Professor Martin Lombard steps down as Clinical Director
Professor Martin Lombard steps down as Clinical Director of Clinical Research Network: North West Coast. Thank you Martin for all your support.
30 October, 2020
Today we say goodbye to Professor Martin Lombard who steps down as Clinical Director of the Clinical Research Network: North West Coast. Martin has been with the Network for almost five years and has significantly improved the region’s reputation for high quality research in that time.
Jane Tomkinson OBE, Chair of the Network’s Partnership Group and Chief Executive of Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust commented: "Martin has played a key role in the creation of a highly capable network that is consistently advancing clinical research including delivering new treatments to fight COVID-19. On behalf of all Network Partners I would like to thank Martin for his leadership, vision and valuable contributions over the last five years and wish him well for the future.”
The network is hosted by Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Trust’s Chief Executive Steve Warbuton also commented, “Martin is leaving the Network in a position of strength and his vision has helped us create tomorrow’s generation of research leaders through the establishment of the Research Scholars Programme. I would like to thank Martin for the research legacy he leaves behind and the difference it has made for researchers, staff and patients in our region.”
Martin thanked his colleagues at the Network and commented: “The current pandemic has brought into sharp focus the importance of more research in clinical settings. The Network has risen to this challenge, teamwork and collaboration demonstrated by clinical colleagues across the Network has been really impressive. This builds on the groundwork of the last four years where we have improved clinician engagement and participation in research. I am particularly proud of our emerging new researchers from the Research Scholars Programme and the Early Career Research Programme and I look forward to seeing more research active clinicians driving our performance forward in the future. None of this would be possible without the dedication and enthusiasm of the core team at the Clinical Research Network who continue to support clinical researchers across the Network: they work tirelessly in the background and deserve to be recognised for their efforts. There have been many challenges during my time as Clinical Director over the past four years and undoubtedly there will be more in the future but I am confident that we have built a strong core team and a Network of enthusiastic clinical researchers to rise to those challenges and I look forward to seeing the impact of those endeavours in the years to come”.
More recently, Martin's leadership since the start of the pandemic earlier this year has meant that the North West Coast region has been able to play a significant regional, national and global role in the research fight against COVID-19. We wish Martin all the best for the future.
Thank you Martin. Goodbye and good luck from all your colleagues across the North West Coast and beyond.
