The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) has announced its first ever clinical associate professors, designed to boost its research profile on a national and international stage. Eight consultants have been awarded the posts in translational and clinical medicine following joint funding from the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) Norwich Medical School and the hospital.
The appointments will expand a number of growing research themes being investigated in collaboration with partners across Norwich Research Park, contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate education, and strengthen the hospital’s partnership with Norwich Medical School.
Prof Kris Bowles, associate medical director for research and development at NNUH, said: “This is a huge first for our Trust and supports our strategy to embed high-quality research across the organisation and enhance our partnerships with UEA and our other Norwich Research Park partners.
“The funding will help to advance clinical academic research for consultants who already have a track record of high calibre research.”
The eight professors will each develop and lead a programme of clinical research in their specialist area, secure research funding through commercial research or successful grant applications, and provide academic leadership as clinical senior lecturers.
Here, the eight clinical associate professors tell us about their areas of research:
Caroline Barry – palliative medicine
“I have a particular interest in neuro-palliative care, such as the care of people with motor neurone disease and brain tumours, and need to understand more about how to improve the quality of life for these individuals.”
Charaka Hadinnapola – respiratory medicine and a clinical and research interest in pulmonary hypertension (PH)
“PH in patients with hypoxic lung diseases is often overlooked and currently there are no approved treatments for this important patient group.”
Eleanor Mishra – respiratory medicine
“One of my areas of research is into long-term chest drains, which sometimes get infected. This link will enable us to pull together the expertise we have in pleural disease and clinical trials with that at the Quadram Institute and in microbiology, to produce innovative patient-centred research.”
Jon Lartey – obstetrics
“This opportunity will allow our team to extend the work exploring the epigenetic regulation of preterm labour and exploring the effect of vasodilatory drugs to modulate vascular tone in hypertensive disorders and fetal growth restriction.”
Martyn Patel – older people’s medicine
“I will be working on how we can reduce readmissions to hospital, particularly in older people’s medicine, where 15pc of patients are readmitted within 30 days of going home.”
Philip Stather – vascular surgery
“I am currently developing the use of a mobile phone application to deliver supervised exercise therapy for vascular patients, and new products to enable patients with venous ulcers to undertake self-care in a safe manner.”
Simon Chan – gastroenterology
“My focus is on defining and understanding the role of lifestyle and environmental factors in the development and progression of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.”
Zoe Venables – dermatology
“My aim is to produce good-quality skin cancer data to improve awareness and support skin cancer research and prevention programmes.”
The programme is funded for the next four years and will aim to promote research of national and international importance that will get published in high-quality reviewed journals, as well as supervising students and contributing to undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the Medical School.
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