Members and guests chat about a wide range of child health topics - from health inequalities to climate change, from paediatric training to quality improvement.
Building Capacity 1: Routes to get involved in research
In the first episode of our Building Capacity: Past, Present and Future series, recorded at the RCPCH Trainee Research Network National Conference in Stafford, we explore some of the different ways paediatricians can become involved in research.
Dr Leila Ellis of the Trainee Research Network speaks with Professor Will Carroll, Professor Damian Roland and Dr Jon Elliot about the current child health research landscape and why research should be part of everyday paediatric practice. They discuss the importance of building research capacity beyond traditional academic centres, how collaborative networks can help answer clinically important questions, and the opportunities available for resident doctors to contribute to research at different stages of their careers.
Dr Leila Ellis is a member of the RCPCH Trainee Research Network and the Severn Paediatric Audit, Research and Quality Improvement Network. She is currently undertaking a Wellcome-funded PhD at the University of Bristol.
Professor Will Carroll is the Honorary Professor of Child Health at Staffordshire Children's Hospital. He has gradually carved out a career in medical education and paediatric research to complement his years as both a general paediatrician (11 years as a consultant) and a respiratory paediatrician (11 years). He is the ex-officio RCPCH Joint Officer for Research and the RCPCH Officer for England (West).
Professor Damian Roland is a past chair of PERUKI where he led on developing the research group into a self-sustaining organisation that delivers care through over 70 affiliated Children's Emergency Departments in the UK and Ireland. He is a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, the System Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire ICS and the NHS England lead for the deteriorating child.
Dr Jon Elliot is a Neonatal GRID Resident at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Co-Chair of NeoTRIPS, the national neonatal resident doctor-led research and quality improvement network.
Explore the resources mentioned in this episode:
RCPCH Trainee Research Network - https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/rcpch-trainee-research-network - find out about the national network, regional trainee research networks, research resources, and opportunities to get involved.
RCPCH Progress+ domain resources: Research and scholarship - https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/rcpch-progress-domain-resources-research-scholarship - resources supporting the research and scholarship domain of the paediatric curriculum.
Paediatric Emergency Research in the UK and Ireland (PERUKI) - https://www.peruki.org/ – a collaborative network supporting multicentre paediatric emergency medicine research across the UK and Ireland. PERUKI also accepts study proposals and provides information for clinicians interested in joining the network or bringing forward a research idea.
NeoTRIPS - https://neotrips.org/ (https://neotrips.org/) – a national neonatal study group using resident doctor networks to deliver large-scale research and quality improvement projects.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast relates only to the speakers and not necessarily to their employers, organisations, RCPCH or any other group or individual.
30 Sept 2026
Leading the Way 15: Giving leadership a go, with Dr Chakrapani Vasudevan
How can we manage major career transitions? How do we ensure colleagues get the support needed to succeed?
In this final episode of our series on leadership conversations, Dr Jonathan Darling speaks with Dr Chakra Vasudevan about his work in medical education, patient care and supporting others.
From training in India to his move to the UK, to his current role as Head of School in Yorkshire and new RCPCH Officer for Recruitment, Chakra shares the experiences and lessons that have influenced his approach to leadership and professional development.
Read Jonathan's reflections and download the transcript from episode 15 on RCPCH website: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/2026-09/leading-way-episode-15-giving-leadership-go-dr-chakrapani-vasudevan
Discover more of our podcasts on RCPCH Learning: https://learning.rcpch.ac.uk/home/podcasts/
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast relates only to the speaker and not necessarily to their employer, organisation, RCPCH or any other group or individual.
About Chakra
Chakra is a Consultant Neonatologist based at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is currently Head of School in Yorkshire, after being a Training Program Director there for several years. He is also the new RCPCH Officer for Recruitment and previously served as the Officer for Education.
19 Aug 2026
Leading the Way 14: Leading through improvement, with Dr Yincent Tse
How can you use your voice to enact impact?
In the penultimate episode of our Leading the Way series, Dr Jonathan Darling, our recently departed Vice President for Education and Workforce, speaks with his successor, Dr Yincent Tse, a paediatric nephrologist. The two share valuable insights into leadership, quality improvement and the positive mindset needed to create lasting change.
Jonathan and Yincent discuss the importance of saying 'yes' to opportunities, but also knowing when it is time to move on. Yincent encourages leaders to talk to as many people as possible and to celebrate their colleagues. Coming from a quality improvement background, he approaches his work and leadership by bringing people together, starting small, using the psychology of change and measuring impact.
Yincent reflects on his experience growing up with a stammer and how this drove him to use his voice to make connections and centre the voices of his colleagues and patients. An example of this is KidzMed, which started as a conversation between Yincent and his colleagues and patients about the challenges of liquid medicine for children. The result was a QI project across hospitals which converted many CYP from liquid to tablet medicine.
Yincent leads with a positive attitude that drives solution-oriented change. Two taekaways for listeners: use your voice and apply quality improvement principles.
Read Jonathan's reflections and download the transcript from episode 14 on RCPCH website: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/2026-08/leading-way-episode-14-leading-through-improvement-dr-yincent-tse
KidMed resource for helping your child to swallow tablets on Medicines for Children: https://www.medicinesforchildren.org.uk/news/helping-your-child-to-swallow-tablets-new-resources-from-kidzmed/
Grand round webinar series on RCPCH website: https://learning.rcpch.ac.uk/home/webinars/rcpch-grand-round-webinar-series-2025-26/
Trainee Research Network on RCPCH website: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/rcpch-trainee-research-network
Discover more of our podcasts on RCPCH Learning: https://learning.rcpch.ac.uk/home/podcasts/
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast relates only to the speaker and not necessarily to their employer, organisation, RCPCH or any other group or individual.
About Yincent
Dr Yincent Tse is a paediatric nephrologist in Newcastle. He served as our Area Officer for North England, later co-chaired our joint Medicines Committee and lead on our Grand Rounds webinar series. In May 2025, Yincent started his post as Vice President for Education and Workforce.
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