Beth Psaila is an Associate Professor of Haematology in RDM and a Group Leader in the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. Her research group focuses on megakaryocyte and platelet biology and the role of the tumour microenvironment in blood cancers.
On receiving the award, Beth said: ‘I’m thrilled to receive this fellowship and to continue benefitting from CRUK’s fantastic research culture. My previous Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowship enabled me to start an independent lab and recruit a fantastic team of talented researchers, focussing our efforts on research inspired by the needs and priorities of patients I see in the clinic with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.
‘This Senior Fellowship now provides a secure platform for us to continue our efforts for the next six years - aiming to understand what drives some cancers to progress from indolent to advanced-stage disease, and how we can translate our discoveries to new therapies that will hopefully improve outcomes for patients.’
Beth’s top tips for grant writing
- Get the aims right. Leave plenty of time to develop your hypotheses and formulate your core aims. This requires careful and broad evaluation of scientific and clinical literature to ensure that you are addressing questions that are timely and have relevance beyond your immediate focus area.
- Be creative. Think about how you can apply your personal skills, experience, interests and resources to uniquely address important questions in the field. Also think about how you can write creatively to capture your audience, including those who are not experts in the field.
- Get lots of feedback. Especially from people who will challenge your ideas and might see things from a difference perspective.