University of Birmingham Impact Awards

Impact on the health and wellbeing of people, and animal welfare   

The E-Motive Team, led by Professor Arri Coomarasamy (College of Medicine and Health), is implementing an intervention to make pregnancy and childbirth safer. The team delivered a trial involving over 210,000 women across four countries, to test the effectiveness of a postpartum haemorrhage treatment bundle they developed. They have worked with World Health Organisation and national health ministries to change national and international clinical guidelines and support clinical roll-out across multiple countries. Most recently, the Gates Foundation pledged $0.5 billion of investment into treatments, meaning the promise of 1 life saved every 30 minutes is becoming reality. 

Impact on creativity, culture and society 

Dr Kate Nichols (College of Arts and Law) co-developed practical tools with museums, including Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, to address questions of race and empire in historic art works through their interpretation and acquisition strategies and policies, and staff professional development. Her efforts have led to increased confidence of museum staff in this important area.   

Impact on social welfare   

Dr Katharina Möser (College of Arts and Law) worked with the Insolvency Service, grassroots debt advisors and stakeholders to bring significant reform to debt relief law. This work has directly contributed to the government abandoning its Statutory Debt Repayment Plan due to urgent concerns it would negatively impact on debtors. This research has also been pivotal in the Insolvency Service successfully lobbying the government to agree to an overhaul of insolvency regulation, including a package of legislative reforms. 

Impact on commerce, the economy and productivity    

The City-REDI team, led by Professor Rebecca Riley (Social Sciences), is delivering significant impact for a wide range of regional stakeholders with whom they have engaged since 2015. Their innovative approaches to civic responsibilities have had a huge impact on local economies, decision making, investment, policy, and devolution practice and are maximising the University’s role as a civic university. The work has secured direct investment of over £80million for key regional partners and the University to enhance local innovation and business environment. 

Impact on public policy and law   

The Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation (CEDAR), led by Professor Nic Cheeseman (College of Social Sciences), has supported key policy actors to respond to democratic erosion internationally, investing in coherent and consistent democratic strategies, developing differentiated pro-democracy interventions, addressing issues of youth and marginal exclusion, and adopting groundbreaking approaches to engagement with electoral commissions.

Impact on public services and practices   

DaRe2THINK, led by Alastair Mobley (College of Medicine and Health), has set up a national collaboration to improve and deploy a platform for entirely remote entry into randomised clinical trials within primary care centres across England. This innovative approach is not only reducing the burden of participation placed on both NHS staff and patients, but also bringing the opportunities of clinical research to previously unexposed practices and patients. 

Impact on the environment   

WM Air, led by Professor William Bloss (College of Life and Environmental Sciences), is working in collaboration with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), constituent local authorities and WSP, an environmental consultancy, to develop an evidence-based West Midlands Air-Quality (AQ) Framework and Implementation Plan – the first region-wide framework that aims to improve air quality for nearly 3 million people living in the West Midlands.

Impact on understanding, learning and participation   

Dr Tarsem Singh Cooner (College of Social Sciences) has developed a 360-degree research-informed immersive training experience for social workers to experience an authentic, frontline experience. The intervention has been shown to effectively equip those involved in safeguarding processes to facilitate better outcomes for children and families in difficult situations.   

Outstanding impact by an Early Career Researcher 

Dr Nicole Wheeler (Colleges of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and Life and Environmental Sciences) has developed software that screens mail-order DNA for potential biological hazards, to prevent them from being sent to malicious actors. Nicole has been instrumental in advising and developing strategies to reduce the threat of AI biological weapons risk, including recommendations carried forward in a US Executive Order and the UK AI Safety Strategy. In 2023, she was recognised as an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity, securing a prestigious fellowship coordinated by the John Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Outstanding support for impact  

Stanimira Taneva (College of Life and Environmental Sciences) for her contribution and support to fostering a culture of research impact across the college.