry out more complicated validation routines.”

Stressing the importance of a “one health” approach – which recognised the similarities of diseases and epidemics in human and animal populations - Fitzpatrick revealed that the institute had reached the end of the current five-year funding cycle this year. However, while the Covid pandemic had seen the current arrangements rolled over and extended to cover a sixth year of funding, fears still existed.

She said that while the money which came in from the organisation’s commercial activities provided a major boost and multiplied any grant funding received, it remained the position that government funding paid the salaries of researchers.

Looking ahead, she said that while the animal and plant health, along with improving livestock productivity levels had been highlighted as important areas in overall future strategy, she remained concerned that enough funding might not be available for work on animal diseases:

“We are particularly worried about the move away from funding longer-term strategic research in favour of short term ‘responsive’ research.

“And while we are very much involved in work in areas which produce short term practical objectives which can result in more immediate results, we are highly aware that this needs to be underwritten by longer-term fundamental research.”