Queen Mary and Barts Health announce the appointment of new Clinical Team

The new posts represent a significant investment in clinical and research infrastructure by both Barts Health and Queen Mary and bring a new range of skills and experience to bear in growing and supporting the clinical research portfolio of both organisations.

The new appointments are:

• Dr Manish Saxena, Co-Director at Queen Mary’s William Harvey Heart Centre and Academic Co-lead for Commercial Partnerships and Innovation for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. He will be leading on clinical trials and data management infrastructure issues.
• Professor Klaus Schmierer, Consultant Neurologist at The Royal London Hospital, and Professor of Neurology at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London. He will be leading on Clinical Research Facilities-related matters and research governance.
• Dr Sophie Welch, Senior Research Nurse at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. Sophie will be leading on workforce, community engagement and equality diversity and inclusion (EDI).
• Dr Stephen Kelly, Rheumatology Consultant at Barts Health, continues in post as a Deputy Clinical Director of Research and Development, leading on securing new research projects, whilst Dr Kieran McCafferty is moving to become Director of the new Barts NIHR Clinical Research Facility from the North Thames Clinical Research Facility.

Professor Rupert Pearse said: “We warmly welcome our new team members and I am looking forward to working with each of them as we grow. We now have a strong and diverse team in place with a huge amount of experience and expertise. It’s a very exciting time for clinical research across Barts Health and Queen Mary University of London with lots of major projects on the go or waiting to start.”

These roles are supported by two further developmental appointments – filled by Dr Vickie McDonald and Ms Imogen Skene - Consultant Haematologist at Barts Health and a Senior Research Nurse in Emergency Medicine - respectively. Vickie and Imogen will support research governance, workforce, community engagement and EDI as Queen Mary and Barts look to build their clinical research leadership teams.

The Deputy Director of Clinical Research posts will be for an initial three-year period, from 1^st October 2022. They will play a vital role with a variety of key responsibilities. These include overseeing the new Clinical Research Facility build at the Royal London Hospital, aiding the development of doctors, nurses, midwives and other health workers as researchers, improving community engagement and patient and public involvement, and partnering with neighbouring organisations and hospital trusts.

More information

Further detail about the work of Queen Mary and Barts Health’s Joint Research Management Office can be found on its website: www.jrmo.org.uk