Over the next five years, the CHORAL programme will focus on key areas where research can improve outcomes for children and young people, with a particular focus on severe childhood illnesses including cancer, life-threatening diseases, and mental health conditions.  

To deliver the project, three Multi-disciplinary Research Groups (known as MRGs) have been set up, to tackle key areas of research. They are:

• Improving Child Wellbeing
• Comprehensive Childhood Outcomes
• Children’s Cancer Translational Research

Underpinning these applied areas of health research are two essential cross-cutting themes of:

• Future leaders in child health research
• Working with children and young people

We have received Initial funding from the Hospital’s charity partner, Leeds Hospitals Charity to support researchers based at the University of Leeds. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds are also providing significant additional support for researchers.

Our aims are to:

1. Support the training and development of academic researchers.
2. Provide a forum for linking academic and healthcare professionals working in child and young people’s health care.
3. Facilitate the design, set up and running of world-class multidisciplinary research studies and clinical trials.
4. Support co-development of research by working with children and young people.

Whilst we have investment to fund the people in CHORAL, we need support for the activities and things we do, enable us to develop our networks and communicate our research. Funds raised through this appeal will help us to:

• Support patient and public engagement and involvement activities
• Purchase equipment for staff and laboratory use (e.g. computers, consumables)
• Fund travel and accommodation for conferences which align with CHORAL’s aims and objectives
• Fund essential networking meetings, to link the next generation of child health researchers to the experience and knowledge of senior staff in this area
• Seed funding for research activity to generate information needed to obtain further grant funding (e.g. running focus groups, public involvement events).