Interesting article in the Guardian on the challenges of being a female surgeon:
One challenge of being a female surgeon is patients presuming I’m a secretary:
Blog posts
Congratulations to Liz Elvidge Head of the Postdoc Development Centre who this year won the Julia Higgins Medal, in recognition of her work with female postdocs and early career academics.
Liz has been sharing her extensive expert knowledge with the Department through her continued involvement in our Athena SWAN Academic Opportunities Committee. Working towards finding the best ways we can support the Departments postdoc community.
Research projects aimed at addressing issues such as heart disease in babies and head injuries have been showcased at a special event. Judges selected six researchers at Imperial who are currently undertaking clinical academic training to present their projects as finalists at a conference organised by the Clinical Academic Training Office (CATO), a network established to provide training for clinical staff, and allied healthcare professionals at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Dr Rita De Campos Pires Santos E Sousa, Clinical Research Training Fellow (in Surgery and Cancer), for a study that examines how brain damage develops following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and investigates potential drug treatments such as xenon, a noble gas and general anaesthetic, to tackle this. The latest findings showed for the first time in an animal model that xenon reduces brain injury and improves neurological outcomes in the short and long term. According to the research team, xenon could be used to treat TBI patients in the future.
Clinical research fellow Mr Matthew Prime features in this weeks Economist magazine on an article entitled “Doctorpreneurs”, which focuses on how many bright inventions come out of the NHS but too few are exploited.
Although in theory the NHS is keen to exploit innovation, in practice the path is often blocked. One problem is that there is no clear process for pitching an idea: doctors who do must tout their wares to each hospital, and sometimes each hospital department. One inventor, an orthopaedic surgeon called Matthew Prime, came up with a digital database for accident and emergency patient notes which, he says, caused a 50% drop in complaints and lowered surgical waiting times. Despite this success, only four other hospitals took it up. Others continue to write each patient’s notes out five times, on various whiteboards and notepads, as they come in.
You are invited to the 3rd Annual Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality Symposium on the 9th September 2015, organised by NIHR Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre.
We are delighted to announce that the Call for Abstracts is now open!
Please click on the image to expand the flyer detailing the abstract submission process.
Congratulations to three members of the Department who have all recently won prizes:
- Mr Daniel Leff won the prestigious Gukas Prize, given annually form the Norwich Medical School for the best graduate on the Master of Surgery in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery degree.
- Dr Susannah Clarke won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious silver medal, which is awarded to individuals who can turn remarkable technical achievements into commercial success. Clarke’s pioneering idea of using a 3D printer to make fully customisable surgical instruments at the click of a button has already been put to use in more than 400 surgeries.
- Dr James Alexander won £500 at the ‘Endoscopy dragons den’ for his in vivo iendoscope project.
- Jose Vicente Torres-Perez, (PhD Student with Dr. Istvan Nagy) who got awarded a travel grant from the Imperial College Trust (General Funds) to attend the 9th Congress of the European Pain Federation, Vienna, Austria, 2 – 5 September 2015, where he will be presenting his poster titled “Can Nav1.7 be targeted for controlling pain after burn injury?”
In the run up to the Sowerby Symposium on 16th July, Professor Lord Ara Darzi discusses the benefits & barriers to sharing patient data.
The symposium will explore the topic of benefits to patients from data sharing, as told by patients themselves and those who have been working to join up information held by individual organisations across the NHS.
More details and how to register can be found on the Sowerby eHealth Symposium webpage.
Thousands of the most severely disabled people in England face an uncertain future as a specialist government fund closes. The Independent Living Fund will now be managed by local councils, to distribute as they see fit.
Cancer Research Nurse Laura Woodley features in the BBC news story, speaking about the implications of this change in legislation.
Joanne Jones, Clinical Skills Tutor at St Mary’s has developed a new wound care competency to enhance the teaching of Imperial Medical Students and Simulation/Foundation training, using simulated purpose made ‘insitu wounds’.
As part of their curriculum, students are taught clinical skills such as cannulation/venepuncture/suturing, in the skills lab (using models). Wound care has never been taught as part of a clinical competency before so this new development provides an exciting opportunity for students to learn in a more engaging and realistic way
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We are pleased to announce that Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, Medical Director of the NHS England, will provide the keynote address for our third annual symposium on 9 September 2015 from 2-6pm.
The symposium is organised by the National Institute for Health Research Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR Imperial PSTRC) on behalf of the Imperial Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality (CPSSQ) and the event will be held at the Imperial South Kensington Campus.
Other presentations will showcase some of the patient safety research conducted by the CPSSQ and the PSTRC and will discuss implications for practice. Further details will be circulated in due course.
Please register by emailing r.samulnik@imperial.ac.uk
Prof George Hanna is lead author of a study published today looking at a breath test that can help doctors diagnose the early signs of oesophageal and gastric cancer in minutes.
The test has produced encouraging results in a clinical study, and will now be tested in a larger trial involving three hospitals in London.
The Surgery and Cancer Lifestyles page brings together information on the following areas:
- Nurseries, childcare vouchers, flexible working, maternity, paternity and adoption leave entitlement and procedures, along with staff perks and items for sale
- What it’s about, what we’re going to do and how we’re doing it
- How to find a mentor or become a mentor in the Department
- Training and development opportunities
- Flexible working information
- Postdoc Development center
Congratulations to Edward St John, Clinical Research Fellow supervised by Prof Ara Darzi, Prof Zoltan Takats and Mr Daniel Leff who has won a prestigious prize from the British Journal of Surgery for best oral presentation at the Association of Breast Surgery (ABS) Conference 2015.
The presentation was entitled: Intra-operative Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry: A Future Intelligent Knife (iKnife) for Oncological Margin Control? The authors of the research were: St.John ER, Balog J, Muirhead LJ, Speller A, Jones EA, Shousha S, Ramakrishnan R, Darzi A, Takats Z, Leff DR.
The Department’s first Athena SWAN Lecture will be delivered by Miss Clare Marx, President of the Royal College of Surgeons. Please put the date in your diary:
5.00 for 5.30 pm start on WEDNESDAY, 2ND DECEMBER 2015 – to be held at South Kensington
The Lecture will be followed by a Reception and more information will be sent out nearer the time regarding the title and confirmation of venue and to note, we will be arranging crèche facilities to facilitate those of you with childcare responsibilities to attend.
Genesis Research Trust Director of Marketing and Communications shares her experience of the 1000 mile cycle challenge she recently took part in, to raise money for the for the Genesis Research Trust. The charity is the largest UK-based collection of scientists and clinicians researching the causes and cures for conditions that affect the health of women and babies.
It all started following a conversation with our Patron Fern Britton, novelist and presenter, whose ambition was to cycle from John O’Groats to Lands End – yes, this way round, and they say it’s tougher. The ride would be themed around the number 57: Fern was born in 1957, she is 57 years old and would cycle approximately 57 miles per day. Our target would be to raise £57,000 for research into miscarriage.
The whole challenge would take 21 days, and after several months of planning a complex itinerary provided by our brilliant tour operator Classic Tours, the ride was launched in October 2014. To our amazement, around 80 riders joined us, 23 of whom cycled the whole way. Social Media started buzzing with excitement, nerves and encouragement from those supporting us.
Most days were damp and cold with huge downpours of rain and biting winds. It seemed like we were following the elements rather than leaving them. Our route took us through the breath-taking Highlands with its endless hills, including the famous 5 mile Rest and Be Thankful; the specular Lake District including the summit of Shap where we had to be rescued by our trusted ground team as the group was struggling to stay on their bikes battling against 48 mph winds; and finally the most difficult stage, from the beautiful, but unforgiving moorlands of Dartmoor to our destination – Land’s End.
Despite the exhaustion and aching muscles, there was always laughter and plenty of smiles. The acts of kindness, encouragement and donations given along the way were simply overwhelming. Our laundry was taken care of by wonderful supporters meeting us at our hotels and returning early the next day, delicious Scottish tablet in Fort William; Rocky Roads and beautifully decorated cakes; teams of massage therapists; a team of cyclists chaperoning us en route; even a police escort into Weston-Super- Mare; dance music in Manchester on the A538 with sounds of supportive horns. What a treat it was when World Champion Silver medallist, Tony Gibb turned up at a service station in Abington to cheer us on and gave our bikes a once over. We were then joined by Chris Mancho an experienced cyclist and Director of our major sponsor Emma’s Diary patrolling and advising on cycling technique.
The challenge was a true test of endurance, but every pedal push meant that we could and would make a difference to those who suffer the tragedy of miscarriage. The enthusiasm, camaraderie and teamwork led by our wonderful Patron Fern Britton were enduring. Fern ensured that everyone stayed motivated and lifted our spirits with her engaging anecdotes and cheer. No one ever worried about feeling alone and the words ‘are you OK?’ were the mantra for the group.
Time passed by quickly and everyone was apprehensive about the last day. The event was working like a military operation and we all had our routine for 3 weeks, eat- cycle – eat – cycle – take pictures– eat – pack – sleep – etc. We were a family and would shortly have to say goodbye and go back to our normal lives. However, we cycled to the finish line together, just how we started – as a team. The feeling of success and achievement was immense and seeing Professor Winston greeting us at the finish line was just the icing on the cake. It was a truly unforgettable experience .
This was the first ever UK challenge for Genesis Research Trust and a true test of courage and determination particularly on the part of those who cycled the whole tour. The amount raised exceeded expectations – an estimated £150,000.
Thank you to Fern and all the riders, to the sponsors and those who donated and supported us along the way – together we are going to beat miscarriage.
Charity Representatives: Yvonne Konieczna and Nicolle Grace (staff at Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus), to join a challenge or for more information about Genesis Research Trust click here http://www.genesisresearchtrust.com/ or call 020 7584 2192