Delivered through the Academy’s flagship Springboard programme, the grants support curiosity-driven, discovery-stage research – the foundational science that underpins future treatments and interventions. The awards 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.
Dr Ruby Peters, a Physics of Life Early Career Fellow, will use the award to fund her research - Decoding the mechanical regulation of dendritic cell function.
Ruby aims to uncover new ways to support therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases by investigating how the immune response is controlled. Our immune system functions like a school where specialised teacher cells, known as conventional dendritic cells (cDCs), train other cells of the immune system to recognise and respond to threats. Harnessing these natural defences could significantly improve patient outcomes by working with the body’s own biological machinery.
While many of the chemical signals that switch on cDCs are well understood, far less is known about how physical forces in their environment influence this process. Understanding these additional layers of control is essential for building a more complete picture of how immune responses are regulated.
This project will explore the idea that part of this control is actually physical. Just as a classroom environment affects how well students learn, Ruby believes the stiffness or pressure of the surrounding body tissue regulates how and when these cells become activated. Using advanced microscopy and bioengineering, she will study how these cells sense physical forces and test whether applying external mechanical signals can enhance their ability to activate and guide immune responses against disease.
“This Springboard Award will provide an exciting opportunity to explore a completely new dimension of how the immune system works. By understanding how dendritic cells sense and respond to mechanical cues, we aim to develop new ways to actively tune their function, opening the door to more powerful and precise therapeutics. As an early career researcher, this award is instrumental in establishing my independent research program and marks an important step towards translating fundamental discoveries into improved treatments for devastating diseases such as cancer.” Dr Ruby Peters
Now in its eleventh year, Springboard supports researchers at a critical point in their careers, when many are establishing laboratories for the first time and need the freedom to explore ambitious questions.
Having recently marked a decade of impact, the programme has now supported 471 early career researchers at 68 UK higher education institutions, expanding institutional and regional reach with researchers at the University of Lincoln and the University of Greenwich funded for the first time this year, and more than £50.5 million invested since its creation in 2015.
With support from the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Wellcome and the British Heart Foundation, this year’s awards span the full breadth of biomedical and health research. Together, these projects aim to help people to live healthier lives, reduce health inequalities and strengthen the UK’s ability to prevent and respond to future health emergencies.
Professor James Naismith FRS FRSE FMedSci, Vice President (Non-Clinical) at the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: “The transition to research leadership is one of the most challenging stages in a research career, yet it is also when creativity is often at its strongest. Springboard invests in people at the moment when bold ideas begin to take shape, providing the freedom, confidence and backing researchers need to strike out on their own and ask big questions. The projects announced today show the impact this approach can have – demonstrating how early support can translate into meaningful benefits for patients, communities and the wider health system.”
For the full list of award winners visit this website.
About the Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is the independent, expert voice of biomedical and health research in the UK. Our Fellowship comprises the most influential scientists in the UK and worldwide, drawn from the NHS, academia, industry, and the public service. Our mission is to improve the health of people everywhere by creating an open and progressive research sector. We do this by working with patients and the public to influence policy and biomedical practice, strengthening UK biomedical and health research, supporting the next generation of researchers through funding and career development opportunities, and working with partners globally.
About Wellcome
Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.