Manchester’s female scholars celebrate major research appointments

The government’s main funder of health research has announced the appointment of 6 women from the University of Manchester as new Senior Investigators-  in time for International women’s day next week.

The number means Manchester bagged more of the  27 new appointments announced by The National Institute for Health and Care research -  or NIHR for short –than any other University.

NIHR Senior Investigators are among the most prominent and prestigious researchers funded by the NIHR and receive an award of £20,000 per year to fund activities supporting their research.

The awards were made by  independent expert committee chaired by senior professors from across the country.

The NIHR also announced the reappointment of 29 Senior Investigators, 4 of whom  were from Manchester.

That means in total, there are 29  Senior Investigators from Manchester; including 7 with Emeritus status.

The new investigators include four Professors from the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work: Penny Bee, Jo Dumville, Janelle Yorke and Alys Young.

The Manchester sextet will be completed by Corinne Faivre Finn,  Professor of Thoracic Radiation Oncology and Katherine Payne, Professor of Health Economics.

The reappointed investigators are: Kathryn Abel, Professor of Psychiatry, Timothy Illidge, Professor of Targeted Therapy and  Oncology, Kevin Munro, Professor of Audiology and Chris Todd, Professor of Primary Care and Community Health.

Professor Graham Lord, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health said: “This fantastic news for the University and a powerful endorsement of our world leading research.”

Professor of Nursing, Dame Nicky Cullum, said: “This brilliant news couldn’t land at a better time.  It will be International Women’s Day on 8 March and recognising our outstanding women researchers is  a great way to celebrate it.”

Collectively, Senior Investigators constitute the NIHR College of Senior Investigators, and are members of the NIHR Academy.

They help guide research capacity development and enhance the career paths of NIHR researchers. This includes participating as mentors in the NIHR mentoring programme.

NIHR Senior Investigators can complete up to two terms and then gain Emeritus status.

NIHR Senior Investigator status is  awarded according to a number of including quality and volume of internationally excellent research, relevance to patients and the public and impact on improvements in healthcare and public health.

The criteria also include research leadership, engagement of patients and the public and engagement of healthcare policy makers and planners with their research.