Nick is the NIHR specialty lead for dermatology, a consultant dermatologist in Norwich, NHSE National Clinical Lead for the GIRFT programme and is treasurer and past president of the British Association of Dermatologists.   After training in Manchester, Newcastle and London he moved to Norwich 30 years ago when it was a district general hospital and was part of its journey to a teaching hospital.  He has never held a substantive academic or University post and his research has been based around clinical practice.  He believes that research should be core work of all clinicians.  If you ever ask a question ‘Why am I doing this?’ or think “I am sure we could do this better’ – then research turns these ideas into action which can change the lives of patients.  His research interests include his MD on computerised image analysis, supervising PhDs and Masters in celluliits, health economics, cancer epidemiology.  He is fascinated by lessons for the present day learnt from researching history.  He is on steering groups of clinical research networks in the UK and Canada.

Holly is the national lead overseeing the operations of the NIHR Associate Principal Investigator (PI) Scheme. With a focus on providing practical experience for healthcare professionals embarking on their research careers, the six-month in-work training opportunity is a vital initiative within the NIHR network. Leading a dynamic team, Holly collaborates closely with key stakeholders to ensure the successful nationwide implementation of the program.

With a strong foundation in the field, Holly boasts more than a decade of valuable research experience. Previously, she has contributed significantly to the Yorkshire and Humber NIHR Local Clinical Research Network and served as an integral part of the Surgical Research team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Beyond her research commitments, Holly serves as a UK delegate to UN Women, where her advocacy and dedication to gender equality shine brightly.

Holly is currently based at the NIHR CRNCC Leeds office, situated at 21 Queen Street. For inquiries or to connect with her, you're welcome to reach out via the team inbox at associatepischeme@nihr.ac.uk.

Lisa is a solicitor and is Head of Legal Services and Information Governance at the Trust. She is also the Trust’s Data Protection Officer.  Lisa is presenting today to share her experience of her son, Evan, being on a clinical trial.

Evan is 12 years old and has a condition called Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Evan is on a clinical trial for biological immunotherapy. He will be on the clinical trial for five years and will shortly be completing his first year on the clinical trial; the results have been remarkable. Evan is an academy footballer for Grimsby Town FC and is also the national winner of the BBC Young Reporter Competition 2023. Evan has been sharing his story about the clinical trial on BBC Newsround, Look North, The One Show, Radio Humberside and Radio 5Live.

Lisa and Evan both hope that by sharing their story about how clinical research has changed their lives and stopped Evan from living in pain, it will help encourage clinicians to think about clinical research to help their own patients.

Professor Ruth Endacott is Director of Nursing and Midwifery at NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research), providing leadership for nurses and midwives who are supporting, delivering or leading research. Ruth is Emeritus Professor at Monash University, Melbourne & Trustee at the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre (ICNARC).

Lisa has recently been appointed NIHR Assistant Director of Allied Health Professions. The new role will develop national initiatives to provide research career opportunities for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs). She will provide leadership for AHPs who lead, support or deliver NIHR research. Lisa will also support those who take part in NIHR academic research training. Lisa is a qualified occupational therapist having worked in a range of health and care settings, which includes specialising in rehabilitation, specialist seating and posture management. Lisa has an MSc in Rehabilitation Science and a PhD in Health Sciences. Her areas of research include pressure ulcer prevention and person-centred practice. Lisa’s leadership experience includes senior leadership working across integrated care systems, quality assurance roles including external examiner appointments. She has also held leadership roles in higher education institutions and worked on behalf of professional bodies.

Khaylen is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Dermatology at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Tutor at the University of East Anglia. He is the Deputy Editor of the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology. His main research interest is skin cancer epidemiology, and he has received funding from Cancer Research UK for his role as a Partnership Analyst within the National Disease Registration Service. This has supported several national studies exploring the epidemiology of melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma. As a dermatology trainee, Khaylen successfully worked as chief investigator on a national qualitative study exploring the research priorities of patients with melanoma which was supported by the NIHR Associate PI Scheme.

Melanie has been a trained staff nurse since 2005, starting their career on an acute medical ward. In 2009, they transitioned to dermatology, initially as a staff nurse, before progressing to become a specialist nurse in cellulitis and lymphoedema as part of an award-winning service.

Further in their career, Melanie managed the dermatology department as Senior Nurse Sister for two years, while maintaining clinical responsibilities. They then took on a new and innovative role as a Medical Nurse Registrar within the dermatology department. This role, focused on clinical work, provides three years of training with portfolio competencies and is designed to lead to a Nurse Consultant position within the medical field of dermatology. As of August 2022, Melanie has been serving as a Consultant Nurse.

Melanie holds an MSc in Dermatology from Hertfordshire University. Their clinical expertise within dermatology includes cellulitis, red legs, lymphoedema, leg ulcers, psoriasis, eczema, acne, nurse-led systemic treatments, and hair disorders.

They are currently completing the Associate PI Scheme from February 2024 to September 2024 under the HEALS2 project and are involved in recruiting for the A-Star trial. Previously, they also contributed to the Soterios trial for alopecia.

Zoe Venables has been a dermatology consultant for almost 5 years at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, was recently appointed an Associate Professor at the University of East Anglia and is Dermatology Clinical Lead at the National Disease Registration Service who provide the national cancer statistics for England.  Zoe has published widely in the field of skin cancer epidemiology and has recently completed her PhD with Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands on the same subject.

Extended Scope Practitioner Pulvertaft Hand Unit, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB)

Chief Investigator - FIRST

Emma qualified as a physiotherapist in 2006 and works clinically at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre as an Extended Scope Practitioner, and is a BAHT accredited hand therapist. Her main interests are acute traumatic injuries, with a specific interest in flexor tendon injuries. Emma has been invited to speak at numerous national and international hand surgery and therapy conferences.

Emma has a keen interest in research and has worked in the dedicated research team at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre, with her research mainly focused on rehabilitation of flexor tendon repairs. Emma is currently Chief investigator of FIRST (flexor injury rehabilitation splint trial), a multicentered RCT funded by NIHR investigating splint following flexor tendon repairs and she was also an NIHR pre-doctoral Fellows in 2023 at the University of Nottingham.

Amanda is an Occupational Therapist (OT) and Accredited Hand Therapist (BAHT) with 22 years of experience working at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery. In her current role, she serves as the Team Lead for the Regional Plastic Surgery OT service, providing specialist interventions to patients across South and Mid Wales. Amanda is passionate about delivering high-quality patient care with a strong emphasis on evidence-based practice.

Since completing an MSc in Enhanced Professional Practice at Swansea University in 2020, Amanda has become increasingly motivated to integrate research into her clinical work. Through her involvement in the FIRST flexor tendon clinical trial, she had the opportunity to complete the NIHR Associate Principal Investigator scheme. This experience enabled her to develop new skills and confidence in a wide range of research activities necessary for participation in high-quality clinical studies.

Amanda is excited to continue her research journey and hopes to take on the role of Principal Investigator in future clinical trials.

MBE PhD FRCSLT 

Roganie is a consultant Clinical-Academic Speech & Language Therapist based at University College London Hospital and an Associate Professor at UCL Head & Neck Academic Centre, Division of Surgery and Interventional Science.

She worked as a clinician in South Africa and the UK for more than 20 years prior to embarking on a clinical research career. Roganie has successfully obtained four NIHR/NIHR infrastructure fellowships allowing her to complete a PhD in Behavioural Science & Health and to forge a clinical academic career focussing on dysphagia interventions in head and neck cancer. 

Roganie is currently chief investigator for the SIP SMART2 multicentre pilot trial investigating dysphagia prehabilitation in people newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer. During the pandemic, she co-led a national audit of laryngectomy services at 26 NHS sites. She has published widely in her field and presented her work nationally and internationally. She works closely with her professional body (RCSLT) in developing clinical guidelines and undertakes teaching and training at undergraduate and post-graduate level across healthcare professional groups. She mentors and supervises NIHR trainees from internship to doctoral and early post-doctoral level and currently chairs the NIHR Speech Therapy in ENT Group (STENT). Roganie received an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List for services to Speech & Language Therapy.

Florence Cook is a Head and Neck Oncology Dietitian at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and MPhil/PhD student at UCL (Division of Surgery and Interventional Science).

Florence was one of the first allied health professionals to be accredited as an Associate Principal Investigator, completing her 6-month tenure on the SIP SMART2 swallowing prehabilitation trial from April 2022 to November 2022. Florence has showcased the research skills that can be acquired from undertaking the scheme against a well-known researcher development framework (Vitae RDF). This was published in Advances in Communication and Swallowing (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/acs-220021) and demonstrated development opportunities across all RDF domains.

Florence is currently undertaking an NIHR Doctoral and Clinical Academic Practitioner Fellowship (2024-2027).  Her research is focussed on investigating post-operative feeding practices and nutritional intake in patients with head and neck cancer who have undergone reconstructive flap tissue surgery.

Rachel Mandel is a band 7 physiotherapist on the adult orthopaedics inpatient team at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.  She still works clinically, with a special interest in hip pathology, but also leads and promotes research, audit and service evaluation for her team.  She has recently completed the 6-month Associate PI trainee period for the NIHR-funded OPAL trial and is now continuing to play a key role on the OPAL trial team at the RNOH site.

Sharon Dorgan originally joined the Clinical Research Network (CRN) back in 2008 and since then has worked in a variety of regional governance, strategic and workforce related roles. She is passionate about providing opportunities for Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals to continually grow their research knowledge and skills. Sharon is now the Health & Care Director (NMAHPs) for the Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) in North East and North Cumbria (NENC). Sharon also holds the role of NIHR Associate Director of Nursing and Midwifery and led on the development and implementation of the NIHR Principal Investigator Pipeline Programme (PIPP) for research nurses and midwives.

Ian Shelton 

Occupational Therapist 

Pulvertaft Hand Centre

Royal Derby Hospital

Hand Therapy

Ian is an occupational therapist who works at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre in Derby as a Hand Practitioner. He also works part time at the University of Derby where he lectures on a Hand Therapy MSc programme. Ian's main interests are traumatic injuries, with a specialist interest in tendons and functional rehabilitation.

Ian is developing his engagement in research being the Principal Investigator at Derby for the FIRST trial, which is a multicentred RCT investigating splints following flexor tendon repairs, which was funded by the NIHR HTA. Ian is the Chief Investigator for iFIRST, which is a mixed methods study measuring the impact of participation in FIRST.