We thank the College members nominating individuals for this award. Below are the winners' citations as provided by the nominators.
2026 Members' Award winners
Dr Kate Pryde and Dr James Edelman have been awarded a joint Members’ Award for their work on the Paediatric Innovation, Education and Research (PIER) Network. This PIER Network was established in 2015 to improve healthcare outcomes for children and young people across the South of England through integrated, child and family centred care. The success and sustained impact of PIER are directly attributable to the leadership of Kate and James, whose vision, commitment and complementary expertise have driven the network’s development.
PIER supports multi professional collaboration, shared learning, the spread of innovation and original research across 11 NHS trusts in Wessex and beyond. Its achievements include the development of over 100 regional clinical guidelines that standardise care and reduce unwarranted variation; delivery of more than 35 expert led educational courses, some nationally accredited; and leadership of regional improvement projects with national influence, including contributing to the updated national APLS status epilepticus management algorithm in 2021. PIER has also delivered nine highly successful annual conferences, attracting delegates from multiple disciplines and trusts and showcasing over 50 abstracts.
A cornerstone of PIER’s success is its website, which acts as a central hub for guidelines, education, patient resources and clinical networks, and now attracts over 100,000 users annually from 18 countries. Kate has led the network’s strategic development over the past decade, while James has single handedly designed, maintained and evolved the website, ensuring it is accessible, responsive and independent of Trust IT constraints.
Under their leadership, PIER has become the ‘go to’ regional resource for paediatric professionals, fostering a strong community and delivering measurable improvements in consistency and quality of care for children and young people.