International Clinical Trials Day 2021
"The Changing Nature of Clinical Research: Perspectives from Sheffield During Covid-19 and beyond"
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Never before have we seen the impact of clinical research in such a short space of time, with researchers and scientists making medical breakthroughs in record time to develop and test treatments and vaccines for a virus no-one had heard of 16 months ago.
And it’s not just the pace of research that’s changed, clinical research staff have adapted to new ways of working, going above and beyond to deliver urgent public health research. At the same time, they have been taking all precautions possible to limit the spread of COVID-19 and investigating how to increase diversity among clinical trial participants.
Led by an expert panel of clinicians and researchers from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield, this live online panel discussion looked at the progress made in finding treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the remarkable strides that have been made in how health researchers have adapted to the challenges presented by the pandemic, and how this might affect health research going forward.
Key speakers:
● Dr Paul Collini, Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Clinical Lecturer, The University of Sheffield “The development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines”
● Professor Cindy Cooper, Director of the Clinical Trials Research Unit in Sheffield, The University of Sheffield- “Adaptations to clinical trial design and delivery”
● Dr Thomas Harrison, Registrar in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- “Involving diverse communities in research”
The panel discussion was hosted by Professor Simon Heller, Director of Research and Development at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Speaker biographies
Professor Simon Heller
Simon Heller is Professor of Clinical Diabetes at the University of Sheffield, Director of Research and Development and Honorary Consultant Physician at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Among his many current research interests is the development of interventions that help encourage effective self management of diabetes.
Professor Cindy Cooper
Cindy Cooper is a Professor of Health Services Research and Clinical Trials and Director of the Clinical Trials Research Unit at the University of Sheffield. She has been involved in health services research and clinical trials for over twenty years. Her research interests include trials methodology (particularly relating to pilot trials and recruitment and retention), psycho-social aspects of long term conditions and evaluation of complex interventions particularly psychotherapeutic interventions.
Dr Paul Collini
Paul Collini is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Infectious Diseases based at the University of Sheffield and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. His research has focused on lung infections and immune responses in HIV and other infectious diseases. Paul is currently Principal Investigator on several research trials into COVID-19 at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Dr Tom Harrison
Tom Harrison is a registrar in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where he has recently been working as a clinical research fellow on COVID-19 Vaccine Trials
The event was run in support of the National Institute for Health Research’s Be Part of Research campaign and International Clinical Trials Day 2021.
About International Clinical Trials Day
International Clinical Trials Day commemorates when the first controlled clinical trial was conducted on 20 May 1747. Since then, research has played a vital role in improving healthcare for everyone.
Be Part of Research
Information on national opportunities to be involved in research can be found on the Be Part of Research website https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/
Information for patients and the public on how to get involved in research at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals can be found on the Clinical Research and Innovation website https://www.sheffieldclinicalresearch.org/for-patients-public/
