The Mike Barnes Award for Innovation 2021

Calling all change makers!

The Mike Barnes Award for Innovation 2021 recognises and celebrates innovative projects and concepts in the management of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).

It is open to people who may have a project to look at new ways of improving an aspect of neurorehabilitation in hospital, the community, school or prison. You may have an innovative concept focussing on sport-related concussion. Whatever the idea, the winner will be given support to take that concept forward.

Chloe Hayward, Executive Director of UKABIF, said:

We are looking for projects that have originality, viability, feasibility and desirability. We are encouraging entries from professionals from all disciplines involved in the management of Acquired Brain Injury, individuals with a brain injury and their families or carers, students, care providers, social care workers, voluntary organisations and personal injury lawyers. This award is open to both UKABIF members and non-members in the UK.

This award is sponsored by Elysium Neurological and is run in collaboration with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative – one of 11 MedTech and In Vitro Diagnostic Co-operatives (MICs) run by NIHR across the UK.

The winner will have access to NIHR Brain Injury MIC’s network, which provides research design, business support, access to a patient advisory group and support with making bids for further funding. The winner will also be invited to attend UKABIF’s conference in 2022 free of charge.

The deadline for entries is 30 September 2021 and as well as receiving support from NIHR Brain MIC, the winner will also receive mentoring from Dr Penny Trayner – the first winner of the award in 2019 for her project ‘Goal Manager’. You can see her talking to last year’s winner Dr Ellis Parry below: