A leading Oxford orthopaedic trauma surgeon and a researcher specialising in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare have been recognised with prestigious national research leadership prizes in recognition of their outstanding contribution to health and care research.
Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery Matthew Costa was named as an NIHR20 Research Delivery Leader, while NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Rachel Kuo was chosen as an NIHR20 Rising Research Leader in the NIHR20 Research Leaders Prizes. Both are members of the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) whose research is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Oxford.
The prizes, which are part of the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), recognise talented leaders who are making an exceptional contribution to health and care research across the UK, improving outcomes for patients, tackling inequalities and driving economic growth across the country.
The NIHR20 Rising Research Leaders prize recognises exceptional early to mid-career researchers, while the NIHR20 Research Delivery Leaders prize recognises individuals who showed exceptional leadership in delivering research.
Professor Costa, who leads the BRC Oxford’s Musculoskeletal Theme, has been NIHR Specialty Lead for Trauma and Emergency Care for more than 12 years, helping to significantly expand research activity to all parts of the country through the development of regional leads; there are now more than 60 studies on the NIHR Portfolio, and more than 50,000 people recruited each year.
Much of Professor Costa’s research, which has a strong patient and public involvement element, is aimed at producing evidence that directly improves patient care and NHS policy, and importantly, improving the quality of life for patients. His studies on wrist, ankle and hip fractures have influenced NICE guidance and changed clinical practice, such as reducing unnecessary surgery, and saved NHS resources.
He is Lead Investigator for the WHiTE study, which aims to improve patients’ quality of life after hip fracture. It has recruited 30,000 participants across 78 UK centres and has informed much of NICE’s guidance on hip fracture. Professor Costa is also co-lead investigator for the international studies in low- and middle-income countries with the aim of identifying opportunities to improve outcomes and manage costs in low-resource settings.
Dr Kuo is an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow and Registrar in Plastic Surgery. Her research focuses on the development, evaluation and safe use of AI in healthcare, particularly for the detection of fractures. Using a diagnostic AI model developed with data from Oxford University Hospitals, her work has examined how accurately AI can detect fractures, alongside how its design and presentation influence the way clinicians make decisions with it.
Her research has strengthened the evidence base for diagnostic AI, as well as public and professional understanding of it. It has informed NICE’s early value assessment of AI for fracture care and contributed to the methods and infrastructure needed to deploy it responsibly. A particular focus is understanding what happens when AI is used as a support for clinical decisions; her work examines how clinicians interact, trust and act on AI recommendations, and how stakeholder-informed design can affect the safety of clinician-AI decision-making.
Beyond the technical aspects of AI, Dr Kuo is investigating wider aspects of its use, such as public trust, governance and concerns about bias or misuse of health data. She has worked extensively with patients and public contributors, including under-represented groups, to help shape the design and evaluation of her studies. She is now building on this work to develop better methods and standards for evaluating clinician-AI systems.
Professor Costa said: “I am delighted to receive this award from the NIHR on the occasion of its 20th anniversary celebration. Of course, this award is really recognition of the hundreds of research delivery and clinical staff who make all of these studies work across the UK and in low- and middle-income settings around the world.
“I hope that we can continue to make a positive difference to the lives of patients with trauma and emergency care conditions for many more years to come.”
Dr Kuo commented: “It has been wonderful working with so many colleagues, including patients and members of the public, to move forward our shared research. We have aimed to understand how people interact with AI, how systems affect clinical decisions, and how patients and the public want them to be developed and used. I am delighted to receive this award on the NIHR’s 20th anniversary, and excited for the work to come.”
Prize winners will receive a £10,000 professional development award, alongside access to tailored leadership and development opportunities.
A formal prize-giving ceremony will take place at the 2026 NIHR Academy Conference in October.
James Frith, Health Innovation Minister, said: “Patients benefit most when our world-leading research delivers the latest innovations to those who need them, when they need them. That’s why we’re recognising 40 research leaders across England for their life-changing work transforming the care patients receive. This is our 10-Year Health Plan in action, bringing together the brilliance of British science with the power of our NHS.”
Find out more about the NIHR20 Research Leaders Prizes.