Evolving the Fellowship for tomorrow's health challenges

Nick Hillier
6 minutes

The 2027 Fellowship election cycle is now open, and we are continuing our series of transformative changes to ensure our Fellowship reflects the full breadth of talent, disciplines, and experiences across the biomedical and health research community.  

Three sprints to 30 

In October 2024, the Academy’s Council committed to a bold new approach to the existing yearly election review process. They approved a series of three “Fellowship Sprint Groups” to seek new ways to identify candidates and to reform the nomination and selection process, over the 2026, 2027, and 2028 election cycles. These sprints are designed to deliver focused, Fellow-led improvements that will culminate in a more diverse and dynamic Fellowship, whilst not compromising on excellence, in time for the Academy’s 30th anniversary in December 2028. 

New Fellows Admission Day 2024
New Fellows Admissions Day 2024

The first sprint group, chaired by Academy Registrar, Professor David Adams FMedSci, brought together Fellows from across the UK to define and develop the changes now live for this year’s election cycle. 

While our latest Diversity report highlights positive progress in the gender and racial diversity of new Fellows elected in the past five years, challenges remain within the wider Fellowship. There are also age and geographic disparities, and an under representation of the emerging sectors, disciplines and diverse career pathways that are vital to the Academy addressing the health challenges we face as a society.  

With that in mind, the Sprint Group agreed the first step should be to focus on the election process to ensure our approach truly supports the election of diverse Fellows with subsequent Sprint Groups focusing on identifying candidates from emerging sectors and disciplines.  

Although starting with process, this campaign is about more than the paperwork, it’s about building a Fellowship that exemplifies the future of science and reflects the society we serve. By evolving how we nominate and elect Fellows, we’re ensuring the Academy remains relevant, representative, and ready for the decades ahead.

Professor David Adams FMedSci, Registrar, Academy of Medical Sciences 

Built by Fellows, for Fellows 

Sprint group members consult widely, including with our 10 Regional Champions, review best practices from other national academies and test ideas with Fellows and staff. In addition Sprint Groups are supported by Inclusive Recruiting, who have developed our past two diversity reports, to ensure the reforms are grounded in best practice, guided by the evidence base in our diversity data and aligned with the Academy’s EDI strategy. 

All changes are scrutinised and signed off by the Academy Council. 

These changes are not about lowering the bar – they’re about widening the lens. We’ve worked to remove hidden barriers and create space for excellence in all its forms, so that every candidate has a fair opportunity to be recognised.

Professor Franklin Aigbirhio FMedSci, Co-Chair EDI Advisory Committee, and Sprint Group member 

So, what happened in Sprint 1? 

The first Sprint project introduced several refreshed nomination pages and guidance documents on e-lect. They are designed to be more inclusive, transparent, and supportive of broader candidate experiences – without compromising on excellence.  

Key updates included: 

  • Dual Sectional Committee option. Principal nominators are now able to select a second Sectional Committee by exception if a strong case can be made that their candidate’s work falls into the scope of more than one committee. These candidates will be discussed at the Committee Chairs meeting where final decisions will be made. 
  • New structure to candidate citations. The candidate citation is now broken into four targeted questions, each with a 300-word limit, to help understand and asses what candidates will bring to the Academy. Citations now focus on the following areas:
    • 1) Exceptional contribution to medical sciences
    • 2) Collaboration and partnerships  
    • 3) Future contribution to the Academy  
    • 4) Impact on wider society 
  • Enhancing the role of support nominators. Second and third nominators now have the option of adding comments on questions 3 and 4 of the citation respectively.  

Sign in to the Fellows' portal today and explore the new nomination form designed to help you tell your candidate’s story more fully and effectively. Be part of the evolution; every nomination helps shape the future of the Academy Fellowship. Your voice and your choices matter. 

We wanted to make it easier for Fellows to highlight the full range of a candidate’s contributions – not just their publications, but their leadership, collaboration, and impact. The new form gives us the tools to tell those stories more clearly.

Professor Muzlifah Haniffa FMedSci, Sprint Group member 

Updating existing nominations: your time makes a big difference 

If you are nominating someone for the first time, you’ll be taken through the new sections automatically. If you’ve nominated a candidate in a previous cycle and their citation has not been revised since the new sections were introduced, you’ll need to update it.

We know this means a little extra work, but it’s worth it. We’ll be writing to all existing nominators separately to support you to do this. Candidates whose nominations are not updated will still proceed in the next election cycle, but their submission will not be as detailed as others. Please take a moment to refresh the information for your candidates on e-lect, it could make all the difference. 

What’s next? 

Sprint 2 - International Industrial Fellows

Our second Sprint is a pilot designed to strengthen the Academy's links across UK and global life sciences by recognising the increasingly international nature of industrial careers. It will help ensure the Fellowship better reflects talented individuals whose careers have taken them overseas, but who continue to make significant contributions to UK medical science and maintain strong ties with the UK community.

Election remains grounded in excellence, with each candidate assessed on their achievements, impact and potential contribution to the Academy, supported by the new citation questions updated as part of Sprint 1.  

While this first phase focuses on international industry leaders, we may explore similar approaches to other areas where the Academy can make the greatest difference in the future, such as:  

  • emerging disciplines and fields shaping health innovation  
  • underrepresented regions or sectors  
  • earlier-career leaders with exceptional potential   

In each case, the aim will be to work proactively with Fellows and wider networks to identify outstanding candidates and support strong nominations where existing routes may be slower to surface them.  

This is about complementing rather than replacing the current election process, so that we can take a more active role in shaping a Fellowship that reflects the evolving landscape of medical science.  

Read more on International Industrial Fellows

Play your part: [email protected]

Ready to nominate? 

Log into e-lect today to begin your nomination. Whether you’re putting forward a colleague from an emerging discipline, a leader in team science, or someone whose contributions deserve wider recognition—your nomination helps shape the future of the Academy. 

The deadline for nominations is Friday 25 September 2026. 

Sign in to the Fellow's portal to access e-lect.

Nominate now. Update today. Shape tomorrow.

Fellowship Election Sprint Group 1 membership