King's College London

The NIHR Research Professorships scheme funds and supports research leaders of the future. Each will receive a five-year award of up to £2 million. This includes three support posts, research costs and access to a leadership and development programme..

The 5-year award allows outstanding academics to work at professorial level based at universities, in partnership with an NHS organisation or another provider of health, public health and/or care services.

Professor Lorna Fraser’s project will seek to improve care for children with life-limiting conditions. The number of children living with conditions that may shorten their lives is increasing, with children from minoritised ethnic groups and living in areas of high deprivation particularly affected. Parents frequently become full time healthcare providers for their children, and report issues with fragmented care, battles with services and concerns over lack of support to ensure safety for their child. Although advances in medicine have enabled these children to survive longer, the healthcare system has not developed in parallel, and families are often left unsupported.

Through this NIHR Professorship award, Professor Fraser aims to assess and map the way services and support is delivered to children with life-shortening conditions and their families, and then devise new pathways to make care easier to access, more joined up, inclusive and of a higher quality.

Professor Mona Bafadhel’s project will generate a new COPD exacerbation tool, which will aim to identify the underlying cause of exacerbation, determine the best treatment and offer confidence in the trajectory of the resolution of the exacerbation including potential risk of deteriorations.

COPD affects 1 in 10 adults in the UK and is the leading cause of hospital admissions, adding to NHS bed pressures in the winter months. Outcomes following an exacerbation of COPD have not improved for several decades.

Professor’s Bafadhel’s project could lend to better precision in care and treatments and be used by clinicians, patients and carers. These findings would have a significant impact on the health of patients with COPD, which is the third leading cause of death worldwide, and optimise the delivery of resources of COPD care.

Vice President for Research and Innovation, Professor Sir Bashir Al-Hashimi said: “Congratulations to Lorna and Mona on this remarkable achievement. I am delighted NIHR have recognised them as potential leaders in their fields of health and care. This funding is testament to their leadership, expertise and quality of research and will make a real difference to the lives of patients and their families.”

Professor Waljit Dhillo, Dean of the NIHR Academy and Scientific Director for Research Capacity and Capabilities, said: “I am delighted to welcome the latest group of researchers as NIHR Research Professors. These outstanding individuals will play a key role in the research community and I look forward to seeing the positive impact their research will make to the public.

“As a previous NIHR Research Professor, I know the difference and impact that this scheme can make, not only to develop research that can change lives but also to transform a researcher's career.”

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care, said: "The NIHR Research Professorship is one of our most prestigious career awards. The award funds outstanding researchers to help address the major health and care issues of today and in the future, strengthening health, public health and care research leadership at the highest academic levels. I congratulate this cohort and look forward to seeing the impact their research will have on people and communities.”

Since 2011, 73 people have been successful in gaining the competitive award. Many have gone on to become senior research leaders. This includes Professor Lucy Chappell who is also NIHR Research Professor in Obstetrics at King's.