Bristol BRC theme leads awarded NIHR Senior Investigator status

Professor Russ Jago and Professor Nick Maskell, who both co-lead Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) themes, have been awarded Senior Investigator status by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in 2026. 

Now in its 19th year of appointments, NIHR Senior Investigators are among the most prominent and prestigious researchers funded by the NIHR. They are the most outstanding leaders from a range of specialties and disciplines.  

This year there are 43 new appointments and 16 reappointments. They join a College of NIHR Senior Investigators that now stands at approximately 200 active members. 

Professor Jago is being awarded Senior Investigator status for the first time. He co-leads the Bristol BRC’s diet and physical activity theme and the Centre for Public Health in Bristol Medical School and leads the NIHR Public Health Intervention Responsive Team (PHIRST) Insight. He is also part of the leadership group for Bristol’s membership of the NIHR School of Public Health Research. 

Professor Maskell is being reappointed as a Senior Investigator. He co-leads the Bristol BRC’s respiratory disease theme, the Bristol Academic Respiratory Unit and runs a tertiary pleural disease service and chairs the regional mesothelioma multi-disciplinary team. 

Professor Jago said:  

“I am delighted to receive this recognition from NIHR. NIHR support has been central to my career. It began with a personal fellowship to start my research journey, continuing through team awards supporting research in physical activity and public health.  

“I have been very fortunate to work with talented, hard-working colleagues and members of the public across these projects. Together we have worked to improve public health.  

“I look forward to continuing to work with the NIHR Academy to support further research and help build research capacity in public health.” 

Professor Maskell said: 

“I’m delighted to have received a renewal of this prestigious award. The NIHR have supported my patient centred research over the past 20 years.  

“I want to build on what I achieved during my first term as an NIHR Senior Investigator. The award will help support my current multi-centre grants and projects.  

“I am also passionate about supporting the early career researchers in my department and this award will allow me to do this.” 

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care, said:  

“By recognising leaders across the breadth of health and care, we are reinforcing NIHR’s commitment to supporting excellence wherever it is found and ensuring that research leadership mirrors the communities and professions it serves.  

“Senior Investigators make a significant impact to the NIHR and the wider research landscape and I look forward to seeing the contributions and impact they make across health and care research.”