Ruth Benson is a senior trainee in vascular surgery in the West Midlands and academic clinical lecturer at the University of Birmingham. As current president of the Vascular and Endovascular Research Network she has led the COVER (COvid-19 Vascular sERvice) study, working with a group of research active trainees and early years consultants around the UK. This is a major international collaborative study, designed to engage trainees in the research process and collect high quality data for dissemination recognising all contributors as co-authors. The study has engaged centres from over 50 vascular centres globally, and has published work on the impact of COVID-19 on clinical practice.