They also aim to support researchers to take their first steps as independent group leaders, testing bold ideas with the potential to improve lives, reduce health inequalities and strengthen the UK’s long-term research base.
The purpose of the awards are to support curiosity-driven, discovery-stage research – the foundational science that underpins future treatments and interventions.
The funding supports new research that can transform our understanding of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, infectious diseases and chronic pain, among other pressing health challenges.
A background image showing a close up of scientific work in the lab. White text in the bottom left corner and a university logo in white in the top left corner.
Congratulations to Dr Sara Gago, Dr Abigail Lay, Dr Holly Lovegrove, and Dr Sara Federici, four early career researchers from The University of @manchester.ac.uk who have been backed by the Academy of Medical Sciences as part of their flagship £6.7 million Springboard programme.
To combat it, they have produced a five‑step plan to improve awareness, surveillance, infection control, responsible drug use and investment in new treatments.
The plan is intended to help shape the World Health Organization’s updated Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance later this year.
They say fungi in soil, crops and hospitals are increasingly resistant to the medicines used to control them.
For most healthy people this poses little danger, but for patients with weakened immune systems the infections can be deadly.
Fifty researchers from institutions around the world - including The University of @manchester.ac.uk - have issued an alert in Nature Medicine, calling for urgent action to stop fungal infections becoming untreatable.
Text reads, 'UK cancer scientists uncover genetic clues as to what drives tumour growth.
A team of scientists from Manchester and London have decoded the full range of mutations that drive tumour growth, which could pave the way for a new era in precision medicine.
@fbmh-uom.bsky.social #genemutation
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
To shift the focus earlier researchers are leading the British Early COPD Network (BEACON) cohort, in collaboration with Imperial College London. Following more than 400 adult smokers with normal lung function, the study aims to identify the earliest biological and environmental triggers of COPD.
While advances are creating new treatment possibilities, Manchester researchers are clear that medication alone will not address COPD. Prevention, early intervention, and tackling the wider determinants of health are critical.
This #WorldHealthDay, Professor Jørgen Vestbo (The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust) shows how this local study has wider implications globally.
By revealing how COPD outcomes vary across populations, the study has brought longstanding health inequalities into sharper focus, and demonstrated the value of more inclusive research design.
Salford Quays on a sunny day. A bridge is in the distance across the water. White text in the bottom left corner explains the headline.
Conventional COPD trials frequently exclude older people and those with multiple health conditions, limiting their relevance.
The Salford Lung Study challenged this model by capturing the complexity of real patients within primary care. #WorldHealthDay
This event also brought together researchers and students from across the Faculty for an engaging poster session, alongside networking and collaboration. Plus, we heard from the wonderful UoM Wellbeing choir too!
We recently welcomed Professor Joyce Harper to The University of Manchester for an inspiring keynote on Women’s Health: Past, Present and Future, as part of International Women's Day.
A leading expert in reproductive biology and women’s health, Professor Joyce Harper shared powerful insights from her pioneering career - reflecting on how far the field has come and the challenges that remain in shaping the future of healthcare.
Developed in collaboration with Inquiry participants, the memorial contains bottles with a message in each one written by someone affected by the scandal.
The memorial will now become part of the University’s collections, where it will be cared for as a place of remembrance, reflection and learning for generations to come.
Andy Burnham is looking at the memorial. The bottles featuring messages can be seen close up.
The agreement to house the memorial at the University follows a commitment by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, to find a permanent and fitting home for it within the city-region.
The University of @manchester.ac.uk will become the permanent home of the Infected Blood Inquiry Memorial.
The memorial honours the more than 30,000 people who were infected with HIV, Hepatitis and vCJD after receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
For Professor Rob Bristow and partners in Kenya, impact began with listening, not importing a UK model. Together, they co‑created a mobile screening approach for oesophageal cancer.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt4X...
Researchers in Manchester have developed an experimental method that shows potential for accurately detecting the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults, known as glioblastoma, from the blood.
@fbmh-uom.bsky.social
#bloodtest #glioblastoma
Analysis was carried out by The University of @manchester.ac.uk’s Dr Luke Munford, using @usociety.bsky.social data, a nationally representative survey of over 20,000 households across the UK.
www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/y...
The research also reveals entrenched regional disparities as the North East has consistently had some of the highest rates of NEET young people.
Health Equals calls for a cross-government Health Inequalities Strategy to make health equal across the UK and break this cycle of inequality.
a close up of a young person can be seen sat on a concrete step. their shoe looks visibly worn. white text explains the article headline.
New @healthequals.bsky.social analysis of UK data spanning 15 years shows a generational shift as the proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) with a likely mental health condition doubles.
In our study in @natcomms.nature.com we used #EPR #DEER #PELDOR spectroscopy with single subunit heterologous spin labelling and monitored the entire cap conformational ensemble of the human mechanosensitive TRAAK channel and showed it adopts two states in membranes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Super-excited to share this article I wrote with @worboyslab.bsky.social all about new innovations in a type of monoclonal antibody therapy for cancer. Super quick 🧵🧪 #MonoclonalAntibodies
Following a successful initial pilot supporting over 200 residents, the scheme is now widening access through Working Well and selected referral pathways, to support even more Greater Manchester residents.
The scheme has already shown how addressing oral health can make a real difference to people’s lives, improving residents’ confidence and readiness for work while supporting the training of the next generation of dentists.
Working Well: Roots to Dental is jointly led by The University of @manchester.ac.uk, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
