Dr Celeste Foster, NAPICU executive committee member, has been awarded the 2025 Skellern Lecture. Celeste is the academic principal investigator of the NAPICU-CAMHS inpatient research project undertaken in partnership with the University of Salford.
This prestigious accolade celebrates exceptional contributions to developing mental health education, policy, practice and expertise.
The Skellern Lecturer Award, named in honour of groundbreaking mental health nurse Eileen Skellern, acknowledges individuals who have significantly advanced mental health policy, practice and expertise, both in the UK and internationally.
The Skellern Lecture is one of two Skellern award categories, alongside the Lifetime Achievement Award. Nomination and voting takes place among a panel of peers – made up of Skellern alumni, mental health nursing academics, researchers, commissioners and clinical practitioners.
Celeste is a child and adolescent mental health nurse and psychotherapist who has worked at the University of Salford as an academic and researcher for 21 years, first as a lecturer practitioner, then lecturer, senior lecturer and now associate professor. Celeste co-leads the mental health and neurodiversity research group in the Centre for Applied Health Research, in the School of Health and Society.
Her lecture will focus on her applied research examining and improving care quality, interventions and outcomes for young people with complex mental health needs, and the staff who look after them.
You can find out more information about the Skellern Memorial Lecture here [https://www.skellern.info/].
