UKABIF 2024 Awards

The UKABIF Awards, sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors, took place the night before our Time for Change Summit.  The Awards celebrate advancements, creativity, and inspirational work, recognising individuals and projects dedicated to improving outcomes for people with acquired brain injuries

Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration

The Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration was awarded to Claudia Laird and Mike Howarth. 

Claudia, who was nominated by After Matters who support young people living with a brain injury. Claudia was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 24 and during recovery she remained determined to complete her nursing degree. She now works as a paediatric nurse at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. 

Mike was nominated by Amy Crosby. He was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in 2020 which resulted in him having a severe TBI and amputation of his left arm at the scene. Mike has not allowed his injuries to define him and has worked tirelessly with his team to rewrite his story. He has now returned to cycling, horse riding and has a passion for clay pigeon shooting too! Mike briefly stayed at STEPS rehabilitation and is now a Trustee of their new foundation and supporter of their work. 

A huge congratulations to both Claudia and Mike – both incredibly inspirational individuals.

The Mike Barnes Award for Innovation

The Mike Barnes Award for Innovation was awarded to Recallify .

Recallify is an AI-powered memory support, training and productivity app which can transcribe and summarise conversations. It has been designed by Dr Sarah  Rudebeck and Dr Berkan Sesen  to help individuals to easily record, review, and recall their experiences. This intuitive app enhances communication and makes memory management simple for everyone. 

Recallify enhances memory by using science-backed brain training techniques, such as spaced repetition and the testing effect. The app automatically generates personalised questions from recorded memories, helping strengthen recall and improve long-term retention through regular practice.

We are really excited to see how  Recallify advances even further in the future!

The Poster Award 

The Poster Award went to Dr Henk Swanepoel, from Cygnet Health Care. 

The Poster was entitled ‘Correlation study between the Free Cog and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE-III) within Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) population. 

The finding that functional impairments are not often assessed with cognitive screening instruments (CSIs) was the basis for this poster. The degree of ABI as indicated by CSI’s may not correlate with functional scales, indicating a need for functional as well as cognitive testing. The  poster concluded that within the ABI population the Free Cog is an adequate alternative to the ACE-III when measuring cognition. 

An incredibly detailed and useful piece of research for all those with an interest in ABI.