New Research Facilitators in the Clinical Research Office and New Ethics and Research Development Surgeries (NERDS) held at Hammersmith Hospital.

NEW Support and Advice Services in Research Governance

1. Research Facilitators in the Clinical Research Office

The Clinical Research Office now has two Research Facilitators in post, Paula Nicholson and Patricia Henley, to advise you on the set-up, authorisation and coordination of your healthcare research projects.

Working closely with Research Services, the Facilitators will be able to provide College researchers and support staff with expert advice and support on research governance including, for example: 

• Internal College authorisations required before starting a healthcare study or trial 
• Regulatory registrations
• Sponsorship for research projects 
• Indemnity and insurance 
• Ethical review
• Protocol design and review 
• Scientific peer review

The Facilitators are now your first point of contact for any query about research governance or a sponsorship/insurance request.  Imperial College sponsorship and insurance will be confirmed to you via them. 

Paula and Patricia will be responsible for the provision of support at particular hospital campuses, as indicated below:

Paula Nicholson:

• Will be responsible for:
  • St Mary’s NHS Trust
  • Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
  • North west London Hospitals NHS Trust
    
    
• Contact Details: p.nicholson@imperial.ac.uk or 020 7594 1898

Patricia Henley:

• Will be responsible for:
  • Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust (including Charing Cross Hospital)
  • Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare Trust
    
    
• Contact Details: p.henley@imperial.ac.uk or 020 7594 1893 

Paula and Patricia will be happy to meet with you at your office or laboratory to discuss any issues or problems you may have, or to introduce themselves to you initially and explain their role in further detail.

If you are involved in healthcare research at the South Kensington campus, for example, within Biomedical Engineering or Biomedical Sciences, you should contact Gary Roper for research governance advice.

2. N.E.R.D.S – New Ethics & Research Development Surgeries

New Ethics and Research Development Surgeries (N.E.R.D.S) are being held at Hammersmith Hospital.  A joint initiative between the Local Research Ethics Committees and the Trust’s R&D Department, the surgeries provide a drop-in service for the research community every Thursday. 

Visitors to NERDS, located at the Hammersmith, will be able to take advantage of assistance with any ethics and/or Trust R&D query. 

Date: Every Thursday
Time:  2.00 – 4.30pm
Venue: R&D Office, Hammersmith House

For further information, please contact Clive Collett: ccollett@hhnt.nhs.uk or  020 8383 2003.