We’ve been running our prestigious Research Training Fellowship scheme for 50 years. In this time we have funded 186 fellowships with a total value of over £15.5 million.
The scheme supports and develops promising doctors and researchers early in their careers: as Research Training Fellows, these high-fliers carry out a key piece of research to help children and undertake training to develop their research expertise.
The impact our Research Training Fellows make is great. Their work has led to patient and healthcare sector benefits:
- Influencing policy and guidelines
- Improving clinical practice and patient care on topics such as vaccine use, epilepsy, pregnancy management, preterm birth and developing diagnostic techniques
- Developing treatments for life-threatening and life-limiting conditions.
We’re proud that some of the leading children’s researchers today were supported with a Research Training Fellowship from Action.
Professor Bobby Gaspar is an expert in paediatrics and immunology at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in London.
I received three year Research Training Fellowship funding which allowed me to complete my PhD. This was my academic foundation; it set me on the road to my academic and clinical career.
Professor Gaspar was awarded an Action fellowship in the early 1990s. He studied two life-threatening immunodeficiency disorders, which occur when the body’s natural immune system is absent or not working properly. At that time, the conventional treatment for these disorders was bone marrow transplant, which carries risk if the donor match is poor. Professor Gaspar’s pioneering work has led to new gene therapy treatments which are now saving children’s lives.
Current Research Training Fellows
Mrs Cynthia de Courcey
Improving facial reconstructive surgery for children using tissue engineering
Dr Jonathon Holland
Multiple sclerosis: assessing nerve repair in children to find out if they could benefit from new treatments
1 November 2022 – 31 October 2025
Dr T’ng C Kwok
Preterm birth: reducing the risk of babies dying or developing a severe lung condition using a new AI-based tool
1 May 2022 – 30 October 2024
Dr Michael Eyre
NMDAR-antibody encephalitis: using cutting-edge brain scanning techniques to personalise treatment for a rare brain disease
1 March 2021 – 29 February 2024
Dr Sharanya S Nagendran
Peanut allergy – improving the safety and effectiveness of a new treatment
16 August, 2021 – 7 October, 2024
Dr Sara Moscatelli
Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: personalising treatment for children with these rare inherited heart conditions to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac arrest
Dr Kushalinii Hillson
Personalising treatment for preschool children with recurrent wheezing
Please read before applying
Research Training Fellowship Guidelines and Outline Form
Applications should be of the highest quality as the scheme is very competitive.