Doctoral Research students wins £5000 voucher to develop a new medical product.

Liam Stout was awarded the prize for his innovative and thoughtful research into abscess management, his proposal focuses on reducing the need for surgery in patients with soft tissue damage and promotes faster recovery time and pain improvements. 

The competition, hosted by MediPex and Medovate, encouraged participants across the Yorkshire, Humber and East Midlands regions to showcase new ideas that have the potential to improve patient outcomes within the surgical field.

“I found out I had been shortlisted just before Christmas so that was a really nice surprise, I felt extremely lucky to have been shortlisted in the first place so when I won, I was absolutely made up.

“The £5000 voucher will allow me to do further research and develop and test the product”.

“I can’t actually speak about the product right now because I don’t have a patent. I think that’s the first thing I will speak to my supervisors about because I really want to tell everyone about it,” said Liam.

The research that Liam is conducting is part of his doctoral research degree; meaning he has access to University of Salford equipment, and staff, that can help advance his studies.

Liam’s supervisor, senior lecturer in Adult Nursing, Dr Melanie Stephens said: “It is amazing that the University of Salford has such a good network of not just academic staff but also support staff and research staff who all work together to enable students to succeed”.

 “Liam is a real pleasure to supervise, he is such a hard worker and is so thorough; and his dedication to provide high quality service and better patient care is just fantastic”.

“This award is just testament to Liam; he can be a shining example to other students that there are such amazing opportunities out there to be recognised within your industry and be rewarded for all your hard work”.

Once he has completed his studies, Liam hopes his qualification will enable him to become a nurse consultant. Dr Helen Stephens believes he is a “role model for nursing” and will continue to “excel within the medical industry”.