We are excited to introduce Dr Hannah Moorey as the third recipient of our Joint Doctoral Training Fellowship with the British Geriatrics Society (BGS).
In spring 2021 we launched the third round of this clinical fellowship, which aims to support front-line healthcare professionals with an interest in developing a career in ageing-related research.
Applications were assessed by the expert panel, who then made the final decision on funding (the success rate for this round was 20%). The panel were:
- Adeela Usman (University of Nottingham and current Joint BGS / DMT Doctoral Training Fellow)
- Professor Andrew Clegg (University of Leeds and DMT Research Grants Committee member)
- Dr Emily Henderson (University of Bristol and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the BGS)
- Professor Sian Henson (Queen Mary University of London and DMT Research Grants Committee member)
The panel were impressed by the importance of Hannah’s proposal, which aims to improve our understanding of the role of immune cells in the development of delirium. Summarising her research, Hannah said:
I am so grateful to the Dunhill Medical Trust and the British Geriatrics Society for giving me the opportunity to pursue this project. Delirium is common and affects 20% of older people admitted to hospital. However, we currently have no effective treatments as our understanding of the condition is poor. I think that people who develop delirium may have a more aged immune system and there may be differences in how their immune cells communicate with the brain. By understanding this better, I hope we will be able to develop new treatments in the future.
Hannah began her Fellowship in summer 2022 and we look forward to following her progress over the next three years. She follows in the footsteps of previous Joint BGS / DMT Doctoral Training Fellowship recipients Adeela Usman and Dr Sarah Hopkins, who received the award in 2019 (17% success rate) and 2020 (14% success rate) respectively. You can read about both Adeela’s research into the development of a quality of life tool for care homes, and Sarah’s research on advance care planning interventions, on the BGS website.
In early 2022, DMT and the BGS announced that we would be funding another set of three Fellowships over the next three years. We will be announcing the outcome of the first round of this three-year agreement, and providing details of the next round of the scheme, in due course.