Evaluation of impacts of medical research

This report reviews aspects of measuring impacts and outcomes of medical research. A core working group appointed at an international workshop in 2007, organised by the Scientific Council for Medicine within the Swedish Research Council, was tasked with creating a roadmap that defines key questions to explore and possible approaches to take.

Their work was performed between 2007 and 2009. Evaluators need more accurate ways to estimate economic returns and greater international collaboration is required to advance knowledge on crucial issues. These issues include understanding how innovation takes place, how to best analyse the social and cultural impacts of research and how research outcomes can be attributed to individual funders.