This Fellowship, awarded by the Royal Society and supported by the Leverhulme Trust, is one of only seven awarded each year to academics across the natural sciences. 

The scheme enables leading researchers to concentrate on a major programme of research by releasing them from teaching and administrative duties for up to one year. 

Dr Laverty’s research will focus on developing his innovative long-acting peptide hydrogel platform for the prevention of tuberculosis (TB), one of the world’s leading infectious killers.  

During the twelve-month fellowship Dr Laverty will aim to create a long-acting injectable depots composed of peptide hydrogels that can deliver TB-preventative medicines for an extended period, improving adherence, reducing dosing frequency and enhancing global TB control efforts. 

Commenting on receiving this Fellowship, Dr Laverty said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive this Fellowship, which offers a unique opportunity to focus on tackling one of the world’s most persistent infectious diseases, while also expanding the range of conditions our peptide hydrogel technology can address.  

“I hope the outcomes of our work will contribute to meaningful progress in TB prevention, particularly in low-resource settings where long-acting interventions can have the greatest impact. I am especially grateful to the talented researchers – past and present – who have contributed to this work and have laid the foundations for what I hope will be a highly impactful fellowship.” 

Media

Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk