Following open competition, 59 NIHR Senior Investigators have been appointed in the 2026. We are pleased to congratulate our SPCR colleagues; Professor Helen Dawes (Exeter), Professor Clare Jinks (Keele) Professor Evangelos Kontopantelis (Manchester) and Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh (Oxford), and Professor Nicola Walsh (Bristol) who support the school as a member of our Advisory Board. Further congratulations to reappointed colleague; Professor Christian Mallen (Keele).
The NIHR Senior Investigators are among the most prominent and prestigious researchers funded by the NIHR and the most outstanding leaders of patient and people-based research within the NIHR research community. NIHR Senior Investigators are critical to augmenting the ongoing success of NIHR, and developing the health research capability fit for the challenges we must meet.
Collectively, Senior Investigators constitute the NIHR College of Senior Investigators, and are members of the NIHR Academy. They help guide research capacity development and enhance the career paths of NIHR researchers. This includes participating as mentors in the NIHR mentoring programme.
Applications open annually for this award in June.