For the last eight years I have been an NHS Consultant specialising in Stroke Medicine. My work crosses treating patients in clinical practice with researching new investigations and techniques to treat and rehabilitate people with neurological injury.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are clinical days where I undertake ward rounds, clinics, family meetings and train junior doctors. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my designated research days involving designing studies and recruiting/reviewing research patients. I also use this time to meet with MSc, PhD and academic fellow students to progress their reports and facilitate patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) meetings.

I have been involved in numerous studies involving those related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. These include looking into the effects of the Coronavirus in the elderly, the effects of exercise in rehabilitation after Stroke, the use of AI for arrhythmia detection and the effects of Remote Ischaemic Conditioning (RIC) in Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis and muscle function.

Here in Sheffield we are proud to be part of an international multi-centre study (CovidCollab) looking at age and frailty, and how these factors are associated with increased COVID-19 mortality and care needs. This furthered our understanding of the illness, including the likelihood of being discharges to an institutionalised centre such as a care home.

We successfully adjusted and optimised our studies to enable on-going recruitment, which was a huge accomplishment as there is a constant need for the investigation of new and exciting treatments for neurological injury. I also had the pleasure of working with colleagues, such as Dr Siva Nair, who selflessly gave their time out to work on the COVID wards to aid Stroke rehabilitation.

One thing I've learnt during the pandemic is that I don't necessarily have to do all my work from the office; home working can often lead to an improved work/life balance. Similarly, patients and relatives can participate in research from home in various ways, an option which wasn't previously as available. It's really opened out eyes as to how we can reach out to involve people in research.

Without clinical research, our practice would be quite antiquated. If I wasn't involved in research, I would certainly be somehow looking to optimise the patient experience and how care is delivered.

My belief in the interventions we are investigating offers endless motivation. Those who I work with have given up a lot of their time and effort, from the PPIE groups who help with study design to the participants and their families; they provide me with the drive to find ways to improve and ease the lives of our patients.

Our participants have repeatedly supported out research during the pandemic, and become keener to not only get studies up and running but also get them to a finishing point, with the ultimate aim of putting these useful therapies we are researching into clinical practice. I'd like to express my gratitude for this dedication. Thank you!

Download the PDF version of this staff profile (PDF, 173KB)

I am a trainee Neurologist by background and in 2018 I started a period of time out of my clinical training to undertake a PhD and work as a Clinical Fellow researching Parkinson's Disease, once I complete my PhD I will return to my clinical training until I become a Consultant Neurologist. My role is quite varies, I still undertake some clinical work but the majority of my time is focused on my research and generally split across a number of projects and clinical trials. My main research project focuses on advanced brain imaging techniques, using an MRI scanner to try and detect problems with how the brain produces energy in people with Parkinson's. I then also look to see if those same people have similar problems in their skin cells and how they produce energy.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are generally reserved for when I will review participants involved in my projects and perform MRI scans on them. Tuesday afternoon is my NHS clinic. Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons usually involve lab work. Thursday is the day when I get to analyse some of the data!

I have been involved in a clinical trial looking at how a drug used in liver disease may help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. The pandemic provided a host of challenges in how we delivered the trial; we had to adapt many of our procedures to ensure the safety of our participants throughout the pandemic. That involved changing to 'virtual' visits where we assess participants by video and reducing the number of occasions they would have to travel to hospital.

We succeeded in adapting our clinical trial described above to continue with minimal disruption throughout the pandemic. Performing visits virtually, delivering medication and keeping in close contact with all participants means that despite the considerable challenges we still managed to get high quality data throughout the pandemic which is an incredible success.

I think changing many of our practices to be delivered remotely has provided an alternative way to perform clinical trials that could be much more convenient for certain participants (eg those who struggle to travel) and may also help reduce some of the barriers that prevent people from usually taking part in clinical research.

I would probably be around a year away from completing my training as a Neurologist and becoming a Consultant, but wishing that I could get involved in research in some way to help progress the understanding of these neurological conditions for which we currently have no curative treatments.

I think most importantly I still find it endlessly interesting and challenging and it is really rewarding when you find some new piece of information that wasn't known about before. Being involved in clinical trials is so rewarding, you get to know your participants well and it really feels like a collaborative effort where both researcher and participant are making efforts to progress research in the field.

During the height of lockdown in the pandemic, many participants have enjoyed still being able to get involved in research; I think it has been a welcome distraction. I think many participants like that they are able to have access to a further source of support in the form of the research team during difficult times that they can always get in touch with if they are having any issues.

Download the PDF version of this staff profile (PDF, 171KB)

With the support of my team, I oversee all operational aspects of the NIHR BRC Sheffield to ensure its success against our objectives. I support the BRC Director in setting and delivering our strategy to further develop our infrastructure and ensure our portfolio of research is managed and delivered effectively. My role is optimally positioned to help support clinicians and researchers in the development of new and novel treatments and diagnostics which seek to benefit patients and the wider the health system.

It has always been an ambition of mine to work in a highly collaborative field that seeks to deliver impactful benefits, drives innovation, and improves patient treatment and experience. Within clinical research I always felt this would be the ideal environment to challenge myself, thrive and contribute to the exceptional service the NHS strives to deliver to our patients.

Working in NHS research has provided an abundance of opportunities to help develop my career. It has allowed me to work with world-class staff who inspire me to continually learn and develop. I feel very fortunate to have worked in such varied roles, ranging from patient facing study delivery, research governance and study set-up, through to operational and strategic management. This very holistic career development encourages me to always adopt the perspective and mentality that research is there to benefit the public and it is vitally important we ensure access to treatment and care is open to all.

To work in a such a collaborative and supportive field provides incredible job satisfaction. The role is very diverse and fast paced, which ensures each day is a positive challenge. There is always opportunity and room to learn and continually develop. I am very fortunate to work within a truly exceptional and skilled team who achieve quite wonderful things. I always look forward to the day ahead.

I am incredibly proud of every role I have worked in, every team I have worked with, across all disease areas and NHS Trusts. However, my proudest achievement would be when I worked as a neuro research assistant within the multiple sclerosis research team. Supporting the clinicians and nurses to deliver increased treatment options to patients with MS was very special and really confirmed to me that research is where I belong.

She said a career in healthcare research has helped her learn new skills and make a difference to the NHS:

"After graduating in psychology during the pandemic, I knew that I wanted to start a career that would enable me to make a difference and give the NHS a helping hand.

My first role was an internship in palliative care research at Hull York Medical School, and I then went on to work in an asymptomatic COVID-19 testing centre.

After this, I got a job at the NIHR Sheffield Clinical Research Facility as a data coordinator working within the COVID-19 team, and I now work as a data assistant in the Facility’s operations team. There are so many interesting roles in research, and it is incredibly rewarding to work as part of a team that is making a massive difference to so many lives.

There are so many opportunities to learn new skills whilst working in clinical research, for both admin and clinical staff, and I have definitely accelerated my career by choosing to work in clinical research.

I have been able to challenge myself in so many new ways, including taking the lead on specific projects, delivering presentations and training sessions, and improving my knowledge on data analysis and producing complex reports. I have developed skills that I will utilise for not only the rest of my career, but for the rest of my life.

My proudest achievement in my research career to date was during my first role in the Clinical Research Facility, working on a large portfolio of COVID-19 studies, from vaccine trials to interventional trials and long-term trials to understand disease progression. It was incredibly rewarding to be a small cog in this large wheel, working behind the scenes. My role at the time also involved covering the Clinical Research Facility reception, and it was inspiring to see and meet so many patients and staff that wanted to get involved.