Case studies

Current Fellows

Lucy Beresford

Lucy is a Research Fellow in evidence synthesis. She is currently undertaking a doctoral fellowship evaluating the value of follow-up scans for children and young people with brain tumours funded by the National Institute for Health Research. She started at CRD on a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Training Fellowship in Systematic Reviews while completing a Masters in Applied Health Research. Her thesis involved exploring how maternal characteristics impact a woman’s baseline risk of preterm birth, and developing an economic model evaluating the cost-effectiveness of a screening programme to identify women at risk of preterm birth in the UK.

“After completing my Masters, I looked to apply for a PhD. I was encouraged by members of CRD to apply for an NIHR doctoral fellowship, and worked to develop a research question in the field of paediatric oncology. For me, conducting my fellowship at York was a no-brainer, as I had the considerable support and expertise of senior members of staff both in the department and throughout the wider university. CRD were accommodating with my request to do the fellowship part-time which has allowed me to continue with projects within CRD”

“The NIHR doctoral fellowship application was a two-stage process, including a written application - where you detail your experience, research proposal and training and development plan- and an interview with a panel of academics and clinicians. Writing the fellowship application took a long time, but because they require a detailed research plan, I had a clear direction in what I needed to do, and have been able to get the ball rolling on the project quickly. I’m only a couple of months in, but I’m enjoying the PhD and really looking forward to developing my skills as an independent researcher”

Ruth Walker

Ruth is a Research Fellow in evidence synthesis at CRD. She is also the scientific lead on the database PROSPERO, the NIHR-funded international prospective register of systematic reviews.

Ruth completed a NIHR methods training fellowship and a NIHR pre-doctoral fellowship at CRD in 2021. She is currently undertaking a NIHR doctoral fellowship investigating the use of Bayesian methods to maximise the usefulness of research on supportive care within paediatric oncology.

"I originally completed an NIHR methods training fellowship at CRD and wanted to work towards applying for a PhD fellowship. I had identified a research question that needed addressing in the field of paediatric medicine. However, I needed further statistical training and to assess the feasibility of the project, before making a doctoral fellowship application. The one-stage application involved writing about my background, the training and development plan, the impact the fellowship would have on my career and the support that would be provided by my supervisors and the department.”

“This fellowship has given me protected time to develop my skills and I now feel much more confident and capable to undertake a doctoral fellowship. I would really recommend the pre-doctoral fellowship for any early-career researchers who are looking to advance their skills and work towards making a competitive application to a PhD programme."

Former Fellow

Dr Bob Phillips

(January 2021)

Bob is a Senior Lecturer at CRD and Hull-York Medical School (HYMS), and an Honorary Consultant in Paediatric / Teenage-Young Adult Oncology at Leeds Children's Hospital. His main areas of work are in the development of individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis, supportive care in children and young people with cancer, and the development of skills in appraisal and translation of clinical research in practice.

Bob held both a MRC PhD fellowship and a NIHR Post-Doctoral Fellowship. It took around a year to prepare applications for both.

“There are enormous benefits from a Fellowship. Most places offer a set of easy access career and research development courses to go on, which are moderately good for content and great for networking. They give a freedom to your work to develop and stretch and explore (while getting the Fellowship actually done). And they look good on a CV too. My work with CRD staff in preparing my PhD and post-doctoral Fellowships was essential in achieving these awards.”