2027 Prizes

The Ronnie MacKeith Prize 2027

The Ronnie MacKeith Prize is awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to paediatric neurology as judged by published work and who are under the age of 40 years or within 5 years of obtaining CCST at the time of the application closing date. The prize lecturer gives a 30-minute presentation at the BPNA conference and is awarded £1000 plus full registration for the conference plus travel expenses and hotel accommodation.

*The BPNA 2026 Ronnie MacKeith Prize was awarded to Dr Thiloka Ratnaike (Bristol Royal Hospital for Children) for presentation entitled 'Structured Phenotyping in Rare Diseases: from Manual Curation to Clinical Impact’.

Click here to see the list of previous Ronnie MacKeith Prize Lecturers.

Best Oral Presentation by a Trainee Prize 2027
This will be awarded to the trainee presenting the best oral presentation at the BPNA 2027 conference. When you submit your abstract, please remember to select 'Trainee' (FY1-ST8, fellows, etc) under the Prize eligibility section. The prize, sponsored by the BPNA, will be full registration to the BPNA 2028 conference.

*The BPNA 2026 Best Oral Presentation Prize was awarded to Dr Evangelia Ioannidou (GOS UCL Institute Of Child Health) for the presentation entitled ‘Clinical and cytokine profiles in a multicentre UK Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome (FIRES) and New-Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus (NORSE) cohort: Real-world insights from 2018 - 2025'.

2 * Best Poster Presentation by a Trainee Prize 2027
Two prizes will be awarded to trainees presenting the best poster presentation at the BPNA 2027 conference. When you submit your abstract, please remember to select 'Trainee'  (FY1-ST8, fellows, etc) under the Prize eligibility section. The prize, sponsored by the BPNA, will be full registration to the BPNA 2028 conference.

*The BPNA 2026 Best Poster Presentation was awarded to
Dr Hannah Vennard (Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow) for the presentation entitled ‘A diagnostic feasibility study of a novel accelerometer-based chest sensor in children at risk of sudden death in epilepsy'.
&
Dr Abinaya Seenivasan (Royal Manchester Children's Hospital) for the presentation entitled ‘'A cord under pressure'' Diagnostic Insights into Spinal Involvement in NF1'

Best Presentation by an Allied Health Professional 2027
This will be awarded to an allied health professional presenting at the BPNA 2027 conference. When you submit your abstract, please remember to select 'Allied Health Professional'  under the Prize eligibility section.The prize, sponsored by the BPNA, will be full registration to the BPNA 2028 conference.

*The BPNA 2026 Best Presentation by an Allied Health Professional was awarded to Ms Anya Charman Jones (University of Bristol) for the presentation entitled ‘Investigating the potential of Drosophila melanogaster to model clinical symptoms of the rare neurodevelopmental CASK disorder'

Best Presentation by a Medical Student 2027
This will be awarded to the medical student with the best presentation at the BPNA 2027 conference. When submitting your abstract, please remember to select 'Medical Student' (undergraduate) under the Prize eligibility section. The prize, sponsored by the BPNA, will be full registration to the BPNA 2028 conference.

*The BPNA 2026 Best Medical Student Presentation was awarded to Miss Anindita Chatterjee (University College London) for the presentation entitled ‘Emergency healthcare utilisation by paediatric patients who underwent epilepsy surgery: data from a single UK epilepsy surgery program'

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology (DMCN) Best Article by a BPNA early career Member Prize 2027
The DMCN Best Article by a BPNA Trainee Prize recognises excellence in research and clinical writing among the next generation of pediatric neurologists.

Open to BPNA trainee or early career researchers/consultants who have published an original article, case series, review paper, or clinical practice guide in the DMCN. The winner of the next award will have a paper published in Volume 68 of DMCN and will be announced at the BPNA 2027 annual meeting.
The deadline for submission is 15 November 2026. The BPNA author should be within two years of achieving their Certificate of Completion of Training (or equivalent).

The BPNA author should have made a demonstrable contribution of the paper. The BPNA author may be based in any country.
Key Criteria:
• Impact on the lives of patients, caregivers, and their families.
• Methodological robustness.
• Novelty.

Any BPNA trainee member or early career consultant may nominate any of their papers at any point during the preceding calendar year of the conference, by emailing admin@mackeith.co.uk with details of your nomination, including a copy of your CV and a brief explanation of how your paper fulfils the criteria.
Papers may be nominated at any time and will be considered for the prize relating to the volume in which the paper is ultimately published. £1000 will be awarded by Mac Keith Press to the BPNA prize winner.

*The BPNA 2027 'Development Medicine and Child Neurology (DMCN) Best Article by a BPNA early career Member' prize was awarded to was awarded to Dr Thiloka Ratnaike (Bristol Royal Hospital for Children) for the paper 'Genetic Investigations in Cerebral Palsy'