Funding cuts 'put vital medical research at risk'

Parkinson's UK, which its holding its national research conference in York today and tomorrow, has cautioned that cuts of around 10 per cent in real terms in coming years will hamper work to find new treatments for the condition, which affects around 120,000 people in the UK.

The director of research at the charity, Kieran Breen, said: "It is something we are concerned about and as time goes on it will have a greater impact.

"Research charities such as ourselves will come under increased pressure to replace the money that is no longer available through the Government. We've already seen a significant increase in applications to us for research grants in the last 12 months or so."

The charity is the largest funder of Parkinson's research in Europe, backing 4.6m worth of work each year.

"Hopefully, we will be able to maintain that or increase it but it does depend on the amount of donations we receive and we've already seen the impact of the recession on that," said Dr Breen.

He said further clues about the causes of Parkinson's were emerging and experts now had a much clearer idea of likely avenues for new treatments.

"The areas in which we want to invest will have an impact on people's lives with Parkinson's," he said.

"The money we invested in research 10 or 20 years ago is already beginning to reap rewards in terms of our understanding and if we invest now we are confident that we will reap further benefits in future.

"Our conference will bring the best and brightest British scientists together to share their ideas and develop collaborations that will help move Parkinson's research forward towards a cure.

"We are passionate about finding a cure for Parkinson's and better treatments and supporting a flourishing research community will help us move ever closer to our goal."