Month: July 2015

WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training – summer update

Masters of Public Health Educational Trip in Geneva

Masters of Public Health Educational Trip in GenevaOn Wednesday June 17 2015, 39 students from the MPH traveled to Geneva for an educational visit organised by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training. For three days, students attended talks at the WHO, MSF, UNHCR, the UN and Global Fund. They learnt about the work of international health organisations and attended talks on health systems and innovation, the global observatory on health R&D, evidence-informed policy, health system financing and the global burden of NCDs. They had the opportunity to meet public health experts such as Dr Najeeb al Shorbaji and Nicola Magrini. Students were extremely pleased with the trip and they returned to London with an unforgettable experience, advice about their future careers, and connections with key public health leaders.

Celebrating Primary Care Achievements: Seeing the person behind the patient

Imperial College London and the International College of Person-Centred Medicine are pleased to announce the 1st International Conference of Primary Care and Public Health to celebrate Primary Care and Public Health Achievements.

Baroness Ilora Finlay, Baroness Sheila Hollins and Sir Al Aynsley Green are amongst the World and UK leaders in Primary Care and Public Health who will be leading the conference.

The five central themes are: Primary Care in the 21st Century, Ageing and Ageism, Children and Adolescents, Integrated Care, and Public Health in Primary Care. Discussions will cut across the four major disciplines of education, training, research and clinical practice.

The conference will be held at Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, from the 29-31 October 2015.

Find out more and register at www.icpcmlondon2015.org

Educational Visit of Public Health Students from East Carolina University

Educational Visit of Public Health Students from East Carolina UniversityOn a hot afternoon of 11 June a group of 32 American Public Health students from the East Carolina University came to learn more about the NHS and Public Health in the UK. The group was led by J. Don Chaney, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Health Education and Promotion and Professor Karen Vail-Smith. They were given presentations by the team from the WHO Collaborating Centre on the work of the Centre; Professor Azeem Majeed talked to the students about the work of the Department and the different roles of an UK GP in comparison to the American Healthcare system equivalent. Dr Austen El-Aosta presented the English NHS from its conception till the actual times, and Dr Alex Chen engaged the group with a very passionate presentation on organ trafficking problem in Asia.

The group shared a very positive feedback and are planning to make this a regular yearly event.

Report from the ASME conference in Edinburgh

There was a strong showing of Imperial college educators at the ASME conference in Edinburgh last week with some 20 teachers presenting their education research or innovative teaching ideas in undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD fields. Many thanks to Professor Sue Smith and MERU for granting funding to many of these teachers and enabling them to present their work in a National forum.

It is difficult to name any highlights but particularly interesting presentations were made by Dr Ros Herbert on the impact of role models on medical students and  Dr Nina Salooja on the use of innovative teaching methods in a Teaching Skills course for undergraduates and the primary care team of Dr Andy Mckeown, Ms Gillian Williams and Dr Elena Barquero who presented their work on   a  pilot to match medical students and nursing students to  health coach vulnerable patients in the community.

Particular mention needs to be made about the success of our teaching fellows;  Dr Ann Chu for ASME New researcher Award  Medical trainees’ views on the transition from core training to higher specialist training ,  Dr Suzie Pomfret for the TASME Teaching Innovation & Excellence Award for her work on simulation PTWRs and preparation for consultant practice and Dr Rula Najim and Dr Nina Dutta for being Highly Commended in the ASME poster prize for teaching fellow led teaching in  undergraduate surgery.
We hope to build on this  interest and energy in education with  equally good numbers attending the forthcoming AMEE conference in Glasgow in September 7-9th 2015.

Dr Joanne Harris MRCP MRCGP MA(Med Ed)
Deputy Head of Undergraduate School
Deputy Director Primary Care Education

London Gold Medal Viva winners describe their successes

Rahul Ravindran and Ashik AmlaniTwo Imperial students have been recognised at a prestigious competition involving medical schools across the capital.

Rahul Ravindran took home the top prize at The University of London Gold Medal Viva – an annual competition organised by the University of London for institutions in the capital with medical schools. Fellow classmate Ashik Amlani also took home the Betuel Prize as the runner up.

Here Rahul and Ashik describe their successes, time at Imperial and hopes for the future.

Rahul Ravindran

I found out that I was nominated for the Gold Medal Viva in Muheza, a rural village in Tanzania, during my elective. To find this out by mobile in a place with no running water was surreal. It was a daunting task as I had been given around six weeks to cover most of what I had learnt over the past six years! My preparation consisted of reading medical journals and meeting with members of the Faculty of Medicine to practise answering viva questions.

The day of the viva was in the final week of my studies at Imperial. I was questioned on a very wide range of topics, ranging from the molecular mechanisms of colorectal cancer metastasis to my opinions on how to improve child health in the UK. After the grilling was over I enjoyed the sunshine and took some photos to remember the day (the photo here was taken after the viva before the results).

I knew I would discover the outcome on the same day and the wait was very nerve-wracking. I remember eating my lunch on the bank of the Thames by Tower Bridge when I received the result by email. I was shocked to discover that I had won the competition! I immediately called my parents and all the mentors and friends who had supported me through the process. I spent the rest of the day celebrating with friends in London.

I am now moving to Oxford to embark on an Academic Foundation Programme in order to develop a career which combines my two passions of clinical and academic work. Winning the London Gold Medal has been a truly special way to complete my time at Imperial. I owe my success to the constant encouragement I have received from my family and friends, as well as the remarkable staff from the Faculty of Medicine who have taught me over the past six years. I am very grateful and will be forever indebted to my teachers here.

Ashik Amlani

When I received my nomination for the University of London Gold Medal Viva, my initial reaction was one of shock and incredulity. I could not believe that Imperial College School of Medicine had nominated me to represent the rest of my peers and the College at large in this most prestigious and enduring of competitions which has previously featured the likes of Sir Alexander Fleming. However, having eventually cast away any thoughts of a colossal mix up, these feelings gave way to immense pride and honour. I was desperately keen to do Imperial proud and continue the trend of success we have enjoyed over the past few years in the competition.

The format of the competition is simple. There are six eminent examiners asking questions within their chosen fields – medicine, surgery, clinical sciences, clinical pharmacology, obstetrics & gynaecology, and paediatrics – for five minutes each. A daunting prospect indeed! The viva included being asked about the mechanisms of cancer metastases and the various theories behind the recent trend in increasing asthma diagnoses in the UK. Even though the teaching and exam process at Imperial prepares us very well for viva questions, the viva was extremely difficult and I felt it did not go well.

Imagine, then, my delight and surprise to have been part of another Imperial clean sweep in the Gold Medal competition. Being awarded with the Beutel Prize was, apart from proving the existence of divine intervention, quite simply the best way to end my time here at Imperial. It has been the most wonderful six years of my life and I have cherished every minute of it. In particular I must thank our dedicated teachers and professors, especially my personal tutor Dr. Amir Sam, without whom my success would not have been possible.

In the future I will soon be starting an Academic Foundation Programme in nuclear medicine at Barnet and Royal Free hospitals as an FY1 doctor. I look forward to putting everything that I have learnt over the past six years to good use in order to provide the best care for my patients and aspire to an eventual career in radiology.

Postdoctoral Travel Awards in the Department of Medicine

As part of their ongoing effort to support and nurture postdoctoral staff in the Department of Medicine, the Early Careers Committee (a subcommittee of the Development and Opportunities Committee) procured funding to enable postdoctoral research scientists and research fellows in groups without such funding to present their research at conferences. The Postdoctoral Travel Awards are open to all postdocs and academic research fellows in the Department of Medicine, particularly those who need assistance with extraordinary costs relating to caring responsibilities.

Numerous applications were received for the most recent deadline and after careful deliberation the committee decided to allocate funds to Drs David Hodson, James Cole and Jason Long.

Dr David Hodson

David Hodson“The Postdoctoral Travel Award allowed me to attend the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Boston USA, to which I was invited as a symposium speaker. This will be critical for my future career progression, since indicators of esteem such as this are important for obtaining grant funding and academic promotion.”

David’s Research

Gene variants in or close to the gene encoding ADCY5 are associated with an increased probability of developing type 2 diabetes, a socioeconomically-costly disease state. To better understand how this gene may influence insulin secretion in man, David and his group employed molecular biology techniques to silence ADCY5 expression specifically in human islets. Using these approaches, they were able to show that ADCY5 is indispensable for coupling glucose to insulin secretion in beta cells through generation of the signaling intermediaries cAMP and ATP. In addition, they also demonstrated that samples from human donors who harbor risk loci for ADCY5 present with lowered mRNA levels. Thus, ADCY5 variants in or near to ADCY5 are likely to impair gene expression, elevating type 2 diabetes risk.

Dr James Cole

James Cole“The travel award allowed me to attend this year’s OHBM meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii. OHBM is the premier international conference for the field of neuroimaging, and thanks to the travel award, I was able to attend this meeting for the first time in my career. The meeting attracts the world leaders from across areas of research relating to neuroimaging, and it was an excellent experience to be able to see the latest developments in my field all showcased in one event. As well as the many senior neuroimaging scientists in attendance at OHBM, I was able to meet with a number of more junior researchers with common interests to me, allowing me to get a broader view on the type of work being conducted by people at my career stage.

The research I presented at the conference was an analysis from the EU project I work on, known as COBRA (ComorBidity in Relation to AIDS). The opportunity to present this work at OHBM 2015 was invaluable as I was able to get insightful feedback from a range of researchers in the field. Furthermore, there is an important HIV research group based at the University of Hawaii, led by Dr Linda Chang. I was able to meet with Dr Chang and her colleagues, display my findings to them and discuss potential future collaborations.

James’s Research

The advent of combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) means that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is no longer a death sentence. For the first time, HIV-infected individuals are living into old age. Nevertheless, despite improved life expectancy, research conducted into groups of ageing HIV-infected people reports a concerning increase in the development of age-related diseases. Importantly this includes mild cognitive impairment, itself a key risk factor for dementia. As the number of older adults living with HIV increases globally, it is vital to understand what might underlie this increased risk of disease and cognitive decline.

James and his colleagues use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure brain structure and function in HIV-infected people. They then compare these brain measures with carefully selected uninfected people, with similar demographic and behavioural characteristics. Using structural MRI, they have accurately predicted chronological age in a large, separate group of 1500 healthy people, by employing a computational technique called ‘machine learning’. They then made predictions of age in a group of 134 HIV-infected people, aged between 45 and 78, by comparing their brain scans to this predetermined machine learning model. On average, HIV-infected individual’s brains were predicted to be two years older than their chronological age. The uninfected group did not show this ‘brain ageing’ effect.

This result indicates that, despite successful treatment with cART, individuals with HIV-infection have changes in brain structure that resemble those seen in normal ageing. Age itself is an important risk factor for cognitive decline and subsequent dementia. If there are ‘age-like’ alterations to brain structure due to HIV, these individuals may well have a higher risk of future health problems. Using this brain age model, they intend to further investigate which characteristics of HIV-infection may influence brain age, such as specific cART drugs, levels of residual HIV or behavioural and lifestyle factors.

Dr Jason Long

Jason Long“We’ve recently come across a very interesting finding in the lab and are hoping to publish in a high impact journal soon. So we’re looking out for relevant conferences to go to in order to share this knowledge; it’s vital we let the field know about this and get collaborators on board. There’s never enough money for travelling, so receiving the PostDoctoral Travel Award really helps. In particular I’m using this award for a conference aimed at ‘younger’ scientists in the beginning stages of their careers, so I hope to benefit from being surrounded by others who are at a similar stage as I am, make connections and chat about options!”

Jason’s Research:

Influenza (flu) viruses originate in wild birds, and have crossed over to human hosts in pandemic events after which they adapt and continue to circulate causing seasonal epidemics. In addition there are frequent dead-end jumps from bird viruses into humans, such as the current H5N1 situation in Egypt and H7N3 in China. Yet these viruses have not yet made that extra leap to become pandemics. This is because the virus needs to make several changes in its genes in order to adapt to humans, a hard task for a virus. One such change that Jason and his peers have researched is the change in the polymerase (this is the virus machine that copies its genes inside the cells of the host). For many years we have known that bird flu viruses mutate a gene in its polymerase that allows it to replicate in humans. But until now we have not understood why.

They took cells that were part mammalian and part avian. By looking to see if bird flu polymerase could or could not work in these cells, and comparing the genes between the different cells, they identified a chicken gene that bird flu polymerase can use in avian cells, but cannot use the human equivalent in human cells. This identifies the point at which the virus has to mutate in order to copy its genes and adapt to humans. This finding is very important for the development of antivirals against the flu polymerase, as well as understanding which bird flus may be able to make the jump from birds to humans.

Faculty of Medicine awards update

Mr Chris Lattimer wins second prize at the 16th Annual European Venous Forum Meeting

Prize_LattimerMr Lattimer collected the award on behalf of his team at the EVF Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, for their presentation; ‘Increasing thigh compression pressure correlates with a reduction in the venous drainage index of air plethysmography.’

This highly competitive award has provided a grant of £1,500 for Mr Lattimer to present his team’s work on venous drainage at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Venous Forum, to be held in Orlando, Florida, next February. This is acknowledged to be the most prestigious venous meeting globally.

Dr Mick Jones receives multiple teaching awards in 2014/15

Dr Mick JonesDr Jones, Reader in Molecular Medicine in the Department of Medicine and Course Director of the MSc in Molecular Medicine, picked up numerous teaching awards this year:

  • The top prize at the Department of Medicine Teaching Awards, 2015 for Outstanding Contribution to Education
  • The awards for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Supervision and the Top Contributor to Teaching based on the 2014 Teaching Hours Survey
  • The award for the Best Teaching for Postgraduates at the 2015 Student Academic Choice Awards

Professor Charlotte Bevan appointed to the Executive Committee of the BACR

Professor of Cancer Biology, Charlotte Bevan will take up the new role at the British Association for Cancer Research in the autumn of this year.

Professor Simon Taylor-Robinson elected to Royal College of Physicians Council

In July Simon Taylor-Robinson, Professor of Translation Medicine in the Department of Medicine, was elected to the Council of the Royal College of Physicians.

Dr Brijesh Patel elected to European Society of Intensive Care Medicine NEXT committee

Dr Patel, a Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Surgery and Cancer, has been elected to the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine NEXT (Network of EXecptional Trainees) committee.

In June he was also awarded a 2015 American Thoracic Society abstract scholarship.

 

MRC Clinical Sciences Centre – summer update

Miniature messenger molecules released by cells in the pancreas (green) may hold the key to early diagnosis of diabetes
Miniature messenger molecules released by cells in the pancreas (green) may hold the key to early diagnosis of diabetes

Scientists at the MRC’s Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC) in West London are the first to show that a small molecule circulates in the blood of people who are in the early stages of type 1 diabetes. A simple blood test could detect this biological marker years, maybe decades, before symptoms develop.

“If we can identify and treat patients earlier, we may be able to help them to avoid secondary complications. This could ultimately extend a patient’s life,” said Mathieu Latreille, who leads the CSC’s Cellular Identity and Metabolism research group, and who carried out the research in collaboration with scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Latreille presented the results to doctors at Hammersmith Hospital this month.

Further interesting findings came from a CSC study which has shown that a gene, called Jarid2, may play a wider role than previously thought in co-ordinating the way that stem cells change in a developing embryo to form the specialised cells that make up our bodies.

Scientists know already that Jarid2 is important in organising the healthy formation of many organs, including the neural tubes that become the brain and spinal cord, the liver, spleen, thymus and cardiovascular system. But its central role very early on in embryo development is “surprising”, according to professor Amanda Fisher, director of the CSC, and head of the Institute of Clinical Science at Imperial College London, whose team published its findings in Cell Reports on July 16.

Also this month, in our series of scientific seminars, Simon Andrews of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, warned CSC scientists that experiments to sequence human genes can, and do, go wrong. Rapid advances in technology mean scientists can now sequence entire human genomes in a matter of hours, and for less than £1000. But Andrews explained that even the latest technology doesn’t stop scientists from making mistakes. “I’m showing you some of the ugly sides of sequencing experiments,” he said.

Winners team ‘Mansfield’ celebrate their rounders victory
Winners team ‘Mansfield’ celebrate their rounders victory

Another seminar in the series saw James Ware, who works with the CSC’s Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Genetics research group, update researchers on the latest in his quest to understand the genetics of dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition which affects 1 in 250 people and can lead to sudden death.

Outside of the lab, CSC scientists and staff competed in the Institute’s annual rounders tournament, a relaxing interlude from serious science. Defending champions team ‘Mansfield’ came out on top.

Find out more about the latest news, events and activities at the CSC: http://csc.mrc.ac.uk/news/.

Imperial Innovations launches Quicktech

QuicktechImperial Innovations has recently launched Quicktech, its new online portal for the straightforward non-exclusive licensing of technologies developed at Imperial.

The system was put in place to reduce the amount of time spent negotiating licensing deals, by using predefined prices and Terms & Conditions.

Quicktech can be used to promote materials you develop during your research, such as antibodies, cell lines, disease models, plasmids, patient surveys, and software. We can also provide sales reports, detailing how many units have been licensed and to whom, to support your impact statements.

We have recently completed our first license through the platform for OneZoom, a data visualisation software developed by Dr James Rosindell (Life Sciences).

You can learn more by visiting the website, or contacting the Quicktech team via e-mail quicktech@imperialinnovations.co.uk or by phone (0)20 3727 2055.

Florian Morillon
Imperial Innovations

Successful fundraising launch for St Mary’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

mperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

 

 

The Imperial College Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science (ICCESS) were recently involved in the highly successful launch of a Charity of the Year partnership between the Children’s Intensive Care Unit Appeal and Home House, a private member’s club on Portman Square.

ICCESS delivered a simulation involving staff from St Mary’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to demonstrate how the unit delivers world-class care despite being under considerable constraints in terms of space. The appeal will raise money to expand the facility and create additional 7 ICU beds within the PICU.

I attended an event to announce the campaign for a new paediatric intensive care unit for St. Mary’s Hospital in London. It was, possibly, the most effective and moving such event, I have ever attended. The doctors from St. Mary’s and others acted out scenes from the paediatric ICU, complete with anxious parents and doctors speaking to them. There was a child in a hospital bed, and the attending physician explained his dire medical situation and articulated his needs, medical and emotional. The doctor spoke with disarming candour. It was tough going to see this performance, very different from the usual speeches and videos more typical of elegant fundraisers and campaign launches.” Feedback from a guest.

mperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
ICCESS Director Professor Roger Kneebone guides the audience through the simulation

The experience of the ICCESS team in delivering realistic medical simulations to engage and move audiences combined perfectly with the passion and dedication of the PICU staff members who participated in the event. The audience, which included Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust staff including Chief Executive Tracey Batten, members of Home House and special guests from appeal committee, found the evening inspirational and emotional. An important event for a very vital unit within St Mary’s Hospital and an significant milestone in this fundraising appeal.

To hear more about the appeal contact Maurice O’Connor on 02033125696 or to donate to the appeal, please visit www.imperialcharity.org.uk/picu

For more information about Imperial College’s Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science (ICCESS), please e-mail: iccess@imperial.ac.uk

London Advanced TB Course – 26-27 November 2015

London Advanced TB CourseThis popular course will offer a comprehensive update on all aspects of the management of TB provided by the UK’s leading TB experts.

The course will be of interest to all grades of doctors including consultants, specialist registrars in respiratory medicine or infectious diseases, general practitioners, public health physicians, TB nurses and other non-medical health professionals working in TB.

Highlights include:  Speakers include:
  • Interactive workshops
  • MDR TB evening symposium
  • Diagnostics updates
  • Management Updates
  • Tackling complex cases
  • Incident management
  • Paediatrics and HIV aspects
  • Onn Min Kon
  • Deepti Kumar
  • Graham Bothamley
  • Peter Davies
  • Francis Drobniewski
  • Marc Lipman
  • Peter Ormerod
  • Lucy Thomas
  • Domink Zenner
  • Philipp du Cros
  • Martin Dedicoat

“An excellent, enjoyable and thorough course”

“Exceeded expectations – I don’t know where I would have learned this otherwise!QR

“Thank you for an excellent 2 days, the quality and quantity of the subjects/speakers has been very good”

For further information and to register visit www.imperial.ac.uk/nhli/london_tb

Follow @LondonTB on Twitter
CPD accreditation sought

New research to investigate models of child health care in Europe

Professor Mitch Blair and Professor Michael Rigby from the Section of Paediatrics of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial, together with European colleagues, have been awarded almost 7 million Euro by the European Commission – Directorate General for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 programme to study and evaluate models of child primary care in Europe.

Professor Mitch Blair
Professor Mitch Blair

The project: MOCHA Models of Child Health Appraised will see Imperial College project staff working with 19 scientific partners from 10 European countries, plus Switzerland, the United States and Australia; as well as with country agents in 30 European Commission and European Economic Area countries.

The project began on 1st June with a three-month preparation phase, including creating a project website, prior to an active research programme commencing on 1st September 2015 continuing until the late autumn of 2018.

Principal Investigator Professor Blair explained:

“Children are an important population group in their own right, but also are the future of Europe, its society and its workforce. Thus children’s health is vital to children and for a healthy Europe”.

“However, there is no consensus on the best way of providing primary health care for children. Different countries favour different models, of which two main ones are generalist general practitioners seeing the child in the family context, and primary care paediatricians with focused expertise. Until now there is no research which shows which model is most effective, which also implies that some children are likely to be receiving sub-optimal care.”

MOCHA will obtain and analyse key information on a range of child primary care topics, such as:

  • Models of primary care delivered to children (including urgent care)
  • Delivery of care across organisational boundaries (with secondary care, social care, education and so on) including complex care, and services for child protection
  • School health services, and direct access services for adolescents
  • Identification of innovative measures of quality and outcome
  • Identification of derivatives from large data sets to measure quality and outcome
  • Economic and Skill Set analyses
  • Ensuring Equity for all children
  • Use of electronic records in child health
Professor Michael Rigby
Professor Michael Rigby

An independent Expert Panel from 10 countries and 15 different organisations or paediatric and public health associations will validate the scientific enquiries made of country agents, and review the findings. Views of service users will be sought throughout the project, and there will be an active engagement and dissemination programme.

The project will be managed from Imperial College, coordinating the work of 11 separate work packages run by experts from European research institutions, including researchers from Imperial College.

This will be one of the largest and most ambitious project to look at child health services in Europe. Focusing on prevention and wellness, its results will demonstrate the optimal model(s) of child primary care. Alongside the results, the MOCHA project will analyse the factors (including cultural factors) which might facilitate the adoption of recommendations, and indications for policy makers of both the health and economic gains possible. Throughout its life, the project will have a strong dissemination programme, ensuring that dialogue with the public, professionals, policy makers and politicians is maintained and taken into account during the research.

Within its 42-month timescale, the MOCHA project will deliver major awareness and potential benefit for European children’s health and a healthy society.

For further details contact:

Leaders: Prof. Mitch Blair – m.blair@imperial.ac.uk ; Prof. Michael Rigby – m.rigby@imperial.ac.uk or
Research Fellow (Scientific Coordinator): Denise Alexander – d.alexander@imperial.ac.uk

New work on Mycobacterium tuberculosis published in Molecular Microbiology

The ability to adapt to environments of fluctuating nutrient availability is vital for bacterial survival. In response to nitrogen limitation, Mycobacterium tuberculosis alters nitrate/nitrite metabolism, aspartate metabolism and cell wall biosynthesis. GlnR is a key regulator involved in this response, controlling the expression of genes involved in nitric oxide detoxification and intracellular survival, markedly different to the GlnR-mediated nitrogen scavenging response seen in non-pathogenic mycobacteria. This has implications for Tuberculosis (TB) control in terms of designing new drugs to treat infection.

Deciphering the metabolic response of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to nitrogen stress

DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13091

Brian D. Robertson PhD FHEA
MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust moving to digital patient records

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

By the end of March 2016 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will be operating on digital patient health records and digital medications management using its Cerner IT system. This will be a big step towards the goal of paperless health records.

The approach has been piloted in gynaecology and elderly care at St Mary’s Hospital with good feedback from both staff and patients. It will now be rolled out site by site with St Mary’s complete by November, Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte’s by February, and Charing Cross and Western Eye by March 2016.

Experience from the pilots shows that classroom training is useful but people really learn a new IT system when they start using it in their working environment. Champions will have classroom training and other clinical staff will attend face-to-face demonstrations focusing on how the change will affect their work. They will then be supported at go-live by champions and floorwalkers.

For more information, contact Paul Harrison, Cerner Communications Manager.

Waljit Dhillo awarded prestigious NIHR Research Professorship

Professor Waljit Dhillo
Professor Waljit Dhillo

Waljit Dhillo, Professor in Endocrinology & Metabolism and Consultant Endocrinologist, has been awarded a prestigious National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Professorship, in the 2015 competition.

NIHR Research Professorships aim to fund leaders in the early part of their careers to lead research, to promote effective translation of research (‘bench to bedside [T1] and ‘campus to clinic’ [T2]) and strengthen research leadership at the highest academic levels. NIHR Research Professorships are prestigious awards for researchers who have an outstanding record of clinical and applied health research, and its effective translation for improved health.

Speaking about his project, entitled ‘Using hormones to improve reproductive health’, Professor Dhillo said:

Disorders of reproductive health affect millions of patients worldwide. The hormones kisspeptin and neurokinin B have recently been identified as potential novel targets for the treatment of infertility and menopausal flushing, respectively. My programme of work aims to develop novel treatment protocols based on kisspeptin and neurokinin B to treat patients with disorders of reproductive health.