PEARL Collaborative
PEARL In development · launching 2027

Paediatric Evidence And Research in Low-resource settings

Research led by the paediatricians who see the children.

PEARL is a collaborative network helping paediatric trainees and consultants in low-resource settings ask their own questions, collect their own data and publish together.

Starting in Nigeria. Coordinated from the UK. Open to other countries as sites join.

Register interest How it works
A Nigerian paediatrician shows ward data on a tablet to a UK colleague, while a mother sits beside her sick child in a cot behind them.
Illustrative image
The study cycle

Sites ask the questions. PEARL helps answer them.

Each study is small, simple and shared, so a busy unit can take part without extra burden and every contributor is credited.

  1. 01

    Sites propose questions

    Units tell us what they most need to know about the children they treat.

    Site teams
  2. 02

    Steering group selects

    Questions are shortlisted for relevance, feasibility and cost. PEARL may also suggest studies.

    Steering group
  3. 03

    PEARL funds the costs

    Ethics fees, data and communication costs are covered, paid against receipts.

    PEARL
  4. 04

    Sites collect data

    Routine data over a short, fixed window, entered into a secure shared platform.

    Site teams
  5. 05

    Joint analysis

    PEARL leads the analysis with site leads, and trains local researchers along the way.

    PEARL + site leads
  6. 06

    Co-publish

    Papers appear on behalf of the PEARL Collaborative, with every collaborator named and indexed.

    Everyone
Who it's for

Paediatrician-led, open to child health.

  • Paediatric trainees (residents and registrars) who need supervised, publishable projects.
  • Consultant paediatricians who want to lead research in their own units.
  • Others working in child health, such as paediatric surgeons and nurses, who join studies as collaborators.
Principles

Partnership, not extraction.

  • Sites own their data. It is shared only for the analyses agreed in each protocol.
  • Local leadership. Every study has a lead from the country where data is collected.
  • Fair credit. Authorship criteria are agreed before data collection starts.
  • Open books. Every pound received and spent is recorded.
First study

A multicentre snapshot, chosen by our sites.

Our founding Nigerian leads are choosing the first question now. It will follow the same pattern as every PEARL study.

PEARL-01In planning
Design
Prospective snapshot
Data window
2–4 weeks
Data
Routine, anonymised
Founding sites
5 in Nigeria
Topic
Chosen by sites
Authorship
PEARL Collaborative

Units interested in joining PEARL-01 can register below.

Where we are

Setting up, in the open.

  1. Founding charter and governance draftedNov 2026
  2. Founding steering group forming in NigeriaNow
  3. Registration as a UK charity (CIO)In progress
  4. First study protocol and ethics approvals2027
  5. PEARL-01 data collection2027
Get involved

Join as a site, mentor or partner.

We are looking for paediatric units, UK-based mentors and partner organisations. Email us with your name, role, hospital and how you'd like to be involved.

[email protected] Email us