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Winners revealed at 2019 Greater Manchester Clinical Research Awards ceremony

The winners of the 2019 Greater Manchester Clinical Research Awards were revealed during an evening of celebration on Thursday 7 November.

Staff from the region’s hospital trusts, primary care centres and other local partners gathered in Manchester city centre for the seventh-annual ceremony to toast excellence in health research delivery.

The black tie event was organised by NIHR Clinical Research Network, Greater Manchester (CRN GM), in association with Syneos Health, who kindly sponsored the Research Team of the Year award.

The event was hosted by Professor Jane Eddleston, Joint Group Medical Director for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which is CRN GM’s host trust.

This year more than 200 nominations were received, with submissions coming from right across Greater Manchester, East Cheshire and East Lancashire.

Individuals and teams were recognised for their efforts in 13 categories, which included brand new accolades for Early Career Researcher of the Year and the Team Excellence Award for Research Patient Experience.

An extra four awards were also presented for efforts specially recognised by Debbie Vinsun, CRN GM Chief Operating Officer, and Professor Martin Gibson, CRN GM Clinical Director.

Prof Gibson brought the evening to a close by presenting Mrs Vinsun with her own special award for her years of valuable service to the CRN.

The ceremony took place following a record year for CRN GM in which 82,896 participants were recruited across 1,052 research studies. This made Greater Manchester the third highest recruiting CRN in England and the highest recruiting based on recruitment per 1,000 population (28.2 per 1,000).

Debbie Vinsun, Chief Operating Officer for CRN Greater Manchester, said: “Once again, it was an absolute pleasure to host this event to celebrate the achievements of our excellent staff across the region.

“2018/19 was a phenomenal success for our network with almost 83,000 patients taking part in a research study. This was comfortably our highest ever year for recruitment – an amazing achievement made possible by everyone involved in research delivery in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and East Cheshire.

“As we saw from the patient quotes shared during the ceremony, this work is making a real difference to the lives of our local patients and for that we should all be very proud. I would like to congratulate all of our winners, but it really is true to say that everyone in attendance was a winner.”

Winners

Best Debut: Samantha Reddington - Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

Research Administrator / Coordinator of the Year: Dr Eloise Cook - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Early Career Researcher of the Year: Kate Law - The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Investigator of the Year: Dr Monty Silverdale - Northern Care Alliance NHS Group

Best Contribution in a Community Setting: Bernadette Mason and Marie Martland - Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Best Public Engagement Contribution: Research for the Future and the Seven Thousand Feet collaboration

Outstanding Contribution: Emma Harrison - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Lifetime Achievement: Linda Magee - University of Manchester

Research Team of the Year (sponsored by Syneos Health): Experimental Cancer Medicine Team - The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Research Practitioner of the Year: Betty Pennington - North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Team Excellence Award for Research Patient Experience: Paediatric Oncology and Haematology team - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Research Midwife of the Year: Catherine Chmiel - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Research Nurse of the Year: Natalie Keenan - East Cheshire NHS Trust

The Debbie and Martin Special Awards:

“Outstanding Patient Recruitment” - The Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust Paediatric Observation Priority Score (PAT-POPS)  team – Northern Care Alliance NHS Group

“Outstanding Leadership” - Kathy Evans - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

“Services to CRN Greater Manchester” - Dr Angela Parker - CRN Greater Manchester core team

Debbie’s Special Award for Exceptional Patient Care: Bev Hammond - East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Martin’s Special Award for Lifetime Achievement: Debbie Vinsun, Chief Operating Officer for CRN Greater Manchester