“The long-term goal of my work is to develop new medicines for improving and extending the lives of people affected by lung conditions such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Springboard award will be a great help in establishing this research at King’s.”
Dr Cleary, Lecturer in Pharmacology
08 April 2025
Academy of Medical Sciences awards grants to King's researchers
Dr Robert Seaborne and Dr Simon Cleary have been awarded grants from The Academy of Medical Sciences through the Springboard scheme, which supports outstanding biomedical research.
With support from the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Wellcome, and the British Heart Foundation, this year’s funding round marks a decade of Springboard awards. The Springboard scheme is an annual funding initiative providing grants of up to £125,000 to help newly independent biomedical scientists launch their research careers and establish their own research groups.
Dr Cleary, Lecturer in Pharmacology in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, has been awarded £125,000 to support his research on uncovering mechanisms that regulate the function of lymphatic vessels in the lungs. His work leverages advanced imaging techniques that he recently developed.
Although often overlooked, the pulmonary lymphatic system plays a crucial role in lung health. Emerging evidence suggests that therapies aimed at enhancing lymphatic function could accelerate lung healing after injury.
Dr Seaborne, Lecturer in Muscle Biology in the Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, has also been awarded £125,000 towards his research on muscle cells, which are vital for human health but deteriorate with age. Their complexity and diversity pose significant challenges for molecular-level studies. However, his team has developed an innovative method to extract multiple molecules (RNA, DNA, and protein) from the same single muscle cell, allowing for comprehensive cellular analysis.
The AMS Springboard award will fund the application of this approach to human muscle aging, providing new insights into biological regulation at multiple levels—all within the same cell.
“I’m delighted to have been awarded a two-year Springboard grant from AMS, which provides a platform to apply our novel methodologies to the study of skeletal muscle ageing. Beyond the direct research support, I am looking forward to engaging with the PILLAR community hub and the mentorship programme offered by AMS. I hope this award will act as a catalyst for future success within our lab!”
Dr Seaborne, Lecturer in Muscle Biology
This year, Dr Seaborne and Dr Cleary were among the 62 scientists across 41 UK institutions to receive funding from this record-breaking investment. Each researcher will be awarded between £100,000 and £125,000 through the Academy’s Springboard programme, along with mentorship and career development support to help establish their independent research careers.
The programme supports researchers across the full spectrum of biomedical sciences, from molecular biology to public health, ensuring an impressive geographical spread across the UK.
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Lecturer in Pharmacology
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