The Medical Research Council (MRC) has today announced the new MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Restorative Immunology, led by the University of Birmingham.
Backed by a £50 million MRC investment over 14 years, the Centre brings together researchers from eight universities across the UK and Japan to pursue an ambitious goal: to move beyond long-term control of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases towards restoring immune balance and tissue health.
Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases include inflammatory arthritis, Sjögren’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune liver disease. Although treatments have improved considerably, many people require long-term medicines that suppress the immune system without addressing the underlying causes of disease.
The Centre aims to understand why inflammation fails to resolve and how the immune system and damaged tissues can be restored to health, with the ultimate goal of developing treatments capable of achieving sustained, drug-free remission.
Read the full MRC/UKRI announcement
A seven-year programme of research
The Centre’s first seven-year programme will bring together researchers across three interconnected Research Streams: Data Exploration, Mechanisms of Tissue Restoration and Experimental Medicine.
Researchers will study disease directly within affected tissues, including the synovium, salivary gland, gut and liver. By comparing cellular and molecular information across diseases and tissues, they aim to identify both shared and tissue-specific mechanisms that determine whether inflammation persists or resolves.
The Centre will combine expertise in data science, tissue immunology, experimental medicine, clinical trial design and health economics, creating a connected pathway from biological discovery through to testing new therapeutic approaches.
Why this research matters
The experiences and priorities of people living with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases will be central to the Centre and its research.
As part of the MRC announcement, Caitlin shares her experience of living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), describing the impact that chronic inflammatory disease and its treatment can have on childhood and everyday life.
Caitlin has also narrated a new animation introducing restorative immunology and explaining why researchers are seeking ways to move beyond controlling inflammation towards restoring immune and tissue health.
Watch the restorative immunology animation
Building a Centre together
Alongside its scientific programme, the Centre will build a collaborative research community spanning institutions, disciplines and career stages. This will include doctoral training, support for early and mid-career researchers, patient and public involvement, partnerships with industry, and opportunities for researchers to develop new collaborative projects.
Led by the University of Birmingham, the Centre brings together researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Glasgow, UCL, Newcastle, Bristol and Cambridge, and Kyoto University in Japan.
The MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Restorative Immunology formally begins on 1 October 2026.