Case study: Researcher determined to champion south London imaging research

Professor Vicky Goh is Chair of Cancer Imaging at King's College London and Honorary Consultant Radiologist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. She is also an Imaging Champion for the NIHR Clinical Research Network South London. She said:

"Imaging is such an essential part of patient care. While we have taken some steps forward, we have more work to do to increase the number of imaging researchers and studies. My role in the network is to champion imaging research through collaborative working and increase our NIHR imaging portfolio.

"Last year, we saw seven new imaging principal investigators undertaking research, which is vital as we continue to recover the portfolio. I'm also pleased to see more of our staff undertaking research degrees such as PhDs alongside their NHS work."

Vicky is keen that research opportunities are available to people at an early career stage. She continued:

"I helped set up RADIANT (the Radiology Academic Network for Trainees) nationally. This network gives young radiologists the opportunity to take part in research and transform the imaging of patients. The network is led by the trainees who are supported by local research leads in the delivery of their projects. It has gone from strength to strength in getting more people involved in imaging research."

The professor is also a national NIHR Imaging Group member, where she leads the workforce group. The workforce group aims to increase the capacity and capability of the NHS and academic imaging research workforce, improve career opportunities for grant-supported research, and enhance academic careers in imaging.

This year, the working group published its workforce gap analysis, supported a survey of academic trainees in radiology and applied for NIHR funding to develop early to mid-career opportunities across the imaging workforce.

The NIHR funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth. You can find out about the support available for imaging research on the NIHR's website. The NIHR Clinical Research Network South London helps increase the opportunities for people to take part in health and social care research.