Dr Scally wins for the abstract presented at our Conference this past May, PEARL: Postnatal early antibiotic review for low-risk babies (pdf).
The Dr Michael Blacow Memorial Fund was established following a donation to the British Paediatric Association by Commander and Mrs A H Blacow in memory of their son, Michael, a trainee paediatrician who was killed in an accident. This prize is awarded for the best paper presented in a plenary session at the College’s annual Conference, by a paediatrician below consultant status.
Selection of the prize-winning presentation was made by an open audience vote at the 2026 Conference in Birmingham.
The prize is a £200 cash prize and an invitation to attend the presentation ceremony at next year's RCPCH Conference, which takes place on 19-21 May in Liverpool.
Dr Niamh Scally, 2026 Michael Blacow Memorial Prize Winner, said:
It was both a surprise and a great honour to be invited to present our abstract in the Pecha Kucha format on the main plenary stage at RCPCH 2026 in Birmingham. Although I was familiar with the presentation style, this was my first experience delivering one myself, and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
I am delighted to receive this prize on behalf of the entire team whose hard work and dedication made the PEARL project at St George’s such a success. In particular, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues, Dr Hermione Leach and Dr Donovan Duffy, whose contributions were instrumental to the project.
The PEARL project has achieved significant success locally and has helped drive national change in the way antibiotics are delivered to babies with clinically improving early-onset neonatal infection. It is incredibly rewarding to see this work recognised and to know that it has contributed to improvements in care for newborn babies across the UK. I am grateful to the RCPCH for selecting our abstract to be showcased at this year’s conference.