Action Medical Research funds three new Research Training Fellowships

Jul 9 2013

Action Medical Research, the UK-wide charity funding vital research to help sick and disabled babies and children, has today announced it is funding three new Research Training Fellowships worth more than £470,000.

The charity’s scheme has been running for 40 years and supports promising doctors and researchers early in their careers and develops future leaders in children’s research. 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.

Medical research can save and change children’s lives. Yet surprisingly, medical research into conditions that devastate children’s lives is poorly funded.

Over the past 40 years, Action Medical Research has funded 164 fellowships at a total value of over £11 million (almost £17 million in today’s terms). Some of today’s leading lights in children’s research and medicine were once Research Training Fellows funded by Action, including: Professors Bobby Gaspar, Andrew Pollard, and Donald Peebles.

Today, the charity is proud to announce the latest recipients of its Research Training Fellowship programme:

• Dr Julien Baruteau, of the Gene Transfer Technology Group UCL Institute for Women's Health, London, was awarded £198,473.00 to study argininosuccinic aciduria (ASA) and to investigate gene therapy to treat the condition. ASA causes delayed development and learning difficulties in children and, in severe cases, some babies with ASA can fall into a coma and die soon after birth.

• 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 that may give them much-needed relief from long-lasting pain.

• Dr Lucy Higgins, of the Maternal and Fetal Research Centre at the University of Manchester, was awarded £133,955.00 to research stillbirth. She is looking for a way to identify vulnerable babies during pregnancy so that the mothers can get early help to avoid their tragic loss.

Caroline Johnston, Research Evaluation Manager, said: “The Research Training Fellowship scheme is the cornerstone of Action Medical Research’s dedication to help babies and children through commitment to developing the research expertise and skills of the future.”

As well as supporting Research Training Fellowships, Action Medical Research also awards individual project grants. The charity is currently funding research into conditions including Down syndrome, premature birth, epilepsy, meningitis and rare diseases.

Source: http://www.action.org.uk/