Research & Development Bulletin - February 2020
This is my first bulletin for 2020, and so may I be the last person to wish you all a happy New Year. And, apart from the weather, this has been a spectacular start to our research year at UHDB. Here are a just a few of the highlights to date:
Pump priming scheme awardees
We were pleased to announce that we have been able to fund 10 of the 12 applications received. I really enjoyed reading the applications, and the enthusiasm for making the future better for our patients through quality research shone through. We were very grateful to the East Midlands Research Design Service (RDS) for their helpful comments, which I’m sure have ensured that the funded projects will be feasible and successful. I look forward to sharing some of the findings with you in the future. Congratulations to all those successful researchers.
Spotlight on UHDB Medicine Division Research
I was very grateful to Dr Chris Wale, Divisional Director of Medicine, for asking me to put together an afternoon in December showcasing the research not just being delivered, but being led by researchers within the Division of Medicine. Whilst initially wondering how I was going to fill the afternoon, it soon became apparent that we were going to struggle to cram it all in. The speed with which a certain Scottish professor got though his slides was worthy of an Olympic medal! It was awe inspiring to see the breadth, depth and quality of the work being done by researchers in Medicine; so thanks to Prof Adam Gordon, Associate Professor Tim England, Dr Graham Johnson, Prof Maarten Taal, and my Diabetes colleagues Associate Professors Is Idris and Emma Wilmot for sharing their current research and future research plans.
Not that I’m competitive at all (!), but I think this throws down a gauntlet to the other Divisions to see if they can fill an afternoon of such amazing research.
Women in Science
Last week we celebrated the International Day of Women in Science and I hope you all saw the short clips that @UHDBTrust and @DerbyR&D tweeted out celebrating our own female researchers. Thanks to Kathy Brown and Scott Groom for putting these together and getting the research done at UHDB on the map. It was my view that it shouldn’t really be necessary to have a Women in Science day, and I had hoped that the slightly sexist attitudes I had grown up with at school had long gone. Apparently not, so thank you to all who participated and shared their stories. I hope that many other women will be inspired to think about a career in science, that it is clearly not just about white coats and test tubes, and that UHDB is a wonderful place to foster and grow research talent whatever your gender.
Early research careers
I was reminded recently of my own early forays into research in Diabetes when I attended a lecture by Prof Roy Taylor, Professor of Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne on Reversing Diabetes at the Derby Medical Society a few weeks ago. I was a junior doctor in Newcastle-upon-Tyne many years ago, and was inspired by Prof Taylor and others to start my own research career. Training in research and research governance was less formalised in those days and I would have jumped at the chance to attend some of the research training courses now available for early researchers.
With this in mind, I would hope that some of you thinking about an academic research career might look at applying for one of the NIHR funded pre-doctoral academic fellowship awards. As a Trust, we have had great success with these awards in the past and many of our research active AHPs have started their careers in this way. Please get in touch with me or any of the members of our AHP research group, DBARN, if you need support for your application.
Talking of new researchers, I like to keep my ear to the ground of any research early successes. So I was happy when one of my colleagues told me about Guy Holt, one of the nutritionists working in the Bariatric Service who recently won the best poster/abstract award for his work on accessing weight management services at the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society national conference. As this was his first presentation at a national conference, this is an impressive achievement, and one of many to come I hope.
And finally – save the date 4 May
We’re excited to be welcoming Professor Shaun Treweek, Chair in Health Services Research at the Health Services Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen, on Monday 4 May to talk to us about the Trial Forge initiative he is leading.
Trial Forge aims to be more systematic about how we generate and use evidence in making trial design, conduct, analysis and reporting decisions, making trials more efficient by looking for marginal gains across all trial processes. So, you see, even trial design can incorporate lean ways of thinking and working!
The seminar is open to anyone interested in finding out more about how we make decisions around trial design and conduct, and how to get involved in the research needed to support these decisions, so please keep your eye out for more details.
I’m personally really interested to hear Professor Treweek speak, as this is a fascinating subject, and am indebted to Rachelle Sherman, out CTSU Clinical Trials Manager, for inviting him to UHDB and making this happen.
Professor Fran Game
Clinical Director of Research & Development