Donate now to fund better research for better health.
The pandemic is a defining moment for the Academy. Our Fellows, researchers & staff have risen to the challenge, actively contributing to UK & global COVID-19 responses.
This response is even more remarkable given the way that the pandemic has adversely impacted the careers and lives of many in our community. The Academy has provided extensive help through our COVID-19 career support space as well as associated events and activities. We have also made the case for increased Government support for science in the Spending Review to ensure science emerges strongly from this period and that researchers can continue their life-saving work in the NHS, universities and industry up and down the country.
We have also been keen to lift people's eyes to the horizon and focus on other emergencies challenging people's health, not least advocating for climate action ahead of COP26 and providing policy advice on improving women’s health. Our global focus puts us in a strong position to do this work, with our International Health Lecture on global pandemic perspectives attracting attendees from multiple countries. In 2020 alone we funded over £10,000,000 of research, and to date we have created over 1200 pairs in our mentoring programme.
This winter we are reaching out to you for support.
With your donations, we can continue to bring about huge change for the health of society, inspiring, developing and supporting members of the science community in their transformative work. A donation of even £25 would provide crucial unrestricted funding that we can direct to the areas with the most need, at a time when the medical science landscape is under exceptional pressure and lessons must be learnt from the pandemic. As we embark on our strategy for the next decade, donations will help to build our future and that of biomedical and health research.
Tuesday 30 November is Giving Tuesday, a national day where charities highlight their work on social media and reach out to their supporters. This year we will shine a light on those we’ve helped and the difference they’ve made to health worldwide. Please pass this on to a friend or colleague and encourage them to donate too, and share our stories on social media.
Thank you, as ever, for your ongoing support. If this is what we’ve done so far, just imagine what we could do next, with your help.
Please see the profiles below to find out more about the amazing work your donations could fund.
'When opportunities like FLIER come along, take a deep breath and go for it!'
Professor Alison Pilnick, Professor of Language, Medicine & Society at the University of Nottingham
Alison is a participant on FLIER, our programme to develop leaders of the future who can create collaborations across academia, industry, the NHS and government equipping them with the skills to solve the biggest health challenges.
Alison studies healthcare interaction and communication in healthcare with the aim of using the findings to inform successful policy making. She has used her FLIER project as the basis for a successful British Academy Senior Research Fellowship application. This project will use the data from consultations that she's collected over the last 20 years to show why the delivery of patient centred care has proved so problematic in practice.
Read more about Alison's leadership journey and her incredible work.
Planet DIVOC-91
Young people have seen some of the worst impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. To empower young adults from across the world to make sense of the pandemic, the Academy worked with artists, filmmakers, musicians and storytellers to create an online comic, called Planet DIVOC-91, downloaded by thousands of people worldwide.
Each issue’s themes and stories involved an editorial panel of 16-24 year olds from the UK, India and South Africa, following interviews with leading scientists drawn from the Academy Fellowship and our grant awardees.
Dr Zania Stamataki, Senior Lecturer in Viral Immunology at the University of Birmingham, is a graduate from our SUSTAIN programme supporting women in research. Zania was interviewed as part of the storyline development and has been heavily involved with work surrounding COVID-19: "This project is a great way to understand the views of young people and their response to the unprecedented situation we are all dealing with."
Explore the full comic series online.
'The Academy recognise the moments when help is lacking where it’s most needed'.
Dr Chris Gale, Reader in Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College London and consultant neonatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Chris’ research focuses on improving the evidence underpinning neonatal care, using everyday data recorded on very sick babies across the UK to find which treatments work.
Chris has been very involved with the Academy since receiving a Starter Grant from us. He said that the grant sparked the use of patient involvement in his work to ensure their voices are featured and listened to. Chris is also part of the Academy's mentoring programme and joined the Academy's FLIER leadership programme in 2019.
Chris has now been able to develop a UK-wide monitoring programme for infant brain injury and is working with the NHS to ensure babies are born in the best place for their chances at life.
Read more about Chris' recent ground-breaking work.
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