A Clinical Research Fellowship is available for UK and International applicants with the Neuro-Oncology team. This Fellowship will allow a senior medical trainee to work within the Neuro-Oncology disease group at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
This coordinated research expansion plan sits under the umbrella of The Christie 2030 Research Programme and the Neuro-Oncology Disease Group, which aims to substantially increase research output within Neuro-oncology through increased delivery of innovative investigator-led studies. A key part of this process is to encourage education and empowerment of research staff at all levels, which includes training the next generation of cancer research leaders.
Salary will be on the Specialist Registrar scale. There is no on-call commitment attached to this post.
This position is suitable for an enthusiastic and research-motivated applicant with a Medical degree and FRCR, has direct clinical experience in radiotherapy, chemotherapy and clinical trial delivery in Neuro-Oncology, who can demonstrate commitment to a career in Clinical Oncology and has an interest in gaining further a higher research degree (MD) and clinical trial experience in the Neuro-Oncology disease group area.
The successful candidates must hold full General Medical Council (GMC) registration and have International English Language Testing System (IELTS) proficiency at the time of post commencement, as appropriate. The Fellowship is a full-time position for 2 years, to support clinical research and to provide specialist experience and training for the successful applicant.
Informal enquiries may be made to the disease group contacts, as detailed within the job description.
The postholder will contribute to the delivery of high‑quality consultant‑led care across 7 days. This includes participation in planned weekend and weekday clinical activity to support safe, timely decision‑making and continuity of care for patients.
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The medical establishment comprises 4 consultant clinical oncologists, 4 dedicated research nurses, a team of clinical trials administrators, 3 clinical nurse specialists and 3 neuroAHPs, as well as 2 specialist registrars in clinical oncology who rotate through the team on a 6-monthly basis.
Successful applicants will need to divide their time between research and a moderate clinical commitment.
The post will be based within the Networked Services Division under the supervision of a consultant clinician (Prof McBain).
The post-holder will work closely with other members of the respective multidisciplinary teams and will support the consultants, clinical fellows, specialist registrars, and clinical research nurses in managing the respective large disease group clinical trial portfolios. This will facilitate more rapid clinical decision making, an increase in the number of trials opened, together with increased recruitment of patients into new and existing research protocols.
The Fellow will attend appropriate clinics per week (a maximum of two research clinics), and multidisciplinary meetings. In addition, they will participate in clinical research meetings and any other relevant trial planning or trial set-up meetings. The Fellow will also spend time reviewing clinical data, writing abstracts/manuscripts, planning new studies and attending educational meetings.
The appointee will be based at The Christie and will provide senior input to the Neuro-oncology clinical trials clinic and the care of outpatients on neuro-oncology clinical trials. They will not routinely work on the wards unless a clinical trial patient is admitted.
Key accountabilities
The Clinical Research fellow will have the following opportunities:
- Audit: Fellows play a key role in Clinical Audit as a member of The Christie Medical staff.
- Clinics: Research fellows in Clinical Oncology usually attend a number of outpatient clinics per week (seeing new referrals, follow-ups and patients on clinical trials) and are expected to undertake the administrative duties associated with the care of these patients.
- Clinical Governance: Fellows are expected to participate in all relevant aspects of clinical governance, including maintaining up-to-date protocols, guidelines and clinical audit, under the supervision of the Consultants in the team.
- Education: There are numerous courses organised annually by the School of Oncology at The Christie. Please refer to The School of Oncology website: http://www.christie.nhs.uk/school-of-oncology.aspx
In addition, there is a regular research events where the fellow will be encouraged to present their on-going research and a little about themselves. There are also regular research and teaching meetings via The Christie and the University of Manchester on related clinical and research topics and techniques.
