IF inspiration is catching then a medical scientist from Peter Tavy who found himself struggling for a time to find employment in his chosen field, is certainly the man.

Despite a long period when he was forced by the economic recession to look for alternative ways to find employment, persistence has paid off for vaccine researcher Harry White.

The 51-year-old has now been awarded a £428,000 grant from the Wellcome Trust to run a project in research into flu at Exeter University.

While working as a researcher at Great Ormond Street Hospital Institute of Child Health in London until 2006, Harry, along with his wife, Lindsey, decided for family reasons to move down permanently to Peter Tavy as they liked it so much.

However, employment-wise, moving to Devon proved difficult as there was not much going on in the county in his specialist area and he was forced, for a while, to give up science.

Harry, a Cambridge University genetic science graduate, told the Times: 'Since then I have tried a number of things but, probably because of the economy, regular work was difficult.

'Just over two years ago I noticed a scheme run by the Wellcome Trust, to give grants to fund work by people who have had a break in their career. At the same time I noticed that bioscience research at Exeter University had massively expanded.

'I set upon a plan to apply for one of these grants, knowing they were very competitive with only a 15% success rate.

'I read about the latest discoveries in vaccine research more or less continuously for 18 months, and in this time I also went back to my old lab on and off, to do what added up to a few months of unpaid work. I also had to pay for the chemicals that I used. In this way I generated results for two new research papers.

'Before beginning my application I thought I should maximise my chances of catching up by going to a conference. The most suitable one was in the US. I wrote to them explaining my circumstances and asking them to waive all the fees, which they kindly did.'

A year ago he made the preliminary application for a Wellcome Trust Career Re-Entry Fellowship, and was invited a few months later to make a full application.

'After the second round of written applications and waiting a further four months, I was invited to an interview in October last year. The interview was in front of a panel of 15 people. At the end of November I was told the application was successful and I had got everything I asked for, £428,000!'

The grant money, which is given to Exeter University, who now employ Harry, will be used to fund research directed by him into why some people get 'flu much worse than others, with a view to diagnosing this problem early and making better vaccines.

'Normal 'flu is usually worst for the young and old, but strangely swine 'flu was by far the worst in the middle aged. The reasons for this are not understood.'

He added: 'I really had to make a lot of effort to help make it happen. It was almost my last chance.'