The year in review 2015/16

Medicine@Nottingham School of Medicine Annual Newsletter 2016

The year in review 2015/16

Welcome

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Dean’s message

Dean’s message

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Student engagement in medical education Introducing Jo Horsey – University Volunteer of the Year 2016

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Broadening horizons

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Going global Improving health care delivery in China

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The year in review

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Research highlights Welcoming the MRC IHR

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Enhancing career pathways Staff welcome professional development opportunities

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Gaining professional registration Contract researchers’ gala

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Dates for your diary Life Cycle 6 endurance riders get hero’s welcome New masters course

Welcome to our annual newsletter. There’s a lot in here that describes the great work we have been doing over the last year, and I would like to thank all staff, students and honorary appointees for their contributions.

Our biggest challenge over the last year has been to address a range of issues raised by the 2015 National Student Survey. Led by Professor Gill Doody, we have invested in new posts to help ensure that the undergraduate medical curriculum runs more effectively, and that we engage better with our students. One example of this is the appointment of a Student Outreach Coordinator, and you will read more about her role on page 3. From my perspective it has been great getting more involved in undergraduate education over the last year, and I have also been very impressed at the tremendous dedication and talent shown by students in their extracurricular activities through MedSoc and other groups (one example being the UoN Community First Responders scheme which has now totalled over 4,000 volunteer hours and has helped out at more than 70 cardiac arrests). Look out for the CP2 students’ rendition of Pirates of Penzance in November.

One of the things I am most proud about over the last year is our success in achieving an Athena Swan Silver award. This demonstrates our commitment to equality and diversity in the workplace and I would like to thank everyone who has made a contribution, particularly Professor Helen Budge and Andrea Greener who led the application. We recognise that we can’t rest on our laurels here and we will be continuing to create opportunities for all staff and students to progress and realise their potential. For more on this, please see the articles on page 10 on ‘enhancing career pathways’.

This has been a successful year for us in terms of research, and Professor Jon Hardman gives some highlights on page 9. From my perspective, it’s fantastic to see the energy and commitment that colleagues put into their research, and hear about the exciting work taking place across the School of Medicine. There have been many successes over the last year, but I would particularly like to highlight the major investment that the University is making in the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, and once again welcome the MRC Institute for Hearing Research to our school.

Over the last year we have been building our international links, and I would particularly like to thank Honorary Professor Dr Roshan dasNair for taking on the role of Global Engagement Lead for our school with such enthusiasm (page 5). One exciting development is the strengthening of our links with Ningbo in China and I am delighted that Professor Richard Hubbard has taken on the role of leading our centre out there (see page 5 for more details).

I would like to offer a special thanks and congratulations to Susan Anderson, Kate Radford, John Robertson and Marion Walker who took part in the recent Life Cycle 6 1,400-mile endurance cycle ride that incorporated the four compass points of Great Britain and raised funds for breast cancer research (which will mainly be undertaken within our school). Thanks also to the many colleagues who have helped raise funds through charitable events and personal giving.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the newsletter, and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our School Annual Event on 14 December where we will be presenting our ‘Above and Beyond’ Awards again (see page 7 for last year’s winners).

Professor Tony Avery Dean of the School of Medicine

Acknowledgements The School of Medicine wishes to thank all its divisions and units for your contributions.

Editor: Chin Ling Koh Contributors: Professor Tony Avery, Olivia Macnamara, Professor Richard Hubbard, Dr Roshan das Nair, Professor Jon Hardman, Dr Susan Anderson, Imran Khan (medical student), Dr Kim Edwards, Professor Helen Budge, Andrea Greener, Rob Moss, Dr Derek Hoare, Nicki Keating, Jane Watson, May Beale, Kelly Newman (External Relations), Sally Percival, Emma Oldham and Thomas Hills (Campaign and Alumni Relations Office) Cover photo (from left to right): Nottingham Life Cycle 6 endurance cyclists Dr Susan Anderson, Professor Marion Walker, Professor Sir David Greenaway, Professor John Robertson and Dr Kate Radford. Read more on p12.

(Image by Alex Wilkinson).

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Teaching and Learning

Student engagement in medical education The school is encouraging its students to take a proactive approach to their own medical education.

Through student representative systems and Learning Community Forums, students have the opportunity to have their say in how the course is run.

Below are just a few examples of how student feedback can really make a difference.

Derby Hopper Bus Students have previously voiced concerns regarding the Royal Derby Hopper Bus’s frequency and timing. To address these concerns, key staff from the School of Medicine both at Nottingham and Derby, as well as members of the Student’s Union, have worked to introduce an extra bus at peak times and to extend the hours of service of the bus, meaning students’ clinical experiences are no longer constrained by the bus timetable. In addition to this, there will be a new Hopper Bus service to Nottingham City Hospital running throughout the working day.

Clinical Phase 3 central teaching For students placed at sites away from Nottingham, attending central teaching previously meant potentially missing out on key clinical experiences. In response to this, central teaching is no longer mandatory for Clinical Phase 3 students, with all lectures being recorded and placed on Moodle for students to access at a later date. This enables students to have more control over their learning to focus on aspects that they recognise as being most relevant, and will aid students during revision time by allowing them to access these lectures in the run up to exams.

Placements allocation In order to implement a fairer and more balanced system, a new policy for placement allocation has been introduced which allows students to nominate a location preference for each placement. Feedback from the recently run pilot schemes showed that 83% of students were happy with their CP2 allocations.

Meet our new Student Outreach Coordinator – Olivia Macnamara “I’m Olivia, a medical student at The University of Nottingham. Currently, I am taking a year out between my fourth and fifth year of study to work in the School of Medicine in this new role of Student Outreach Coordinator.

As a current medical student, I know first–hand the demands that the course places on its students. I hope that by bringing a student’s perspective into the medical school, there is the opportunity to make positive changes that can have a real impact on student experience of the course.

I aim to improve the communication networks between staff in the School of Medicine, coordinators at the Trust sites, and students in order to address student concerns, share best practice across Trust sites, and ensure that key issues are communicated effectively from the medical school to students and undergraduate coordinators. By providing a forum by which students can directly feedback their concerns to the relevant individuals in the school, I hope that students feel they can have more say in their own medical education.”

Profile

Introducing Jo Horsey – University Volunteer of the Year 2016 Jo Horsey, a vital member of our medical admissions committee over the past four years, has been named University Volunteer of the Year 2016.

and then a headteacher of a secondary school, always in the state sector. Alongside this I was for many years an examiner at GCSE and A level, and worked with University colleagues to ensure the syllabus and examinations aided transition to university. My volunteering role utilizes many of those professional interests.

As part of the UG Admissions Committee, Jo interviews students who are applying for a place to study medicine in Nottingham, and also takes part in activities such as Open Days and assessing personal statements. Last year she helped the committee develop and adopt the Multi Mini Interviews (MMI) format. We get to know her more below.

I will continue to volunteer as long as my skills are useful.

Q What motivates you to volunteer?

I enjoy meeting the students, and am pleased to use my time in a way that lets me continue to use my skills. I was a secondary school teacher,

Q What do you do when not volunteering at the medical school?

I am a school governor in Nottingham and also have a range of leisure activities – gardening, walking and cycling.

The University launched its first–ever Volunteer Awards in 2016. Find out more: www.nottingham.ac.uk/alumni/giveyourtime/ volunteer–awards/volunteer–awards.aspx

(From left) Dr Lorraine Pinnington, Jo Horsey, Professors Gill Doody and Brigitte Scammell.

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Teaching and Learning

Broadening horizons For the first time in 2016, four of our medical students travelled to Thailand for their elective as part of the University’s ongoing collaboration with the teaching hospital for Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok. Imran Khan writes about his two–week experience in May–June.

Overall from a medical education point of view the experience was brilliant and I thoroughly recommend this institution.

Throughout my stay I felt extraordinarily privileged as everybody would go out of their way to help in any way they could. There are far too many highlights to list here, but I will mention my favourites. On the second day we were introduced to the Dean of the medical school and asked to attend a gowning ceremony for the 4thyear students receiving their lab coats for entry to the clinical phases. We were told about the history of medicine in Thailand and at Ongkharak.

Meeting with the Dean and his team.

The University runs a Joint Medical Programme with Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok, Thailand, in which 12–15 Thai students are recruited each year to the BMedSci and then return to Thailand for a further three years to complete the clinical part of the Medical Degree.

Although Srinakharinwirot University is based in central Bangkok, the teaching hospital is at Ongkharak some 80 kilometres outside of the city. In 2016, four students from Nottingham undertook this location for their elective, coming back with universally positive reports. One of them, Imran Khan, a graduate entry medicine student, writes about his experience below.

The elective is supported by the NottinghamSrinakarinwirot Partnership Bursary, awarded by our Faculty PVC for electives between the two partner institutions. Up to four bursaries of £200 are made each year.

Report from Thailand Having originally decided to spend my elective in the UK due to family and other reasons, I came across the option of going to Thailand through some friends. I did some research and spoke with a few members of staff and was convinced that the trip would be very worthwhile in expanding my horizons as a clinician. I took up the option to work within the General Surgery department, and travelled out to Thailand to link up with two other Nottingham University students.

Upon arrival in Bangkok, Miss Ruangsri, the medical administration officer for SWU and my two Nottingham University colleagues greeted me at the airport. The university had kindly arranged a shuttle bus to the campus, which took approximately 90 minutes. During the journey I was given a thorough briefing of the elective and provided with a timetable.

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Located within a lush green oasis known as Ongkharak, the campus itself is wonderfully designed, and comprises, a large lake, with multiple canals and bridges. We were provided with some very comfortable accommodation free of charge. There are multiple facilities for students including a swimming pool, indoor badminton courts and tennis courts scattered around.

“Words just cannot do justice to the overall experience of the elective.”

I felt extremely welcome, and it was mentioned that we were the first Nottingham University students to do an elective since the joint programme was founded. I feel so proud that I made the decision to attend SWU. Although I was missing my wife and two children throughout the two weeks, the people at SWU made me feel so welcome that it was like being with a second family. From a clinical point of view, being involved in a five-hour gastrectomy operation and then being asked to close the final layer of the wound was an absolute privilege. Words just cannot do justice to the overall experience of the elective.

Imran Khan Graduate Entry Medicine student

On the first day of the placement I was introduced to my supervisor Dr Narongchai, who gave me a tour of the facilities and introduced me to the team. The hospital is a large modern building and is very easy to navigate around. It was an absolute pleasure throughout working for Dr Narongchai as he is one of the kindest and best teachers I have ever had the fortune of meeting. His team was also excellent and Dr Chadanai would ensure I was able to get involved in all aspects.

I was involved in outpatients, theatre work, general ward work and teaching sessions. I was able to assist in several operations including a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, gastrectomy and several hernia repairs. I had the opportunity to close up the surgical wounds and given a lot of teaching on suturing techniques and instrument use. During the outpatient clinics I cleaned up, debrided and dressed wounds.

Sunset in beautiful Thailand.

Internationalisation

Going global For the first time last year, the school appointed an International Lead to identify how it could meet the University’s objectives for global engagement. Dr Roshan dasNair, Honorary Professor, tells us more about this role.

The objectives are to (i) increase the number of international students joining us for our UG, PGT and PGR courses, (ii) increase the number of international research collaborations, and (iii) increase staff and student mobility internationally in terms of research visits, placements, etc. These objectives are closely linked to the University’s Global Strategy 2020.

Progress

I was appointed as the Global Engagement Lead for the School of Medicine in November 2015. Before coming to the UK, I’d worked in a couple of other countries, and having been an international student at the University myself, I was fully aware of how well the University was able to support my own growth (both professionally and personally), but I was also aware of what we could do better.

We’ve made several, albeit, small advances. We’ve developed the systems needed to ensure that we have clear pathways for promoting what we do and responding to queries from international applicants efficiently. We’re developing new ways to expand our global reach in what is seen as a rather challenging time and in a rather competitive market. To this extent, we have collated every division’s unique selling points (USPs) to provide to our international recruitment agents, to help them explain why the The University of Nottingham School of Medicine should be the obvious choice for international students.

Global engagement objectives

Research visits

Having worked in the developing world, I am fully conscious of the social responsibility we as a medical school have to support development in other parts of the world. These were my motivations for applying for this post.

My own research focuses on developing and evaluating complex interventions, particularly in the fields of cognition and neurological disorders. These fields pose global challenges that require global solutions.

Therefore, I’ve recently been on research visits to develop new international collaborations with researchers in the USA, Australia, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway and Japan. Our aim is to link the work we’ve been doing in our countries and to apply for international grants. These visits have also given me an opportunity to invite staff and students to come to Nottingham.

My role involves working with various committees within the school and Faculty (the PGR, PGT, Faculty Global Engagement group), divisions in the school, and the International Office to identify how our school can meet the University’s objectives for Global Engagement.

Improving health care delivery in China The University of Nottingham has set up a new Centre for Evidence Based Health Care in China with the aim of developing teaching and research links between the campus in Nottingham and the campus and health centres in Ningbo.

The Centre includes academics from a wide range of divisions across the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences, and will work with academics based at The University of Nottingham in China and also the main hospitals and Department of Public Health in Ningbo.

Professor Richard Hubbard, Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, was appointed as the lead for the centre in May of this year, and since this time he has put together a steering committee to help develop the strategy for the centre, and to plan the initial teaching work.

There was an official launch for the centre on 7 September. While based in the UK, Professor Hubbard is planning to spend time in Ningbo to help develop both the teaching and the research.

The main objectives of the centre are to help improve the delivery of health care in China by providing evidence to develop the most cost-effective care pathways for people with common diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. The centre plans to do this by teaching methods which are central to evidence based health care to health care workers in Ningbo, and helping them to develop cost effective health care guidelines in their area.

In addition the centre will work with colleagues in the Business School to advise on leadership and change in the medical setting.

If anyone is interest in getting involved with the centre in either a research or teaching capacity they can contact Professor Hubbard: Richard.hubbard@nottingham.ac.uk.

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The year in review

This image by Dr Adele Horobin (NIHR Nottingham Hearing BRU) was a winning entry in the NIHR Photographic Competition 2015. Two other entries by Tanvi Javkar and Natalie Jones (Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre) were also in the competition’s Top 10 shortlist.

The year in review Key milestones and achievements in the School of Medicine in 2015/16 September 2015

November 2015

Researcher awarded prestigious British Heart Foundation Fellowship Dr Hiten Mistry (Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology) was awarded a prestigious 4-year British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship to work on a project entitled “A new approach to an old problem: The roles of aldosterone and salt in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia”.

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Congratulations to Kavita Vedhara, Professor of Health Psychology (Primary Care), who was one of 46 leading social scientists to be conferred as Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences this year.

Prestigious Physiological Society Oral Presentation Prize for PhD Student Rachel Woods (Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology) won the prestigious prize for her oral paper presentation at the Physiological Society annual conference.

October 2015 RCGP Best Clinical Poster Dr Ed Tyrrell (Primary Care) won best clinical poster at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Annual Conference in Glasgow, 1– 3 October 2015. His poster was called “The changing incidence of poisonings amongst young people in England, 1997–2014”.

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PMI European Technician of the Year 2015 Alison Ritchie (Cancer and Stem Cells) was successfully nominated to PMI European Technician of the Year and received her award at the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.

December 2015 School Annual Event and Above and Beyond Awards The school held its annual event, where keynote speaker, Professor Trish Greenhalgh from Oxford University, gave a well-received talk on research impact. She also presented the Above and Beyond Awards to exceptional staff members.

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Support Staff award – Su Hudson Research award – Professor Kim Thomas Teaching award – Dr Puja Myles Community/Partnership award – Sandra Smith Anne–Marie Dwyer Staff Choice award – Tara Claringburn

The year in review

Professor Tony Avery (right) with Professor Trish Greenhalgh at the School Annual Event.

CMO’s Annual Report highlights research on menopause Research on working women’s experience of menopause by Amanda Griffiths, Professor of Occupational Health Psychology (Psychiatry and Applied Psychology), featured in her invited contribution for England’s Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report.

Royal Society of Medicine award Tom Kurien (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) was awarded 2nd in the President’s Prize Papers (Orthopaedics section) for his abstract “Functional MRI of the brain to understand the neural signature of central sensitization in knee osteoarthritis pain”.

School of Medicine Above and Beyond Award winners with the Dean (from left to right): Sandra Smith, Su Hudson, Professor Tony Avery, Professor Kim Thomas, Dr Puja Myles, Tara Claringburn.

Patient Safety Toolkit named as a Top 10 achievement A project led by Professor Tony Avery was named as one of the top 10 achievements of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research over the last 10 years. The Patient Safety Toolkit for General Practice is hosted on the RCGP’s website.

Physical Activity and Osteoarthritis award Dale Cooper (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) was awarded 1st prize for his poster presentation at the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis conference.

Rob Cullum and Daryl Newland awarded VC Medals Rob Cullum and Daryl Newland, medical students, were awarded the prestigious ViceChancellor’s Medals for their voluntary work in widening participation and helping the local ambulance service.

January 2016

March 2016

Long Service Awards The school saw the following staff presented with Long Service Awards for their 25 years of continuous service:

Volunteer of the Year 2016 Jo Horsey was awarded The University of Nottingham Volunteer of the Year 2016 for her work on the medical school admissions committee. She also received a Longstanding Volunteer Award, along with Ossie Newell, MBE, a stroke survivor and campaigner. (See p3.)

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Helen Dickens (Medical Sciences and GEM) Professor Ian Hall (Respiratory Medicine) Professor Alan Knox (Respiratory Medicine) Dr Sarah Armstrong (RDS East Midlands) Professor Carol Coupland (Primary Care) Sally Doherty (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) Tanya Fletcher (Medical Sciences and GEM) Dr Paul Garrud (Retired, Medical Sciences and GEM) Marian Meakin (Cancer and Stem Cells) Professor David Walker (Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology) Professor W Angus Wallace (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology)

School APM 1–3 Conference Over 70 members of APM1–3 staff working across the school attended a one-day conference that aimed to provide training and development opportunities not readily available through the short course programme, as well as networking opportunities.

February 2016 American Stroke Association honour The ASA has honoured Professor Philip Bath (Clinical Neuroscience) with the William M Feinberg Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke for his research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of stroke and hypertension.

University Tri Campus Postgraduate Prizes Ruth Baker (Primary Care) and Anand Ahankari (Epidemiology and Public Health) were awarded University Tri Campus Postgraduate Scholarships for 2015/2016 in recognition of their accomplishments in research and contributions to the postgraduate community. Dr Tim Coughlin (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) and Sudhir Venkatesan (Epidemiology and Public Health) also received Postgraduate Teaching Awards.

PhD student wins President’s Medal Tom Kurien (Orthopaedics) won the President’s Medal for Best Oral Presentation at the British Association for Surgery to the Knee Annual Congress 2016.

Academic promotions with effect from 1 August 2016 Promotions to Professor • Dr Tim Harrison (Respiratory Medicine) • Dr Gisli Jenkins (Respiratory Medicine) • Dr Raheela Khan (Medical Sciences and GEM) • Dr Srinivasan Madhusudan (Cancer and Stem Cells) • Dr Stewart Martin (Cancer and Stem Cells) • Dr Emad Rakha (Cancer and Stem Cells)

Promotions to Associate Professor • Dr Sharon Conroy (Medical Sciences and GEM) • Dr Rachael Murray (Epidemiology and Public Health) • Dr Claire Seedhouse (Cancer and Stem Cells) • Dr Shirley Thomas (Rehabilitation and Ageing) Promotions to Senior Research Fellow • Dr Jane Grove (NDDC) • Dr Rachel Evley (Clinical Neuroscience)

April 2016 Cancer Biology team wins Nottingham Hospital Charity Dragon Boat Race Dressed in alien fancy dress, Dr Richard Hulse (Cancer and Stem Cells) led his team, HMS Thunderchild, to finish first ahead of 13 other boats in the Nottingham Hospital Charity Dragon Boat Race. They also raised £845.46.

HMS Thunderchild from Cancer Biology.

Athena SWAN Silver Award The school was successfully awarded Athena SWAN Silver in April 2016 in recognition of its commitment to advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research (see p10).

May 2016 Institute of Mental Health (IMH) celebrates 10th anniversary The IMH celebrated 10 years of mental health research and education on 23 May at an event with special guest Rebecca Adlington, OBE, Olympic gold medallist. The IMH is a partnership between Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and the University.

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The year in review Professor Ravi Mahajan elected to Vice President of The Royal College of Anaesthetists Professor Ravi Mahajan (Clinical Neuroscience) was elected Vice-President of the RCoA with effect from September 2016.

Renal researchers scoop NIHR research awards The Centre for Kidney Research and Innovation (Medical Sciences and GEM) won two awards – “Exceptional Research Delivery” and “Significant Contribution to Research Delivery by a Trainee Healthcare Professional” – and had another finalist in the inaugural East Midlands Clinical Research Network (CRN) Research awards.

Research photo shortlisted in BHF’s competition A photo of a part of the placenta in early pregnancy taken by Dr Hiten Mistry (Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology) was shortlisted in the British Heart Foundation’s “Reflections of Research” image competition.

His research looks at the role of sale in pre– eclampsia.

Best clinical paper at IMAST meeting Dr Hossein Mehdian (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) received the Whitecloud Award for the best clinical paper at IMAST: The 23rd International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques in Washington, DC. Researcher gets UKOTRF Research Career Development Award Dr Joanna Fletcher-Smith (Rehabilitation and Ageing) was presented with the UK Occupational Therapy Research Foundation (UKOTRF) Research Career Development Award

by HRH Princess Anne in London.

Breast Cancer Research Open Day Breast cancer researchers from the school welcomed about 70 members of the public to their laboratories on 21 May 2016 for the Life Cycle 6 Beat Breast Cancer campaign.

June 2016 MRC Institute of Hearing Research becomes part of School of Medicine This summer, we welcomed the MRC Institute of Hearing Research into the School of Medicine (see p9).

Professor Philip Bath admitted to Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences Professor Bath (Clinical Neuroscience) is formally admitted to the Academy. He is one of 47 new Fellows elected for their contribution to medical research and healthcare in the country.

BHF’s annual research image competition – shortlisted entry by Dr Hiten Mistry.

July 2016 Walking the Robin Hood Way Professor Denise Kendrick (Primary Care) and colleagues walked 105 miles along the Robin Hood Way from Nottingham Castle to Edwinstowe from 11–17 June. More than 70 friends, family members and colleagues generously gave their time and energy to take part and helped raise more than £17,000 for research at the University to develop a blood test to detect breast cancer early.

Professor Lelia Duley honoured by charity Professor Lelia Duley (Clinical Trials Unit) was honoured by Bliss, the premature and sick baby charity, for her work to improve the early care given to babies born very prematurely (before 32 weeks gestation) and their families. She received the Bliss advancing Care through Research award.

MRC IHR on University Park.

PhD student wins first prize at BOTA 2016 Tom Kurien (Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Dermatology) was awarded the Orthopaedic Research UK’s 1st Prize for Best Oral Presentation at the British Orthopaedic Trainees Association (BOTA) Educational Congress 2016.

PhD student wins first prize in Research Showcase Rob Goodwin (Rehabilitation and Ageing) won the first prize for his poster presentation on physiotherapists in GPs in the University’s Research Showcase 2016.

ProfessorLelia Duley (right) with BLISS Chief Executive Caroline Davey.

Primary Care colleagues walk the Robin Hood Way for breast cancer research.

Society for Academic Primary Care prize Dr Richard Knox and Rachel Spencer (Primary Care) won the Best Poster Competition at the 45th scientific meeting of the Society for Academic Primary Care in Dublin.

Contract Researchers’ Gala The school held its first celebratory event for contract researchers in the school on 13 July (see p11).

The School of Medicine in numbers – 2015/2016 • 1749 (No. of undergraduates) • 355 (No. of masters students) • 399 (No. of postgraduate research students) • 954 (Staff population) • £34m (Core teaching and research income) • £23m (Research income) • £0.6m (Education contracts income) • £4.8m (Services rendered income) Class of 2016 medical students’ graduation ball in July.

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• £0.9m (Endowments and other income)

Research

Research highlights Our research strategy has progressed well in the 2015–16 academic year, and we have enjoyed many successes. School Research Director, Professor Jon Hardman, reports.

We have welcomed a new Pro-Vice Chancellor for research and knowledge exchange to the University (Professor Dame Jessica Corner); her new initiatives in preparing us for the next REF cycle have provided an excellent structure for our ongoing efforts to maintain and improve our research effectiveness. All research staff will be aware of the recent call for impact case studies and an update of research publications; I am very grateful for your efforts to provide the needed information in such busy times and over such short-time frames.

on submitting funding applications – our success rate is similar to that of the leading institutions, and we could potentially make great gains simply by putting in more applications. You have to be in it to win it!

We have had a number of successes in the school, in terms of income, impact and outputs.

These are too numerous to list individually, but suffice to say, our research performance continues to be impressive. We still have potential to improve in terms of research income, and I urge all of our school’s researchers to focus

We have made a submission for Biomedical Research Unit status. This is a major joint venture of the NUH NHS Trust and the University.

We will learn the outcome in September, but this application is timely in signalling a greater collaboration and alignment of the NUH HHS Trust and the University; Professor Philip Bath

This summer, we welcomed the MRC Institute of Hearing Research into the School of Medicine.

This transition from MRC management to University membership is a routine part of the lifecycle of MRC institutes, and we are very pleased to welcome Professor Michael Akeroyd and his team into the school.

and I are working on building joint research infrastructure and strategies, which we hope will make patient-based research more efficient and effective.

A successful Strategic Development Fund (SDF) bid for expansion of the Clinical Trials Unit will foster a greater uptake of clinical trials and greater throughput via this very successful unit.

We anticipate a really major boost to clinical trials capacity over the coming months and years.

Finally, the Research Information System (RIS) continues in its development. This software solution aims to provide a tool to support the research process from conception to completion.

There is the potential for our research performance to be hugely facilitated, and if you have the opportunity to engage, comment on development or test run the staged prototypes then please do get involved.

Welcoming the MRC IHR The Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research (MRC IHR) based in Nottingham and the Medical Research Council/ Chief Scientist Office Institute of Hearing Research – Scottish Section, based in Glasgow, transferred to become part of the University’s School of Medicine on 1 June 2016.

The MRC IHR conducts interdisciplinary experimental research on hearing impairment, underpinned by basic science in the brain mechanisms of hearing. Their research covers the full dimension of auditory science.

The human ear can detect speech in spite of the noise of modern life – and better than any machine or algorithm. This places research into the neuroscience and psychology of hearing firmly at the forefront of 21st-century science.

But some eight million adults in the UK alone have hearing loss substantial enough to impair hearing, listening, or communication. That’s almost one in six. And tinnitus affects as much as 20% of the population. The MRC IHR’s research is leading the charge to tackle hearing impairment and loss.

History The MRC Institute of Hearing Research (IHR) was founded in 1977 in response to a requirement of the 1970 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act for ‘an institute for hearing research… to have the general function of coordinating and promoting research on hearing

and assistance to the deaf and hard of hearing’.

The IHR is one of only a handful of centres around the world that delivers interdisciplinary research on hearing, covering a wide portfolio of auditory science from fundamental neuroanatomy

“MRC IHR is very excited to join the University. We are looking forward to working with our new University colleagues in helping to understand and alleviate all forms of hearing problems.”

Professor Michael Akeroyd MRC IHR Director

to the quality of life experienced by a patient. It is the MRC’s largest investment in hearing science, and since its inception the IHR has been at the leading edge of basic and applied hearing science. Their research is primarily funded by the intramural programmes of the MRC and the Scottish Government Health Directorates’ Chief Scientist Office.

Sites The MRC IHR’s sites include a dedicated main building on Science Road on University Park Campus, as well as Sections within the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and in the New Lister Building at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

The transfer cements the strong relationship that already exists between the University and the MRC IHR since they were founded; and the shared long–term vision of the pioneering research programmes and the staff conducting them remain the same.

Reception A welcome event for MRC IHR and school staff was held on 1 June 2016 in the Medical School.

Professor Sir John Savill, MRC CEO, opened the event with a welcome address, followed by speeches from Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Greenaway, Professor John Atherton (Dean and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences) and Professor Michael Akeroyd (MRC IHR Director). The welcome event gave an overview of the School of Medicine – its history, governance, research and teaching – and offered a networking opportunity for all staff.

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Working for us

Enhancing career pathways Professor Helen Budge and Andrea Greener report on further career development initiatives in the school over the past year.

Following on from last year’s report, staff from across the school have continued their hard work and commitment – through contributions to the Career Development and Equity Committee (CDEC), in developing and implementing initiatives and in giving their support to these initiatives and to each other. These culminated in the school receiving recognition for its work in advancing gender equality in higher education and achieving the Athena SWAN Silver award.

This is a fantastic achievement and one we should all be very proud of – thank you to everyone for all your contributions.

Whilst the Silver Award publicly recognises what we do, it’s not the end of our work on supporting career development. This is more deep-rooted – it’s about changing culture, providing career and personal development opportunities and making the school an even better place to work.

We would probably all agree that, whilst there is still work to do, culture certainly has changed.

Staff feel more able to openly challenge when meetings take place, we are seeing more women promoted and in senior positions across the school and from advertising opportunities with more transparency, staff have better access to career and personal development opportunities.

It is important the momentum continues.

Alongside current initiatives being implemented across the school, there will be some key areas

Some members of the school’s Career Development and Equity Committee (CDEC). of focus over the next 12 months and beyond, such as: • Continuing the work already started on the APM and T action plan – Dr Carron Layfield is leading a team of volunteers on this • Full roll–out of the mentoring scheme following last year’s successful pilot (see below) • All staff completing Equality and Diversity training and the development of new unconscious bias training • Understanding the aspirations of academic staff and how better to support them at key transition points • Rreview of the clinical academic appraisal scheme

the work of the CDEC will expand into other aspects of our diverse school. Future work will aim to drive forward the cultural and systemic changes needed to embed diversity into our daily activities. Further information, as and when it becomes available, will be reported in the School Weekly Bulletins.

Thanks again to everyone. As the school celebrates its Athena SWAN Silver award, let’s continue to value and embed gender equality and diversity in our school and beyond.

As the gender equality agenda broadens to include all nine protected characteristics,

Feedback

Staff welcome professional development opportunities Over the past year staff in the school have welcomed opportunities to network and develop their professional skills.

10 www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine

The school’s Mentoring Scheme piloted in May 2015 saw 50 mentor-mentee pairs sign up across all three job families. Evaluations after six months have been sufficiently impressive to enable the roll-out of the scheme in June 2016.

Participants’ feedback has been highly positive.

Dr Kim Edwards (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) said she has enjoyed being a mentor and is “definitely finding it to be a two-way street”. Ian Wiggins

(NIHR Nottingham Hearing BRU) also said: “I regularly sing the praises of the scheme. Thanks, and please keep up the good work.”

The school also ran a one-day conference for APM staff in levels 1–3 in January this year. Over 70 colleagues attended the event where they could network with other colleagues and find out more about career progression and mentoring, CV and interview skills, using Workspace, Finance procedures and other topics. Participants’

feedback included appreciation to Dr Tiffany Hamilton and her team for organising the event, commending the event as a “good professional development opportunity”, “very useful and rewarding” and “very well organised”.

More information about the Mentoring Scheme and the APM conference can be found on the school’s Workspace.

Working for us

Gaining professional registration Why bother?

Would you have your financial affairs looked after by someone who wasn’t professionally registered. Would you trust a building if the architect wasn’t formally qualified? They may both be very good at their job, but you would like assurance that the service they provided was excellent. We are fortunate to have world class technical staff at the University, but that largely goes unrecognised outside of their local department or school. Technicians have been described as the Cinderellas of the science world. However, many provide the depth of experience and skills that are needed for the cutting edge science we aspire to do at Nottingham. They provide a strong bedrock for both our teaching and research.

Rob Moss gained professional registration last year. He takes us on his technical career path.

My life as a technician started by accident many years ago. Fortunately accidents sometimes work out rather well. I have loved working in a laboratory. The mixture of the fight for the research and results, the camaraderie and the variety of people you meet along the way has been very rewarding. I have moved from junior technician to lab manager, along the way picking up a few ‘tricks of the trade’. Until recently I haven’t been able to put that down on a CV easily. Last year I gained professional registration with the Institute of Science and Technology – one of a number of registered bodies that people can use. (Visit istonline.org.uk for more information.)

So how will professional registration help? There are two main ways. For the technician it benchmarks your skills. Your skills are more widely understood.

You are more employable. In fact, job applications are increasingly asking for professional qualifications or registration. It is becoming a go to standard that demonstrates your high level of skill and professionalism. Secondly, grant awarding bodies are now asking not only for good academic leaders, but also excellent staff in the laboratory. Students are also now paying a lot of money to get a degree. They not only want top quality lecturers, but also want to learn the best practical skills.

Whether involved in teaching or research we are moving towards a more competitive world where we need to demonstrate that we have the best scientists at all levels. Professional registration can help. It demonstrates we work to high standards and can deliver top quality research and teaching.

Event

Contract researchers’ gala Derek Hoare reports on our first–ever Contract Researchers’ Gala aimed at supporting interaction and identity amongst the 200–strong staff group within the school.

As staff development officer for contract researchers on school committees, and a contract researcher myself, I am concerned with the particular training and development needs of this staff group. I work with a forum made up of representatives from each division and together we serve to understand the needs of this staff group, to be a source of information and resource, and to ensure our staff group is appropriately represented at school level.

CDEC survey data and individual personal development plans tell us that issues around redeployment and promotions, development planning, grant writing, getting started in PhD supervision, opportunities outside the lab, and identity as a staff group are prevalent.

Our first Contract Researchers’ Gala, held on 13 July 2016, was about recognising and celebrating the work of contract researchers within the school. Dean of School, Professor Tony Avery, opened proceedings with a welcome

(From left to right) Drs Beth Coyle, Derek Hoare and Rebecca Dewey. address asserting the school’s commitment to supporting development of contract researchers.

Competition winners

Dr Kat Arney, the keynote speaker, took us on a whirlwind tour of her career from student to postdoc to now freelance science writer and broadcaster. Dr Beth Coyle closed proceedings with an update on the mentoring scheme.

Paper of the Year

The day also featured an image competition, and a series of submitted talks and poster presentations from contract researchers.

• Dr Lu Ban (Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology) Best poster • Shireen Patel (CLAHR East Midlands) Best image • Christopher Philp (Respiratory Medicine)

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News and events

Dates for your diary 20 August – 30 October 2016 Making Beauty: Elpida HadziVasileva, Djanogly Gallery

7 October 2016 RDS EM One-day workshop on Realist Evaluations, QMC

22 September 2016 RDS EM NIHR Research Funding Seminar, Clinical Science Building, Nottingham City Hospital

12 October 2016 RDS Public Involvement Workshop (Nottingham), King’s Meadow Campus

30 September 2016 Postgraduate Taught Programmes Induction, Medical School

25 October 2016 RDS EM NIHR ‘Filling in the application form’ fellowship workshop, Trent Vineyard Conference Centre

NIHR Nottingham Digestive Diseases Biomedical Research Unit Open Day, QMC 3 October 2016 NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research Information Event, Trent Vineyard Conference Centre

Arts Theatre Presented by Amateur Dramatics Society’s cast and crew made up of over 50 CP2 students.

6 December 2016 Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology Annual Lecture: The Neurobiological Basis of Offending 14 December 2016 School Annual Event / Above and Beyond Awards presentation, Medical School

1 November 2016 Preterm Birth: Improving Immediate Care, Albert Hall, Nottingham

December 2016 Winter graduation for BMedSci and taught masters

26 – 28 November 2016 The Pirates of Penzance, Nottingham

30 January – 1 February 2017 Getting to grips with evidence

based dermatology, King’s Meadow Campus 3 March 2017 4th Symposium on Primary Breast Cancer in Older Women, East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham June 2017 University Open Days 14 – 16 June 2017 British Association of Cancer Research 3D Model and Tumour Microenvironment Meeting, Nottingham July 2017 Summer graduation for BMBS and BSc students

Other news

Life Cycle 6 endurance riders get hero’s welcome

New masters course

On Sunday 4 September, the crowds gathered at Nottingham Lakeside Arts to welcome back ViceChancellor Professor Sir David Greenaway, and his team of 12 endurance cyclists, who had just cycled over 1,400 miles to the four compass points of Britain to raise funds for the University’s breast cancer research.

From October 2016 the School of Medicine is running a new MSc programme in Applied Sport and Exercise Medicine. This will run alongside the clinically focused MSc in Sport and Exercise Medicine programme, sharing a number of modules, but will offer a more research based focus. The new course will allow students with less clinical backgrounds to embark upon more diverse careers in sport and exercise medicine.

The team braved wet and windy weather, broken bike frames, steep hills and saddle sores on their mammoth cycle around the country. Starting from Lizard Point in Cornwall, they traversed rough terrain and traffic to reach Lowestoft Ness, the most easterly point of the country, before heading north and west to Ardnamurchan Point. After a gruelling 16 days in the saddle and climbing over 53,000 ft, the team eventually reached Dunnet Head in north Scotland.

This herculean effort, alongside the generous contributions of all Life Cycle 6 bakers, fundraisers and walkers, and the 600 cyclists who joined our Life Cycle community sponsored bike ride at the start of September, have all combined to raise a staggering £540,000 for our breast cancer research - over half-way towards our £1 million target.

Cycling alongside the Vice-Chancellor was world-leading cancer researcher, Professor John Robertson, who is responsible for developing the world’s first blood test to detect early stage lung cancer and is now looking to replicate this test for breast cancer. Three other staff members from the School of Medicine completed the endurance ride: Professor Marion Walker, completing her third Life Cycle endurance ride, Dr Susan Anderson, completing her second and Dr Kate Radford completed her first Life Cycle Ride.

“Every year we receive applications from non-clinical students keen to study sports and exercise medicine, mostly with a view to research in this area, but some subsequently go on to clinical training,” Dr Kim Edwards, Course Director, said. “These students tend to have sports science, human biology or other such non-clinical undergraduate degrees, with a firm interest in sport and exercise.”

For more information, visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/go/ASEM

The cycling may be over but our fundraising efforts continue. Visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/lifecycle For further information please contact: School of Medicine The University of Nottingham Medical School, QMC Nottingham NG7 2UH UoNMedicine @MedicineUoN blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/medschoollife www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/contactus 12 www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine

If you require this publication in an alternative format, please contact us: t: +44 (0)115 951 4591 e: alternativeformats@nottingham.ac.uk The University of Nottingham has made every effort to ensure that the information in this newsletter was accurate when published. Please note, however, that the nature of the content means that it is subject to change from time to time and you should therefore consider the information to be guiding rather than definitive. © Copyright The University of Nottingham 2015. All rights reserved.