Brexit and Translational Research

In a historic referendum on June 23, 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) after more than four decades of membership. For the time being, the UK is still a member of the EU until the UK government triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty–which probably won't happen before the end of 2016. A minimum of 2 years of negotiations will follow before theUK ceases to be an EUmember. This unprecedented Brexit decision has created a shockwave resonating not only within the UK and Europe, but also across the globe, affecting amultitude of aspects fromfinance andpolitics to science.Much of the concernhas come from the lack of a clear Brexit roadmap and thewidespread uncertainty as to what the negotiations will include. So what are the implications of Brexit in translational research? Given the complexity and multidisciplinary nature of biomedical science, translational research relies profoundly on collaboration among scientists and institutes in order to amalgamate expertise and resources. Internationally coauthored research publication has increased from around 10% in the 1980s to 40-50% in the 2010s, and this global trend is the main driving force in research growth. In the UK, 80% of international collaborators are from the EU, and 15% of academic staff is non-UK EU nationals. Because one of the core arguments for Brexit is to limit immigration, this will likely create an unintended barrier for research collaboration. In fact, there are already some reports of EU scientists being reluctant to collaborate with UK researchers in EU funding applications, because EU funding bodies are yet to decide whether UK scientists will be eligible for funding. This post-Brexit funding concern could have serious repercussions for translational research. UK researchers receive nearly £1 billion a year from EU funding programs such as Horizon 2020; whether or not they can continue to participate in such funding programs after Brexit will need to be renegotiated. It's likely that British scientists will have to compete harder in applying for EU funding–if they are allowed to apply. Non-EU associated members like Switzerland can participate in EU funding programs, but they need to pay an associated membership fee and have to agree to free movement of EU citizens. In 2014, the Swiss voted to restrict mass immigration, and Switzerland was suspended from Horizon 2020 as a result. The current uncertainty that Brexit has created also reduces investors' confidence–safer investment would be in big pharmas, whereas small to medium biotechnology companies where much of higher-risk translational research is carried out would be hit harder in this financial climate. But is it all doom and gloom financially? EU funding–although an important source–only accounts for about 10% of UK research expenditure, while the majority of biomedical research funding comes from the UK government through Research Councils UK (RCUK) such as Medical Research Council (MRC) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and National Institute of Health Research