University of Birmingham Impact Awards

2025 winners

Global health

For achievements in addressing the ever-evolving landscape of global health

The Birmingham Symptom-specific Obstetric Triage System (BSOTS) team, led by Professor Sara Kenyon MBE, have developed a maternity triage system that is improving the safety for those attending hospital with urgent pregnancy concerns.  This is a standardised system of a prompt and brief assessment to help assess clinical urgency that not only improves the safety of mothers and babies but improves the management of maternity units.  

Rolled out in more than 90% of UK maternity units, the system has been recommended by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Professor Sara Kenyon MBE received a New Years Honours for her work in 2024 and won the University’s Rose Sidgwick Award for external engagement and impact in the 2024 Founders’ Awards.  

Connecting cultures

For impact that promotes and connects diverse cultures, and fosters social inclusion, shared ownership and a sense of belonging

Dr Faye Sayer (Associate Professor in Heritage and History and Director of the International Centre for Heritage) has worked with three historic houses in the UK and US (Chatsworth, Biltmore and Nemours), to develop interventions based on behaviour change models to diversify visitors at these historic houses and reduce mental distress when visiting these sites. 

These interventions have led to changes in visitor demographics and their wellbeing, and Faye’s research is underpinning ongoing evaluation work to measure heritage and wellbeing. 

Inclusive impact

For contributions towards achieving equity, diversity and inclusivity in research impact

Dr Holly Birkett (Senior Lecturer in Organisational Studies), in collaboration with Dr Sarah Forbes (University of York), co-founded the Equal Parenting Project, a research initiative that has helped to inform recent statutory policy change for flexible working, paternity leave and neonatal care.

Their work has directly influenced employer policies through the Working Dads Employer Awards and follow-up engagement, leading to employers extending their paternity leave, enhancing parental leave pay and introduce parental leave linked for those undergoing fertility treatment.

Thriving planet

For approaches to developing a sustainable future and that address the impact of climate change

Dr Xilin Xia (Assistant Professor in Resilience Engineering) has developed supercomputing and advanced computational algorithms to simulate natural hazards at scale, delivering real-time high-fidelity flood forecasts and transforming operational hazard forecasting.

With funding from UKRI and the Met Office, Xilin’s research is supporting services and informing policies in India, New Zealand and the UK. Other organisations and individuals have also adopted the model, with active users across over 70 countries, including Ping An, a Fortune 500 insurance company who is using it to inform underwriting decisions.

Ethical research impact

For exceptional efforts to embed ethical methods, anticipate and mitigate any potentially negative outcomes of their impact

The work of the Precision Tox team, led by Professor Aleksandra Cavoski, Professor Robert Lee and Dr Laura Holden, is helping to fill gaps in existing understanding of barriers to animal testing.

They have identified social and technical barriers that are informing ongoing work in the European Commission, European Parliament, UK government (including via the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee) and the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in chemical safety assessments.  

Fairer world

For research that contributes to the global fight for justice, giving everyone a better life and a fairer future

The research of Professor Sabine Lee (Professor in Modern History) has contributed to changes in law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) relating to children born of conflict-related sexual violence (CBoCRSV). In parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) these children are now acknowledged as civilian victims of war and the long-lasting psychological, economic and social impact on their everyday lives because of their conception is recognised.  

 Sabine’s work continues to focus on ensuring these rights are realised in other contexts, and she has also contributed to expert roundtables and other international global policy mechanisms and frameworks with organisations such as the Global Survivor Network. 

Life-changing technologies

For research that alters the world’s approach to manufacturing, engineering and healthcare in the face of growing pressures on our planet’s resources

Dr Robert Neely (Associate Professor in Biophysical Chemistry) is the co-founder of Tagomics, a University spin-out that is working to accelerate disease understanding and diagnosis. Robert set-up the company with his partners to detect disease, including cancer, at its earliest stages.

Commercialising his research in this way, Robert and the Tagomics team are improving clinical trial safety and cancer survival rates, reducing the costs of later-stage interventions and contributing to a thriving, national biotech industry. 

Early Career Researcher

For a researcher who is in the first five years of their first substantive post as an academic and is achieving research impact

As a result of the research of Dr Benjamin Perry (Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry), healthcare professionals and decision makers now have access to new tools and guidance that better understands the linkages between severe mental illness, lower life expectancy and markers of physical illness from the onset of severe mental illness in young people.  

Benjamin has co-produced, and is cited in, national and international guidelines for people with SMI, such as the NHS England Cardiometabolic Health Resource for Psychosis (2023). These guidelines are routinely used in clinical practice, improving prescribing practices for the benefit of people with severe mental illness. 

More recently, Benjamin has pioneered a clinical risk prediction algorithm that is being used support physical health risk counselling for people with SMI, reaching over 1,700 users to-date. The algorithm has been validated in seven countries and is on track for global implementation thanks to further grant funding from NIHR, the EU-funded THCS and the Hong Kong Health and Medical Research Fund. 

Civic purpose

For research impact which enhances the University’s economic, social or cultural contribution to local and regional communities

The West Midlands Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) has been developed by Dr Emma Ferranti and other University of Birmingham researchers, in collaboration with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council. The tool combines a scientific approach with stakeholder understanding and legislative change and policy support needed to ensure climate adaptation becomes standard practice.  

The open access CRVA is helping to embed climate resilience into policy and planning decision-making for the benefit of 3 million people in the region, including business, infrastructure and the regional economy (GDP £74.2bn). 

Since inception, the CRVA has informed numerous documents guiding decision making, including the 2024 WMCA Adaptation Plan, the forthcoming Birmingham Local Plan (2025) and the WMCA Adaptation Reporting Power submission to the Climate Change Committee. Notably, it has led to climate resilience being registered on the mandatory corporate risk register for the first time.  

Beyond the UK, the CRVA has helped Birmingham to achieve an A rating for climate action from the CDP and is an exemplar for the €12 million EU Horizon-funded Climate-Resilient Development Pathways in Metropolitan Regions of Europe (CARMINE). It will also feature in the forthcoming UNECE Inland Transport Committee guidance, which will be issued to transport operators and owners, globally.   

Support for impact

For a non-academic staff member who has provided outstanding support to academic researchers to help maximise the impact of their research

Caroline Durbin (Research Communications Manager in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences) has contributed much to the College’s research (impact) culture, including her work to develop and implement the Women with Impact project – funded by quality-related (QR) research funding – which aimed to support early and mid-career researchers to build their understanding of UK parliament and policy engagement. Caroline’s collaboration with colleagues across the institution ensures researchers have the right training and support to promote their research and achieve impact.