Founding director named for new Liverpool Institute of Child Health and Wellbeing
Professor Dan Hawcutt has been appointed as the founding director of the Liverpool Institute of Child Health and Wellbeing, a new major collaboration between the University of Liverpool, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Alder Hey Children’s Charity, and other partners.
The Liverpool Institute of Child Health and Wellbeing was officially announced by Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in October 2024, and aims to ‘transform research and outcomes for children and young people’.
Alder Hey Children’s Charity has provided the majority investment and funding leadership to establish the Institute.
The mission is to tackle some of the ‘most pressing health and wellbeing challenges affecting children and young people today’ and to ‘serve as a global centre of excellence in research, innovation and digital health, dedicated to improving the futures of children and young people’.
The Foundation Chair and Director will play a pivotal role in establishing and guiding the Liverpool Institute of Child Health and Wellbeing. The new Institute will coordinate research, innovation and clinical expertise to address the most pressing challenges in child health.
Professor Hawcutt, who is director of Research at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Paediatric Clinical Pharmacologist at the University of Liverpool, will transition into the new role over the coming months.
He said: “I am genuinely excited to be the director. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to link up the voice of children and young people, the research infrastructure and excellence of the University, with the clinical knowledge and brilliance of the hospital teams. It creates some very exciting possibilities, and the chance to do what I think everyone involved with child health wants - make a step change for the better in the lives of children, both here, across the UK, and internationally.
“We’ll be working hand in hand with clinicians, researchers, and families to make sure our work genuinely reflects children’s priorities. And where evidence shows that change is needed, we’ll have the collective voice and data to influence decision-makers. This isn’t just about setting up another research centre, it’s about creating a movement that puts children’s health and wellbeing where it belongs: at the top of the national agenda.”
A key part of the new Institute’s vision is to reverse the national decline in paediatric research careers. With the number of clinical academic paediatricians falling, the Institute will host a major national meeting in April 2026 with the Academic Paediatric Association to help reinvigorate training, mentorship and pathways into research.
The Institute’s mission will span both internal collaboration and national influence, strengthening connections across university research centres while also advocating for children’s health at a policy level.
The creation of the Liverpool Institute of Child Health and Wellbeing aligns directly with Alder Hey’s Vision 2030, the University of Liverpool’s Research Strategy, and the NHS’s 10 Year Plan – and delivers on Alder Hey Children’s Charity’s commitment to fund world-leading innovation that transforms the futures of children and young people.