The NIHR Advanced Fellowship is one of the most competitive and respected awards in the health research community, supporting researchers who demonstrate exceptional promise and leadership. The fellowship recognises Claire's outstanding contributions to health research and her commitment to advancing innovative solutions to improve public health outcomes, which aligns with NIHR’s mission to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.

"I am deeply honoured to receive the NIHR Advanced Fellowship," said Claire. "This opportunity will enable me to continue my research and collaborate with leading international experts to develop impactful interventions that improve the health and wellbeing of people in the UK and beyond."

The fellowship will enable Claire to further her groundbreaking research in weight management and behaviour change, with a specific focus on the impact of weight loss before surgery, and will contribute to the policies that shape the future of healthcare. Although it is known that having a high BMI is associated with worse surgical outcomes, it is not yet known whether weight loss before surgery mitigates this. This exciting research will explore this, with support from Leicester Biomedical Research Centre and ARC East Midlands.

Claire’s research has already made significant strides in developing weight management interventions and policies and this fellowship award will build on that success.

About NIHR

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the UK’s largest funder of health and care research, providing support for researchers to deliver world-class health and care research that benefits the NHS, public health, and social care.

Take part in our research

If you would like to take part in CLiMB's research trials, please register your interest.