The RESPIRE team has been recognised for its impactful research to improve global respiratory health, focusing on Asia. The RESPIRE team led by The University of Edinburgh and Universiti Malaya has been awarded one of the first ever NIHR Impact Prizes. These awards recognise major improvements in health over the last two decades, driven by research and scientific advances.These have been awarded to researchers and teams who have had a major impact on the health and wealth of the nation, and globally. They celebrate researchers who have maximised the impact of their research by improving people’s lives or promoting economic growth. Now, the first winners of these awards have been announced at a ceremony in Birmingham by Professor Lucy Chappell, the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department of Health and Social Care and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR. Dominique Balharry (middle row, left) collected the award on behalf of the team. An excellent example of what Global Health Research should be doing. Judging Panel NIHR Impact Awards 2025 In total, NIHR received 136 entries. Of the 10 winners, 5 awards went to research teams and 5 to early-career researchers. The RESPIRE team was awarded one of the 5 established investigator awards for "research to inform and influence local health priorities and practices and improve respiratory health in Asia", and was the sole Global Health Research project to have won an award on 20 March 2025. It’s incredible to be recognised, and there’s just so much impressive work going on — the people here are doing actual life changing things. It’s been a real privilege to be here and I’m delighted to have been invited to represent the team. Highlighting this impactful research is a really good thing for NIHR to have done — I really hope it becomes an annual event. Dominique Balharry RESPIRE Research and Operations Manager The RESPIRE team tested affordable and scalable solutions to reduce respiratory diseases and deaths in its partner’s countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia Pakistan and Sri Lanka). For example, training healthcare workers in the management of chronic respiratory diseases, using pulse oximetry for measuring low levels of oxygen in the blood, and preventing childhood pneumonia.Genevie Fernandes, RESPIRE's Stakeholder Engagement Research Fellow developed and narrated a short video as part of the award, which can be viewed below. A video overview of RESPIRE's nomination for the 2025 NIHR Impact Awards. Visit the NIHR website to learn more about the Impact Prizes Related content What is RESPIRE? Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, RESPIRE is a Global Health Research Unit focusing on respiratory health in Asia. Our Impact RESPIRE projects cover work across all our partner countries, in both acute and chronic conditions affecting adults and children. Publication date 21 Mar, 2025
