Navigating the routes to research Tony De Soyza Prof Pulm - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Navigating the routes to research

Tony De Soyza Prof Pulm Medicine, Newcastle University NIHR National specialty lead Anthony.de-soyza@ncl.ac.uk

Disclosures

• I am a research addict
• I have undertaken numerous clinical trials for

most major pharma for which my institution has received fees

Outline

• Declutter the jargon of research in the UK
• Convince the audience that research is good

for you, your team and your patients

• Provide useful tips and contacts

Start with a vision where you want to end up

• More of you want to have

research studies as part of your job

• We as a group have more

research emphasis

• More grant applications for

respiratory research come into the National Institute for Health research

• Trainee network developing

nationally important research projects

Research is important but its not quite for me…

• “I didn’t do research as a

trainee”

• “I’m too busy”
• “its not in my job plan”
• “I need a research nurse”
• “they do all that stuff up at

the University hospital”

• “what's in it for me?”

Challenge yourself and look at most BTS guidelines…

• 3 themes
• The strong recommendations come from people like

you getting stuck in doing research

• The guidelines mostly have weak recommendations

as high quality studies have not been done

• The guidelines all have research recommendations

(and often these remain unanswered between guideline versions)

Research routes

• Research is NOT something

you are born into

• You can enter it at any stage…
• Drive research ( develop your
• wn ideas and funding)
• Deliver research (support the

recruitment into Others’ studies)

Entry level research routes

• Prestigious fellowships; NIHR, Wellcome

Trust, MRC

• “Soft money”- departmental funds/ smaller

schemes

• Part of a larger grant
• NIHR CLARCs/ BRCs

Medical Research Council

Studentships

• Doctoral Training Partnerships
• 15 DTPs across 29
• rganisations
• £13.5m per year
• ~156 notional studentships
• Includes a flexible supplement
• Industrial CASE studentships
• Associated students
• MRC units, institutes and

centres

• Partnership and Centre Grants
• Collaborations with EPSRC’s

CDTs

We support ~1,600 PhDs students at any one time

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/our-research-community/NIHR%20ACADEMY/Fellowships/NIHR-Fellowships-Summary.pdf

NIHR predoctoral fellowship

• 1 year WTE
• This Fellowship will be at pre-doctoral level and aimed at

giving people the necessary skills and experience required to undertake a PhD

• Applications will only be invited from individuals looking to

undertake research training with a view to submitting a future PhD application

• Must NOT have registered for or completed a PhD.
• Assessment Criteria: Applications will be assessed

broadly on the applicant’s commitment and potential to develop as a future leader in research relevant to NIHR, the quality of training provided and the support they will receive from their host organisation and supervisory team.

NIHR PhD Doctoral Fellowship

• This Fellowship will support applicants to undertake a

PhD in an area of NIHR research.

• Fellowships will be 3 years WTE and may be taken

up on a part time basis of between 50 and 100% WTE.

• Clinical applicants will be able to include up to 20%

clinical time as part of the Fellowship, to ensure maintenance of clinical competence whilst undertaking the Fellowship.

• Fellowships will be available to start from September

2019 with competitions launching biannually, the first launched in October 2018

NIHR Advanced Fellowship

• This Fellowship will be at post-doctoral level and aimed at several specific

points of a researcher’s career development. These being:

• For individuals who have recently completed or about to be awarded a

PhD but haven’t yet established themselves as independent researchers.

• For individuals starting to establish themselves as independent

researchers or those already established as independent researchers but not yet recognised as an international leader in their field.

• For individuals looking to transition into applied health research from a

basic science background or those looking to re-establish their research career following a significant career break.

• All the above will be available with a ‘clinical academic’ option whereby

clinical applicants will have the option to request between 20% and 40%

• f their time be dedicated to clinical service/development, which would be

covered by the Fellowship.

The UK landscape has changed dramatically…

• National Institute for Health Research is now

the biggest funder of medical research in the UK

• Funding schemes (developing ideas)
• Research infrastructure (LCRN; delivering

funded research)

NIHR Funding schemes

• Research for patient benefit (RFpB)- local

competition- smaller projects; very patient focussed

• Efficacy Mechanisms Evaluation (EME)- National

competitions across specialties. “Can it work? Small scale proof of concept studies”

• NIHR Health Technology assessment (HTA) grants

“Does it work?”

• Evidence synthesis grants
• Pragmatic trials £1m-£2m usually; occasionally higher
• NIHR Health services delivery research
• How can we put research evidence into practice

NIHR EME

NIHR HTA

• Several respiratory

colleagues sit on NIHR panels or have NIHR grants

• They have expertise ;

USE IT

• NIHR TWICS
• NIHR Develop
• NIHR FAST

We need more Resp HTA applications

£0 £20,000,000 £40,000,000 £60,000,000 £80,000,000 £100,000,000 £120,000,000 £140,000,000

HTA spends

NIHR TWICS study; opened up many new research sites

Research grant development support

NIHR RDS

UK Clinical trials gateway; supports patients & clinicians to find open research

https://bepart

• fresearch.

nihr.ac.uk/

Supporting research Delivery (England)

• 15 Local Clinical Research Networks

(LCRNS)

• Each has a BUDGET-> nurses/ physio/

pharmacy/ Consultant PA sessions/ R&D

• Each has a respiratory lead who has tasks;
• Grow respiratory research in your region
• Support new research activity (sites/ PIs/

schemes)

• Support national group and represent your region

& its challenges

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/nihr-in-your- area/respiratory/national-respiratory-clinical- specialty-leads.htm

Local specialty leads

• Will try and help you deliver studies or attract

them to your site

• Provide a good link with “academics” who

might be mentors for a research careers

• Help you map out a study design or point you

to the Research design service

• Advise you on how to get a good quality study

supported via the NIHR portfolio..

Successes in the NIHR Resp portfolio

• Growth in recruitment over 17,000 recruits

Respiratory; Green is Good!

Getting involved

• As potential PhD candidates you will have

research mentors

• As trainees consider asking to help in local

studies../ undertake Good Clinical Practice study day

• Signpost your patients to UK Clinical trials

Gateway

• Ask local lead who are grant holders/ active

networks

Regional / national trainee research network developing pragmatic trials

ALL STs have basic consent training & have helped recruit into NIHR portfolio studies

Research is here to stay; you already benefit from it but you can now DRIVE it so much more easily…

In summary

Many thanks to all the research sites, nurses, physios, radiology, lab staff and medics but most of all thanks to the participants