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New childhood disability fellowship for postdoctoral researchers

This exciting new funding partnership will see dedicated investment of £263,000 for a real impact on the lives and health of children with disabilities across the UK.

Applications closed on 4 November 2019

Our partnership with Newlife The Charity for Disabled Children, was launched at RCPCH Conference and exhibition in May 2019. We will offer talented postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to compete for a pioneering three-year fellowship.

The successful researcher will receive a grant of £263,000 to advance paediatric research in the childhood disability field as well as progress their own knowledge and develop skills.

Newlife, which has been investing in medical research for more than 10 years, will contribute £135,000, with RCPCH providing match funding from our Child Research Fellowship Fund. This fund was formed thanks to initial investment by the David Baum International Foundation who contributed £90,000, and a further £183,000 donated from the estate of Terence Walter Wiseman.

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Jo Revill, RCPCH CEO and Sheila Brown, OBE CEO of Newlife

We are delighted to work with such a prestigious organisation on this groundbreaking project and hope other charities follow our lead and invest in other opportunities to further advance paediatric research.

Sheila Brown, OBE - CEO of Newlife

Newlife is the UK’s largest charity providing essential equipment to disabled and terminally ill children. The charity’s investment to date on research has concentrated on birth defects, funding over 300 projects to the value of £16 million. This new research partnership will focus on providing much-needed insight into the secondary conditions children endure as a result of the physical impacts of disability.

Investing in paediatric research is vital if we’re to continue to improve the health and wellbeing of children. Despite children making up around 20% of the UK’s population, only 5% of public and charitable research spend is allocated to children. The importance of investing in child health research cannot be underestimated; getting it right for children means we’re far more likely to have healthier future generations.

This partnership with Newlife is incredibly exciting and focuses on a much needed area of child health research. We look forward to awarding the first Fellowship later this year.

Jo Revill - CEO of RCPCH

Applications for this Research Fellowship Award will open in autumn 2019. For more information contact research@rcpch.ac.uk.