The winner of the Research Worker/Team of the Year in the NCA staff awards will be announced on Friday 29 November.

All of those shortlisted have made huge contributions to research in the past year and it will be great for their achievements to be
showcased to so many colleagues. You can follow the events on the night on Twitter and Facebook @NCAresearchNHS.

The finalists are:

Neurology Research Team, Salford
This team has been through some big changes in the past year with a significantly reduced team in place. But, through fantastic teamwork they have managed to maintain all current studies ensuring all patient visits were met, continued to attract new studies and met the organisational targets set. The team lead some of the most exciting and promising Parkinson’s disease research that is going on globally, involving nearly 2,000 people, plus other programmes working in collaboration with organisations measuring the brain’s response to pain in Parkinson’s disease.
Dr Antonina Zhelyazkova, Oldham
Dr Zhelyazkova is a consultant haematologist at The Royal Oldham Hospital. She has vast experience in research, bringing her specialised knowledge and embedding this in our research culture.
She has developed an integrated team approach to research and created robust systems to ensure equal access to research. She has completely changed the attitude towards research in her specialty and is well respected for her commitment to research and her delivery. The research team have developed their skills and knowledge by learning from Dr Zhelyazkova and her insight and forward thinking has allowed many opportunities to be made available to the research team.
PAT-POPS study team, North Manchester
Over the last year, 44,501 children and young people have had information on routine clinical observations collected for the PAT-POPS study led by Professor Andrew Rowland. These observations, such as heart rate, temperature and breathing rate, will be used to help develop improved guidelines, advising clinicians which children and young people aged 0-16 should be admitted to hospital and which could be discharged home or signposted to a different service.
The study was the largest recruiting study in England this year and the largest recruiting children’s study ever in the history of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Network.
Dr Deborah Antcliff, Bury and Rochdale
Dr Antcliff is an advanced physiotherapy practitioner with a specialism in chronic pain/fatigue and she has supported the launch of the new multi-disciplinary Bury integrated pain service. She is dedicated to improving the lives of patients with chronic pain/fatigue (such as chronic low back pain, chronic widespread pain, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue service syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis). As part of this, she is leading a crucial research study to add clarity to the concept of activity pacing through developing an activity pacing framework as a comprehensive guide for healthcare professionals to standardised how pacing is instructed. Her work and expertise is becoming widely recognised.
Natalie Garratt, Corporate team
Research and Innovation Partnerships Manager Natalie Garratt plays a crucial role in the success of the research and innovation department. Her in-depth knowledge of our clinical strengths, the current research landscape and the potential of innovative approaches, coupled with a clear focus on the needs of patients and service users, sees her help to forge new links between different specialists within the Group and with external partners, including universities, pharma and medtech companies. She is a fantastic ambassador for research and for the Group but combines this with an attention to detail that is a vital support for individuals and teams seeking to bring new projects and innovations into everyday clinical practice for the benefit of patients.
Natalie is based at Salford Care Organisation but works across the Group and beyond.