How do charities know that they are funding good quality research?

Medical and health research charities receive many applications from researchers' requesting funds to support their investigations. Each application is supported by complex scientific and other information that a charity's own staff and trustees' are not always expert enough to judge the value of. In order to help them make a decision about which research to fund, all AMRC member charities ask for expert advice via a process called peer review. In turn, the scientific community supports the peer review system because they know it is in the interests of good science. Peer review allows a charity to identify which funding applications are high quality, scientifically sound and are most appropriate to achieve its research objectives.

the process of peer review for funding decisions operates differently from that used in decisions about publishing research findings, but the principles are the same.

there are so many medical research charities, how can I make a sensible choice between them to offer my support?

Most people who support a medical research charity do so because they have a connection with a particular disease, through family or friends. It is likely that you  know someone who has a condition for which a medical research charity raises funds, or you can simply focus on what interests you. By browsing on charity websites you can learn a lot about the research and projects that they fund; you can access all AMRC member charity websites through the links provided. there may be a fundraising event you would like to take part in, a scheme for volunteering your own time, or information on how to make a regular donation. If you would like to do more, don't hesitate to get in touch with a charity to ask specific questions. This will help you to make an informed decision. Whoever you choose to support, your contribution is guaranteed to be appreciated.

This depends on the size and type of charity. Some of the larger charities, for example, the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie Cancer Care, have their own specialist research institutes, but may also fund smaller teams of scientists outside of these research centres. the majority of medical research charities, however, support research in university departments and hospitals, and only 16% of charitable funding is spent in independent charity institutes.

Through their generous support of medical and health research charities, the public have an important impact on research directions: In 2005/06, AMRC's member charities allocated over Ł716 million to a wide range of medical and health research activities, of which around 30% was spent on cancer. It is true that there are many charities funding cancer research, but when you consider that one in three people in the UK are likely to suffer from cancer at some point in their lives, it is understandable that many people choose to give this disease high priority. Cancer is also a priority of the government and NHS. People often donate time or money to a cancer research charity because they are close to a person who has had cancer or because they have suffered personally. In this sense, our personal experiences further impact upon fundraising and awareness.

the charity sector in medical research is not only concerned with cancer, but is a major source of funding for research into countless other conditions, from heart disease to arthritis, and many charities focus solely on rare conditions. In fact, there are charities covering almost all disease areas and health concerns, and they all work hard to fundraise for research into their chosen area. Many charities invest huge effort into raising awareness about rarer conditions, and the research strength of rare disease charities tends to grow alongside this.

Part of the government's role is to ensure that the environment in which research can take place is well supported and it directs funding for this through the universities and Research Councils. It also provides funding to the Department of Health to undertake research that will be of benefit to patients in the NHS.

Charity support for research in universities and hospitals provides a partnership with government because the NHS and the universities are expected to provide laboratories, buildings and associated patient care costs. Money to provide these indirect research costs comes from annual government funding allocations. It is important that government, the NHS and universities are aware of the high quality research that charities support, and that they continue to provide the  infrastructure costs so that charity support for research can continue.

In 2005/06, AMRC's 113 member charities contributed over Ł716 million to fund research into both common and rare conditions; without this input, it would be impossible to maintain the UK's position as a world leader in medical developments. the existence of a strong charity-funded research base also gives patients, and the public, the opportunity to influence which research activities are supported. Charities fund research for public benefit and not with the aim of commercial or personal gain, which is one key reason why public respect for the values and independence of charities is so high.

We know a lot about human disease already so why should we spend more money on research instead of trying to change people's behaviour so that they avoid disease?

Although the results of research show that it is sometimes possible to prevent disease, through changes in lifestyle, we must accept that many people are either unwilling or unable to make those changes. Although we know about risk factors, we know much less about how any one individual will be affected by any particular risk. In addition, a person's genetic makeup also influences their susceptibility to disease: one person may die as a result of smoking whilst another survives to old age, and even people who have healthy lifestyles may have heart attacks. Research is essential to understand underlying mechanisms of disease and, in turn, to find out how risk factors operate and help target prevention advice and programmes.