Winners announced for RKE Awards 2025
Health and performance were very much to the fore at the 2025 Research and Knowledge Exchange Conference, as we marked 50 years of sport science at LJMU.
Professor Graeme Close’s Keynote narrated the amazing story of how LJMU pioneered sport science from the 1970s onwards and took the university to the very top of the tree in that discipline, influencing sport and health activities worldwide.
And it was the application of science to healthcare that merited this year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence in Research Award. Professor Ivan Olier Caparroso, Head of the nascent Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies Research Institute, scooped the title for his work on TARGET, an AI healthcare application in heart and stroke treatment.
By integrating data from electronic health records, IoT-enabled medical devices, physical documents, and even building management systems, Ivan and his PI Professor Sandra Martorell are creating Digital Twins to offer healthcare professionals a ‘single source of truth’, ensuring improved patient treatment and reducing the risk of errors.
Ivan said: "I feel truly honoured by this award. It means a great deal to me as it reflects not only my own journey, but also the support, inspiration, and shared commitment of colleagues and collaborators in building research that makes a difference."
The Excellence in Knowledge Exchange Award went to Dr Richie Kirwan (Exercise and Sport Science) for his work in educating sport coaches in India on issues of nutrition and physiology.
And another healthcare project earned the Excellence in Impact Award for Professor Amos Fatokun (PBS) for Going Global, a British Council supported partnership in Nigeria to embed entrepreneurial skills in the academic curricula of medical universities in Africa and empower young people to be job creators rather than merely jobseekers.
Other awards are follows:
- Dr Susannah Walker (Psychology) – Excellence in Public Engagement.
- Dr He Li (Maritime and Engineering) – Rising Star
- Dr Susanne Zajitschek (BES) – Open Research Award
- Katie Farrance and the LEAF laboratory team – Sustainability in RKE.
- Dr Dominique Walker (Law and Justice) – EDI in RKE.
- Cath Dishman (Library Service) – RKE Support.
- Dr Freya O’Brien (Law and Justice) - Postgraduate Supervision.
Professor Keith George, PVC Research and Knowledge Exchange said: “We were delighted with the quality and quantity of entries this year - almost 200 in total.”
