Congratulations to Elli Margolius, public contributor with PHIRST South Bank, who has been awarded a Research Fellowship by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East of England.

Elli will be working on a project exploring young people’s mental health in Central Bedfordshire and the barriers they experience seeking mental health support.

After enjoying being a member of a local public involvement panel for PHIRST South Bank’s evaluation of a young person’s mental health support programme in Central Bedford Elli continued working with the team.

Elli shared her thoughts on working with PHIRST and how the experience has helped her begin her research journey:

I would like to acknowledge PHIRST South Bank, where I have the privilege of serving as a Public Contributor. My journey began as a member of a local PPI panel and developed into becoming a core public contributor within the core team. Through this role, I gained first-hand insight into the powerful impact research can have on people’s lives and on improving local public health outcomes. This experience inspired my passion for research, gave me the confidence to pursue my own ambitions in the field and motivated me to apply for the NIHR Research Fellowship, an achievement I am immensely proud of. I am deeply grateful to PHIRST South Bank for the encouragement, opportunities and support they have provided me with.  

At 20 years old, being given this opportunity means a great deal to me both personally and professionally. As someone who is still at the beginning of my research journey, it gives me the chance to develop my skills, build confidence and learn from professionals while contributing to work that can make a real difference to young people’s lives. It also allows me to bring the perspective of a younger generation into research and show that young people have an important role to play in shaping the future of health and care. I hope this opportunity will be the start of a meaningful career in research, encouraging other young people to believe that these opportunities are open to them too. 

You can hear more from Elli – and her fellow PHIRST South Bank public contributors – in this short video explaining more about their roles and what motivated them to take part.