of funds in the hands of men experi- 

 enced in research. 



In Great Britain as early as 101 I 

 the promotion of medical research 

 was explicitly recognized as a respon- 

 sibility of the State by the establish 

 ment of the Medical Research Com- 

 mittee, which became the Medical 

 Research Council in 1920. The 

 Council has administrative autonomy 

 with general responsibility to a com- 

 mittee of ministers in the Priyy 

 Council. It receives money from 

 both Parliament and nongovernmen- 

 tal sources specifically for furthering 

 medical research and has no connec- 

 tion with any system of medical care 

 or health insurance. 



The Medical Research Council has 

 continued to play an increasingly im- 

 portant and eminently successful role 

 in its field. Through it Government 

 support for medical research and the 

 aid of medical science to the Govern- 

 ment are assured. 



Medical research in Great Britain 

 also receives indirect Government aid 

 through the University Grants Com- 

 mittee, a Standing Committee of the 

 Treasury. Its members are independ- 

 ent experts of acknowledged repute 

 and thoroughly familiar with the 

 problems of university administration. 

 The Committee's terms of reference 

 are "To inquire into the financial 

 needs of university education in the 

 United Kingdom, and to advise the 

 Government as to the application of 

 any grants that may be made by 

 Parliament toward meeting them." 



Although the University Grants 

 Committee does not give direct grants 

 for specific medical research projects, 

 it holds that research is one of the 

 primary functions of a university and 

 an indispensable element in the work 

 of university teachers. Grants to the 

 institutions are in the form of unre- 



stricted funds with no portion ear- 

 marked for a s[)ecilic jiurpose. 

 Through a recent act of Parliament 

 whereby this Committee is enabled 

 to award $4,000,000 annually to 

 medical schools and $2,000,000 to 

 teaching hospitals, this indirect sup- 

 port of medical research by the 

 Government has been substantially 

 increased. 



8. The Need for Federal Aid to 

 Medical Research 



Between World War I and World 

 War II the United States overtook 

 the other nations in medical research 

 and forged ahead to a position of 

 world leadership. If this leadership 

 is to be maintained, some form of 

 Go\'ernment financial aid to the medi- 

 cal schools will be necessary. This 

 view is accepted by the Committee 

 and by nearly all whom the Com- 

 mittee has consulted. 



Dr. A. N. Richards, Chairman of 

 the Committee on Medical Research, 

 reported to the Subcommittee on 

 Wartime Health and Education of 

 the Committee on Education and 

 Labor of the United States Senate 

 that, in connection with medical re- 

 search, "The experience of the Office 

 of Scientific Research and Develop- 

 ment has proved that none of the 

 universities which were called upon 

 for Office of Scientific Research and 

 Development work could afford to 

 undertake it on the scale which the 

 emergency demanded at the expense 

 of its own resources. Hence, if the 

 concerted efforts of medical investi- 

 gators which have yielded so much of 

 value during the war are to be con- 

 tinued on any comparable scale dur- 

 ing the peace, the conclusion is in- 

 escapable that they must be supported 

 by government." 



57 



