Congratulations to Professor Pippa Tyrrell and Research Practitioner Katie McLoughlin from Salford Royal for their fantastic success at the Greater Manchester Clinical Research Awards.
Pippa was given the Special Award for Outstanding Network Contribution in recognition of the amazing transformation in stroke care she has led over the last two decades. As the first specialist stroke physician to be appointed in Greater Manchester in 1995, she has led the way in transforming the region’s stroke services, so patients now access the ‘gold standard’ of care within the vital first few hours after a stroke. When she first started out in her career, there was virtually no treatment for stroke patients and very limited access to emergency treatment. Stroke patients were scattered all over the hospital in medical wards. Now, all emergency treatment is centralised at Salford Royal, Stepping Hill and Fairfield – giving patients 24/7 access to thrombolysis and brain scans. She has also been behind some of the most important and influential research in stroke.
Diabetes Research Practitioner Katie won the Research Practitioner of the Year award. She shows total dedication and focus to cram full-time achievements into a part-time role. Having joined the team in April 2016, she has made an enormous impact, showing tireless commitment to ensure as many patients as possible can take part in high-quality research. In one study, Katie singlehandedly recruited 242 patients in five months –remarkable given that her part-time role is only 25 hours per week. She is always striving to develop her knowledge and skills and devised and implemented a new way of identifying patients for a particular study.
It was also an excellent night for our partners in the Northern Care Alliance, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, where Diabetes Consultant Professor Cuong Dang was awarded the Investigator of the Year title. Cuong has been an integral part of the research team since he joined the Diabetes Centre at North Manchester General. With his enthusiasm and commitment, recruitment has soared by more than 200 per cent since 2013. This has been helped by his innovations, which include establishing a High Risk Cardiovascular Clinic and two different clinics in the community, leading to Pennine Acute’s best ever diabetes recruitment figures and Greater Manchester’s best in 2016/17.
Debbie Vinsun, Chief Operating Officer for CRN Greater Manchester, said: “Our winners – indeed our entire shortlist – have shone over the past year; going the extra mile by bringing innovation and addressing national challenges.”
Congratulations too to all our shortlisted nominees, who were singled out from a record number of entries for the awards. Pippa Tyrrell and Professor Phil Kalra were shortlisted for the Lifetime Achievement Award, Joy Dearden was shortlisted for the Research Nurse of the Year title and Research for the Future was shortlisted in the public engagement category for a second year in a row. At Pennine Acute, the North Manchester Diabetes Research Team were also finalists in the Best Community Research Contribution category.