Past Winners
Years
Winners
Welcome to the Student Voice Prize Hall of Fame!
We’ve searched the world for the top rare disease essays and we’re proud to say that we’ve found them seven years running.
Take a look at the brilliant minds who have come before you and give their winning essay a read.
The Student Voice Prize 2020
The 2020 Student Voice Prize saw the continued growth of the competition, boasting more global entries than ever before! This was the first year that every winning essay was written in collaboration with a patient group pair, who spoke to the challenges that the rare community faces on a daily basis.
The judges were blown away by the winning essays, which highlighted the impact of shielding during COVID-19 on rare disease patients, the diagnostic odyssey and the rare disease patient experience. The 2020 winning essays beautifully summarised their patient group pair’s lived experiences into an essay that was impactful, memorable and thought-provoking.
Read the winning essays now in either the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases or on BioMed Central’s blog!
Winner – Catriona Chaplin
Unmasked: an insight into three patients’ rare disease experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic
The Student Voice Prize 2019
The Student Voice 2019 saw the continued growth of the competition, with more entries and more winners than ever before. The Patient Group Pairing Scheme continued, and our winners gave talks at both the Medics4RareDiseases and Findacure conferences.
We were very impressed with the essays written by the four winners, which you can read in full, or in blog form, below.
The Student Voice Prize 2018
The Student Voice 2018 saw us offer, for the first time, the opportunity for students to be paired with rare disease patient groups to learn from their real life stories. We would like to say a huge thank you to all the patient groups who put themselves forward and the students who were open to this collaborative effort. This side of The Student Voice Prize was a huge success and it is something we hope to continue in future years.
We were very impressed with the essays written by the three winners. Congratulations to them all!
Runner-up – Maisha Umama
Four things I learned from an individual with fibrous dysplasia
In addition to the three winners, a further entrant’s essay was selected for publication as a blog by BMC. It was one of the competition judges!
Read Timothy Badcock’s essay:
What can future doctors learn from patients with rare diseases?
The Student Voice Prize 2017
The Student Voice 2017 saw an increased focus on the patient experience of rare diseases. You can find out about the fourth instalment of The Student Voice Prize by reading our review of the competition, or reviewing the winning articles in full.
A further entrant’s essay was selected for publication as a blog by the competition judges.
Collaboration is helping medical professionals and patients with rare diseases to face their challenges – by George Wood
Winner – Mariam Al-Attar
TRAPPED – an insight into two sisters’ struggle to access treatment for a rare genetic disease
Runner-up – Simon Westby
An odyssey not alone
The Student Voice Prize 2016
The Student Voice 2016 saw a continuation of our partnership with the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. You can find out about the third instalment of The Student Voice Prize by reading our review of the competition and three winning entries.
The Student Voice Prize 2015
The second edition of The Student Voice Prize saw Findacure partner with BMC’s Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases for the first time. Read our review of the competition and winning entries below.
A further two entrants had their articles published as blogs on the “On Biology” website.
I’m a teenager – do I care if my disease is rare? – by Harriette Pearson
Rare disease research helps us understand medicine for all diseases – by Jeremy Reid
Winner – Roberta Garau
The medical experience of a patient with a rare disease and her family
Runner-up – Nicholas Heng
Runner-up – Mark Jacunski
Essay Competition 2014
The first-ever Student Voice Prize essay competition was run in 2014, with the idea conceived by one of Findacure’s first interns.
Winner – Rosemary Grain
How has the study of rare diseases influenced our knowledge of more common diseases?
Runner-up – Benjamin Ng
How has the study of rare diseases influenced our knowledge of more common diseases?
Runner-up – Anne Fitzgibbon
Discuss how experiences of a patient with a rare disease may differ from those of a patient with a common disease
