Celebrating a year of collaboration in children’s health research

The South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Health Research (SCYPHeR) initiative has marked a successful year of collaboration, bringing together medical professionals, researchers, and child health specialists from Sheffield Children’s, the University of Sheffield, and Sheffield Hallam University.

Launched in February 2024, SCYPHeR has grown significantly, with partners researching areas such as rare diseases, child welfare, health inequalities, and child health technologies.

A year on from inception, colleagues gathered to share their experience and work over the past year, and provided space to hear stories around patient and family experience to understand the impact that research has.

Over the past year, SCYPHeR has hosted professional events for the research community and launched opportunities for four PhD students to focus on mental health, rare diseases, co-production, and child welfare, with applications open until March 2025. This research activity has been boosted and made possible by The Children’s Hospital Charity quadrupling its investment into research at Sheffield Children’s, committing to supporting with £1m per year, over the next five years.

A key highlight  was the story of Harry Ellis, diagnosed with a rare genetic condition, neuroblastoma amplified sequence deficiency (NBAS). Harry has been under the care of Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust’s Prof Meena Balasubramanian, who is Clinical Director of Research at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Professor of Medical Genetics at University of Sheffield and Executive Director of SCYPHeR. Together, Harry and his mum Rebecca shared their journey of diagnosis and how research not only provided clarity but also connected them with others with the same condition.

Attendees also heard from Sheffield Children’s colleagues including sleep and respiratory specialist Dr Heather Elphick and Professor Joanna Smith, Professor of Nursing in Child Health – Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust /Sheffield Hallam University, who talked about the importance of co-production with children, young people and their families.

Prof Meena said: “It’s fantastic to see how far we’ve come in a year and what we’ve achieved together. We’re very grateful for the opportunities that are emerging from this partnership, and to the young people and their families who are sharing their experiences to help us further learn and shape what we do towards learning about and improving children’s health. Together we’re empowering the next generation of health researchers as well as joining together to make a real difference in children’s health research today.”

As SCYPHeR looks ahead to its second year, the initiative remains committed to growing the network of researchers in children’s health to support a healthier future for children and young people.