Latest research

Project grants

In this latest round of funding, we have given out a total of £1,286,500 across twelve different projects including research for children with congenital heart disease, bacterial meningitis, prematurity and ADHD, and multiple sclerosis:

• Congenital heart disease: developing stents for children, two years, £149,374 granted to researchers at the Royal Free Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital and the King’s College London

• Primary ciliary dyskinesia: helping communities at risk of this debilitating illness, two years, £118,734 awarded to researchers at the Institute of Child Health, London, and Bradford Royal Infirmary

• Auditory processing disorders: why do some children struggle to make sense of what they can hear? One and a half years, £19,140 awarded to researchers at the Ear Institute, University College London 

• Bacterial meningitis in newborn babies: harnessing the body’s natural defences, two years, £114,845 granted to researchers at the University College London and Imperial College London

• Lazy eye (amblyopia): gathering hard evidence on the best way to restore children’s vision, three years, £199,207 awarded to researchers at Leicester Royal Infirmary, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London Institute of Opthalmology

• Perthes’ disease: identifying who’s at risk and why, three years, £139,348 awarded to researchers at the University of Hull, University of Southampton and Southampton General Hospital 

• Spine curvature: helping children with scoliosis breathe, two and a half years, £135,692 awarded to researchers at the University of Leeds, St James University Hospital, Leeds and Leeds General Infirmary

• Premature babies: why are these babies at increased risk of ADHD? three years, £169,944 awarded to researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

• Dystonia: mapping the brain for more precise brain surgery for the distressing movement disorder, two years, £54,500 awarded to researchers at the Evelina Children’s Hospital and King’s College London 

• Epilepsy in children: studying sleep and memory, two years, £123,892 awarded to researchers at Institute of Child Health, London, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Young Epilepsy, Surrey

• Multiple sclerosis: what causes damage and destruction of the nervous system? one year, £51,824 awarded to researchers at the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow

• MRSA and C difficile infections: developing new antibiotics from maggot secretions, four months, £10,000 awarded to College of Medicine and College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University.
   

Research Training Fellowships

This year we are celebrating 40 years of our Research Training Fellowship scheme and have now funded 167 fellowships at a total value of over £11 million (almost £17 million in today’s terms). The charity is also proud to announce the latest recipients of its Research Training Fellowship programme:

• Chronic pain in young people - a new treatment tool
  Lauren Heathcote, of the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, was awarded £140,538.00
  to study chronic pain and is developing a new way to help children and young people.
   
• Stillbirth - predicting complications following a reduction in baby’s movements
  Dr Lucy Higgins, of the Maternal and Fetal Research Centre at the University of Manchester, was awarded £133,955.00 to research stillbirth and ways to predict pregnancy complications. 

None of our work would be possible without the generosity of people who make donations, raise funds and take part in events, as well as our trust and corporate partners.