By Professor Parastou Donyai, RPS Chief Scientist

Last autumn, when I learnt that the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) had launched a new career-development award for senior clinicians and practitioners, which was open to pharmacists, I was hopeful that many colleagues in pharmacy would find time to rise to the challenge and apply for this promising opportunity to further their research. Open to those already holding a PhD/MD, the NIHR Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award (SCPRA) aims to support such colleagues to develop their track record as academic leaders, by enabling 20%-50% protected time for engagement with research. Imagine my delight then, on hearing news that this month at least seven pharmacists will begin their work supported by this new award. I am delighted to announce each, and congratulate them, on behalf of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).

Dr Ofran Almossawi

Dr Ofran Almossawi is a researcher at the Children’s Medicines Research & Innovation Centre within Great Ormond Street Hospital and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London (UCL). She works in paediatric research using routinely collected health data and her work focuses on understanding and reducing errors in observational data when it is used to imply cause-effect. Ofran will address the gap in translating advanced causal methods into practice, a form of “bench to bedside” for methodology research. In addition to the causal methods, she will be working with the UK Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) team and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to design and conduct federated studies in paediatrics. She will also be supporting colleagues who wish to start or advance their practice into data-driven research.

Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope

Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope is lead pharmacist for antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections at the UK Health Security Agency. She is interim deputy chief scientist at the RPS with honorary academic roles at the University of Nottingham, UCL and Imperial. Dr Ashiru-Oredope will use her award to increase her expertise in the use of health data science, intervention science and qualitative research methods. She will identify modifiable risk factors and corresponding effective interventions that can reduce disparities in the incidence of resistant bloodstream infections and antibiotic use/exposure. She will also build on the national Pharmaceutical Public Health evidence review she previously led on and develop a case study for embedding research skills in trainee and early career pharmacists.

Dr Richard Bourne

Dr Richard Bourne is a consultant pharmacist in critical care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, as well as an honorary senior clinical lecturer in pharmacy at the University of Manchester, Dr Bourne’s award builds on his earlier work funded via a Health Education England (HEE)/NIHR integrated clinical academic clinical lectureship, which allowed him to develop a complex intervention package to improve medication safety for patients in intensive care who continue their recovery on transfer to a hospital ward. His focus over the next five years will be to conduct a portfolio of research to understand and address challenges to optimising medication-related outcomes in critically ill patients, as well as medicines optimisation in their long-term recovery.

Dr Zoe Edwards

Dr Zoe Edwards, another awardee, will be investigating fibromyalgia and evidence-based therapies, taking into consideration the recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, and using a literature review to inform a Delphi study with experts in this field to explore key areas for future development. As well as having a research role within the NIHR Yorkshire & Humber Clinical Research Network (CRN) as Primary Care & Community Clinical Research Associate Lead (Pharmacy), Dr Edwards is lead research practitioner and practice pharmacist at Affinity Care in Bradford and honorary senior research fellow at the University of Bradford.

Dr Haifa Lyster

Dr Haifa Lyster is a consultant pharmacist in transplantation and ventricular assist devices (VADs) at Royal Brompton & Harefield hospitals, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, and she is also an honorary senior lecturer at King’s College London (KCL). She will be using her award to support her to become a leader in the field of clinical pharmacology and precision dosing, using population pharmacokinetics (PK) and physiologically based PK modelling, ultimately benefitting special populations such as those with a transplant. Her global mentorship team spans three continents and includes clinical research expertise, clinical pharmacology research methods and a strong track record of successful mentorship.

Dr Cathrine McKenzie

Dr Cathrine McKenzie will be using her SCPRA to explore pharmacological interventions that reduce agitation, delirium and iatrogenic withdrawal in the intensive care unit (ICU) and improve long-term clinical outcomes for patients. She will also use her award to build a research culture in pharmacy professionals. Dr McKenzie is a consultant pharmacist in critical care at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, an honorary associate professor at the University of Southampton and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Critical Illness. She is also the co-chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Research Across the Profession (RAP) working group of the RPS Science & Research Committee (SRC).

Dr Mandy Wan

Dr Mandy Wan is the Lead Paediatric Research Pharmacist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at KCL. Her work concerns paediatric medicines development and medicine use in paediatric clinical practice. Using her SCPRA, she will work collaboratively with a European research group to better understand the disease course of children with chronic kidney disease. She will also use her award to support those currently working or aspiring to work in paediatric research. As the NIHR Clinical Research Network Pharmacist Lead for the children's speciality, her work also involves developing and delivering national and international collaborative paediatric clinical trials to improve medicines use for babies, children and young people.

As the above indicates, the NIHR Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award provides funding for training and development, new collaborations, as well as activity that funds future substantive grants. But let’s be in no doubt, those who are in receipt of these awards have been engaging in research for quite some time; they are current and future leaders. So, I am over the moon to see the longstanding efforts of so many pharmacist clinicians and practitioners bearing fruit via these recent awards. This is a testament to the growing recognition, by credible external bodies, that pharmacists continue to be thinkers and scientists well beyond their degrees and within their practice.

For more information on NIHR Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award.

Discover funding opportunities in research.

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