In 2013 we celebrated a hundred years of life-changing discoveries as the Medical Research Council turned 100. This gave us an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the Council, both nationally and more locally in our own Unit’s research, as well as to look back to where it all began…
The Medical Research Council was formed in 1913 in response to the tuberculosis epidemic. At the time 50,000 people were dying annually in the UK as a result of TB and there was no effective treatment or prevention. The government took action by using a proportion of national insurance contributions to fund sanatoria and initiate medical research in a bid to find a cure, and the MRC first convened in June 1913 to decide how the government funds should be spent. While TB was a key focus, early research projects were quite diverse and included the study of rickets and diseases of the nervous system, among others.
Since then, the MRC has provided the financial support and scientific expertise behind a number of medical breakthroughs, including the development of penicillin, the linkage of lung cancer to tobacco smoking and the discovery of the structure of DNA.
Over 40 MRC Units and Centres have been set up in the UK as well as several abroad. Our very own Unit in Southampton, the Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, was established in 1979. It was from here that the Hertfordshire Cohort Study were started in the late 1980’s following the discovery of the Health Visitor ledgers.
Thanks to the help of our study members in Hertfordshire, we have discovered that the early life environment in the womb and the first few years has important lasting influences on health right through life. For example, bigger babies tend to have stronger bones and muscle even into late adulthood. Ongoing research includes how diet and physical activity in older age can bring about benefits to bones and muscle as well as to other aspects of healthy ageing.
In June 2013, many MRC Units and Centres around the country held open days or commemorative events to celebrate the Centenary. Here in Southampton we put on an evening of talks with several MRC scientists taking the stage, including Professor Cyrus Cooper and Professor David Barker. The Hertfordshire Studies were of course talked about in detail and the contribution of this research was acknowledged. We finished off the celebrations by the cutting of a 100th birthday cake by the Mayor of Southampton.
