We’ve been running our prestigious Research Training Fellowship scheme for over 50 years. In this time we have funded 189 fellowships with a total value of over £16.3 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
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 Sara Moscatelli
Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: personalising treatment for children with these rare inherited heart conditions to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac arrest
1 August 2021 – 1 July 2026
Dr Kushalinii Hillson
Personalising treatment for preschool children with recurrent wheezing
4 September 2023 – 3 September 2026
Dr Tom Altmann
Personalising treatment for children with rare inherited conditions affecting their immune system
5 March 2025 – 4 March 2028
Dr Shin Tan
Reducing the risk of infections from breathing tubes in preterm babies
3 March 2025 – 3 September 2028
Dr Eva Ioannidou
Rasmussen’s encephalitis: investigating the underlying causes of this rare childhood brain inflammation to improve diagnosis and treatment
Please read before applying
Research Training Fellowship Guidelines and Outline Form
Applications should be of the highest quality as the scheme is very competitive.