Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) is a national organisation that promotes quality and innovation in the field of health research and health care, initiating and fostering new developments. ZonMw also actively promotes knowledge transfer and implementation, ensuring knowledge is exchanged between all relevant stakeholders (health researchers, health professionals, patients/consumers and the general public). This in turn facilitates the structured implementation of newly developed knowledge in the health care system and guarantees emerging health care issues a place on the research agenda. In 2006 ZonMw spent €180 million on medical research, with €14 million on stem cell research.

The question ZonMw faces is how to improve disease prevention and health care. One thing is clear: you need a lot of knowledge, and therefore a lot of research. And it is important that people actually use that knowledge. With this in mind, ZonMw funds and promotes health research, development and implementation.

ZonMw contributes to the initiation and implementation policy cycle and is responsible for distributing a proportion of the resources available for health research and development. Much of ZonMw’s work involves the design, execution and evaluation of national programmes, which are either open or restricted.

ZonMw ensures the quality and relevance of the activities it supports by having independent experts assess and evaluate proposals (peer review). ZonMw’s primary concern is to establish and monitor standards and instruments for various types of research and development and their assessment.

Stem Cell Budget

Allocated: € 22 million programme Translational Adult Stem Cell Research