Five NCA Consultants, two of them Principal Clinical Research Leads, have been appointed as Professors in further recognition of their outstanding contributions to research, education and clinical care.
Professor Jimmy Limdi
Professor Jimmy Limdi now becomes MAHSC Honorary Clinical Professor at The University of Manchester as well as his existing role as Visiting Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is Consultant Gastroenterologist at Fairfield General Hospital and Principal Clinical Research Lead for Bury and Rochdale Care Organisation.
He is also the UK national representative at the American College of Gastroenterology and holds a number of national and international committee appointments as well as appointments on editorial boards of major gastroenterology journals.
He heads Pennine Acute’s inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) service and his national and international collaborations on Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are helping to increase knowledge of these complex conditions and to test new treatments to improve patients’ lives.
Professor Limdi is a member of the UK IBD Covid response group which produced the national guidance for IBD management during the pandemic. His current projects also include work on women’s health and IBD, neuromotility in ulcerative colitis, patient reported outcomes in IBD and artificial intelligence in IBD.
Professor Andy Ustianowski
Infectious Diseases Consultant Professor Andy Ustianowski is Principal Clinical Research Lead for North Manchester General Hospital, Deputy Clinical Director for the NIHR Clinical Research Network Greater Manchester and joint NIHR CRN National Specialty Lead for Infection. He has been appointed MAHSC Honorary Professor at The University of Manchester.
He’s played a key role in the research response to Covid-19 as part of the national Urgent Public Health Priority Committee, and is currently UK Chief Investigator for three Covid-19 treatment trials, and Principal Investigator for five Covid-19 research studies open at North Manchester, all designated as national urgent public health priority studies.
He is also a leading researcher in HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, including first in man trials of new treatments for hepatitis B.
Professor Minal Singh
Pioneering medical education expert and Salford Royal Consultant Dermatologist Minal Singh has been awarded a chair at The University of Manchester.
Professor Singh is Associate Programme Director for undergraduate medical education at the university, responsible for the design, implementation of curriculum developments and delivery of teaching and learning across all six years of the programme.
She designed the DECIDE (TM) Programme, which has seen direct benefit on referrals, patient care and health economics through a precision education model improving accuracy in decision-making by community clinicians. This first-of-kind collaboration brought seven Greater Manchester CCGs, Health Innovation Manchester and the University of Manchester together to deliver a £200,000 project shortlisted for the 2020 HSJ Value Awards .
In addition, she directs the Dermatology International Fellowship Programme at Salford Royal, which attracts senior specialists in dermatology from all over the world.
Her ground-breaking work also includes three years as educational programme director for the university’s MSc in Skin Ageing and Aesthetic Medicine. This brings together an international faculty of experts to deliver a part-time blended learning curriculum heralded by Higher Education England as the ‘gold standard’ in training for non-invasive aesthetic practice.
Professor Singh has been involved in medical education since 2008, combining this with her work in the world-leading dermatology centre at Salford Royal.
Professor Monty Silverdale
Professor Monty Silverdale has been appointed MAHSC Honorary Professor at The University of Manchester. He is a Consultant Neurologist at Salford Royal, the CRN specialty lead for dementias and neurodegeneration, lead neurologist on the Greater Manchester Deep Brain Stimulation Programme, and Chair of the UK Parkinson’s disease Clinical Studies group.
As an expert on pain in Parkinson’s, a less well known but highly debilitating consequence of the condition, he is carrying out research measuring the brain’s response to pain in Parkinson’s disease. He led the largest ever study looking at pain in Parkinson’s which could now lead to a major shift in the way pain symptoms are managed.
He is also lead neurologist on the ‘scent of Parkinson’s’ study using skin chemicals as a novel way to diagnose Parkinson’s disease.
In 2019 he was invited to be one of two UK members on the World Parkinson and Movement Disorders Evidence Based Medicine Committee, which produces evidence based reviews and guidelines on best practice treatment.
Professor Nawar Bakerly
Clinical lead for respiratory medicine at Salford Royal Professor Nawar Bakerly has become Visiting Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is also Chief Clinical information Officer for Salford’s division of Integrated Care Organisation and played a significant role in Salford’s Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) programme. He led the transformation of COPD care across Salford, developing an integrated service which has won multiple national awards.
His main clinical interests include airways diseases, integrated care, health informatics and data science, and digitalisation of healthcare and he is an expert advisor for NICE. His research focuses on evaluation of new therapies, evaluation of complex interventions including new digital technologies, Real World Evidence, and the use of big data in improving healthcare.