LCRN Research Fellows announced for 2022/23
Our latest LCRN Research Fellows - research leaders of tomorrow who will benefit from LCRN-support to develop their practice - have been announced.
Dr Matt Davies, Dr Divyansh Gulati and Research Nurse Bhumika Patel are the successful applicants for 2022/23 for our Research Fellow Scheme.
Fellows receive up to £40,000 from the LCRN and partner organisations to give them time to develop into a research leader to be an ambassador for the CRN.
It can be spent on self-development activities such as exploring the research landscape to ultimately support and develop recruitment into NIHR portfolio studies.
Dr Matt Davies, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH)
I joined the team in January 2021. Following medical school and basic surgical training in London, I developed a research interest in trauma care, specifically the epidemiology of penetrating injuries. My formal academic journey began when I was selected to join the first cohort of NIHR academic clinical fellows and moved to Manchester to take up an emergency medicine training post. I was subsequently awarded the first Royal College of Emergency Medicine/NIHR doctoral research fellowship. During this time, I studied the effect of implementing an inclusive trauma system in two regions of England, using mixed methods. Undertaking a PhD was undoubtedly a feat of endurance but, somehow, I persevered!
Following my doctoral studies, research then went on the ‘back burner’ as I had to complete my training in emergency medicine and gain my fellowship exams. After a year working in Dublin, I was extremely fortunate to obtain a consultant post at OUH, attracted by the fact that the emergency department is enthusiastic and supportive of research. I am currently PI on two studies (DENS and STEDI2) and about to take on the role for the CoMiT-ED trial.
I feel very fortunate to have been awarded the CRN fellowship post as this will give me the time to develop my knowledge of clinical trials and research delivery, enable me to develop my own research in the field of injury prevention and to become a research leader of the future and ambassador for the CRN.
Dr Divyansh Gulati, Consultant in Emergency Medicine Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
I finished my medical school in 2010 at the end of which I submitted my first research work which focussed on Prevalence of Depression in students of a medical college in New Delhi, India. During my post-graduation (2012-2015) I completed my thesis, which I was able to present at the Asian Conference of Emergency Medicine held in Japan. I was actively involved in teaching which included teaching on life support courses as an Instructor (BLS, ACLS and ATLS).
I moved to the UK in April 2016 and Joined as a Senior Clinical Fellow in Emergency Medicine at Oxford University Hospitals. During my tenure at OUH, I was involved in teaching the junior doctors as well as wrote case reports for the BMJ and was able to write a Clinical topic Review for the FRCEM exams entitled We need a renal troponin - Is NGAL the answer?
I also presented multiple posters at the Oxford School of Emergency Medicine Conference and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Scientific Conference. I wrote a review article for the Royal College of Physicians in 2018 entitled Common haemostasis issues in major bleeding and critical illness along with a haematology consultant.
I joined as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Milton Keynes University Hospital in September 2018 and took the role of the Research Lead in ED. I have been a principal investigator for Multiple trials (STEDI2, CRASH4, HEA, UK meningitis study) which are on the NIHR portfolio. I am also an Examiner for the University of Buckingham (Medical School) and part of the RCEM Question Writing Group
The Research Fellowship will give me time to focus on research delivery and learn the process of research in depth by actively liaising with the local R&D and also participate in ethical committees, first as an observer. I would aim to increase the research activities at Milton Keynes University Hospital by increasing peer participation and therefore improving patient care.
Bhumika Patel, Clinical Research Nurse, University of Oxford
I have been working as a Clinical Research Nurse at the Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit (ORTU), Nuffield Department of Medicine Experimental Division, University of Oxford since November 2020.
I have worked on pleural infection, lung cancer, and sleep trials and currently work part-time for the Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics as an Adult Research Nurse working on ongoing infectious diseases vaccine trials. In April 2020 I joined the COVID-19 Oxford Vaccine Trial group and have contributed to delivering trials, and more recently the COVID-19 Challenge Study.
I joined Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences (NDS) as a Biorepository Manager in 2014, overseeing sample collections and storage for organ preservation machine-perfused clinical trials. During this time, I completed a five-year part-time Adult Nursing MSc and qualified in 2019 from Oxford Brookes University.
To consolidate my nursing clinical skills, I worked part-time at Oxford Newborn Care Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford from September 2019 to September 2020. I continued working at NDS as a Research Nurse, part-time, working on oncological surgical trials for head and neck and renal trials, as well as biobanking studies till January 2021.
Previously, I trained as a lab technician skilled in sample preparation, histopathological techniques, and DNA extraction. I also worked for the Gastrointestinal Illnesses Biobank, Oxford Radcliffe Biobank and the oncology Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit, based at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospital sites from 2010.
With ORTU hosting my CRN Research Fellowship, I am honoured to join the programme to focus on my own research interest in mouth hygiene and reducing adult inpatient respiratory nosocomial incidences whilst learning to increase patient safety and develop my research skills. I aim to learn more about conducting trials and become a nurse leader and researcher. During my fellowship I will continue to chair the Nurses Midwives and Allied Health Professionals research network to support research staff working in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Oxford research teams.
