The NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) is delighted to congratulate Dr Tori Ford, Senior Researcher at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, on receiving an Early Career Researcher award as part of the NIHR Impact Prizes 2026.
The NIHR Impact Prizes celebrate researchers and teams who have maximised the impact of their research and translated evidence into tangible benefits for patients, communities and health services.
Dr Ford was recognised for creating and sharing online resources to improve care for people experiencing recurrent vulvovaginal thrush, and for successfully engaging patients, healthcare professionals and policy makers in addressing an often-overlooked area of health care.
The award-winning work originated from an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship, which explored experiences of recurrent vulvovaginal thrush in primary care. This research led to the development of a public-facing resource hosted on the Health Experience Insights (HEXI) platform, bringing together more than 200 patient video and audio clips to improve understanding, education and awareness of the condition.
To support the continued development and dissemination of this work, Dr Ford received funding through the SPCR Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Fund in 2025 for the project, Storytelling to Undo Stigma: Sharing Patient Experiences of Recurrent Vulvovaginal Pain. The project aimed to amplify the voices of people living with recurrent vulvovaginal pain, raise awareness of available resources, and ensure lived experience continues to shape future research, practice and advocacy.
Additional support was provided through the SPCR internship scheme, enabling an internship project during summer 2026 that further extended this programme of work. The project involved secondary analysis exploring gendered health experiences in primary care.
Reflecting on receiving the Impact Prize, Dr Ford said:
“It is wonderful to see research rooted in lived experience, community care, and challenging shame receive this meaningful recognition.”
We are proud to see SPCR-supported research and capacity-building initiatives contributing to this important recognition and congratulate Dr Tori Ford on this outstanding achievement.
If you are interested in finding out more about Tori’s research please see below:
- https://bjgp.org/content/early/2026/02/02/BJGP.2025.0437
- https://bjgp.org/content/early/2026/01/20/BJGP.2025.0531.long
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41420368/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37826917/
Interested in creating further impact within your own project?
SPCR is currently inviting applications to its Involvement, Inclusion & Impact (3Is) Enablement Fund, which supports researchers and community partners to build relationships, develop inclusive approaches to involvement and engagement, and explore new opportunities to work with under-served communities.
Find out more about the SPCR Involvement, Inclusion & Impact (3Is) Enablement Fund.
