Previous event highlights

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a real opportunity in healthcare, not only to automate some of the problem-solving carried out by doctors and other healthcare professionals, but also to make quicker and better decisions and apply problem-solving techniques that humans alone could not.

This CATO Masterclass, Chaired by Prof Jeremy Levy, was an excellent opportunity to hear about a wide variety of current AI research projects focussing on healthcare issues.

The aim of the session was to share with a wider clinical audience of research active and interested clinicians (at any stage of training and from any profession), a flavour of the range of AI work being done here at Imperial/RMH, often in non-clinical departments, to encourage future collaborations, and to allow the non-clinical PhD fellows to engage with a clinical audience so we can better use AI tools in healthcare settings. 

We were delighted to have Professor Aldo Faisal, Professor of AI and Neuroscience from the Departments of Computing and Bioengineering, introduce the session. Prof Faisal, head of the prestigious UKRI AI4H doctoral training programme at Imperial College, shared insights from his ground-breaking research on neurotechnology, human-robotic interaction, and more.

Following Prof Faisal’s introduction, a number of the current AI4H PhD fellows gave brief overviews of their research, to give a flavour of the huge array of environments in which AI tools are being used.

• Sam Channon-Wells, MD, Clinical Research Fellow in Paediatric Infectious Disease (samuel.channon18@imperial.ac.uk): Development of a new data driven molecular taxonomy of paediatric infectious and inflammatory disease
• Ruoyu Hu, Research Postgraduate, Computing (ruoyu.hu18@imperial.ac.uk): An AI platform for learning to laugh: New approach to develop a sense of humour
• Oskar Fraser-Krauss, Research Postgraduate, Computing (o.fraser-krauss23@imperial.ac.uk): Dynamic graph machine learning for early detection and characterisation of antimicrobial resistant outbreaks from acute care data

• Simon T Williamson, MD, Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Brain Sciences) (s.williamson23@imperial.ac.uk): Developing neuromorphic AI-based closed-loop control brain stimulation to treat Alzheimer’s disease
• Aizaan Anwar, MD, Research Postgraduate, Computing (a.anwar20@imperial.ac.uk): Digital Pathological Speech Processing and Artificial Intelligence for Brain Tumour Diagnostics
• Alex Ranne, Research Postgraduate, Computing (alex.ranne17@imperial.ac.uk): AI-driven robotic catheter system for ultrasound-guided endovascular surgery

 Finally, Dr Richard Sidebottom, consultant radiologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital, introduced his work leading the Radiology and AI Research Hub at the Royal Marsden, and his ongoing project using AI to use images and clinical data from symptomatic patients with breast cancer who had mammography scans to improve care and management.

An impressive 128 colleagues, coming from various clinical professions across all Imperial College AHSC organisations, joined the Masterclass to hear our presenters talk about their innovative and exciting projects.

You can catch up with what was covered by watching the recording of the session online

CATO co-ordinated a series of online “Meet the Funders” sessions with a number of organisations funding medical/health research, during March and April 2024. These ‘live’ briefing sessions are delivered every other year (as agreed with the ICR from whom CATO took over planning of these sessions) – with an ‘FAQ’ session delivered in the intervening year referencing the recordings from the live briefings of the previous year.

A total of 141 participants attended, from Imperial College London/ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research.

Session details:

Medical Research Council (MRC), presented by Dr Nassim El Achi, Programme Manager – Training and Careers.

National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Delivered by NIHR Research Support Service Imperial and Partners Hub.

Speakers:

Gareth O’Brien, Operational Director for NIHR Research Support Service London; Tom Pratt, Senior Programme Manager at NIHR Academy and Dr Cheryl Battersby, NIHR Clinician Scientist and Clinical Senior Lecturer Imperial College- NIHR Funding recipient and insight from NIHR selection committee.

Wellcome Trust, presented by Dr Emily Wheater, Research Manager, Early Career and Career Development Researchers– Discovery Research, Welcome Trust.

CATO Masterclass - ‘Intermediate Fellowships’ Advancing your academic career with an Intermediate Fellowship: how to win one!

Speakers:

Prof Jeremy Levy (Host), CATO Director, Professor Sejal Saglani, Paediatric Respiratory Medicine (My intermediate fellowship interview experience), Dr Shivani Misra, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Diabetes and Endocrinology, Imperial College London (How I won my Clinician Scientist Award) and Professor Declan O’Regan, Professor of Imaging Sciences, Imperial College London (Insights from MRC Fellowship Selection Panels).

The feedback from the series was all positive and some key comments included were:

“It gave an overview on which funding scheme to go for, and the speaker was able to answer all my queries” - MRC session participant

“I gained a clearer understanding of the types of research that are funding and different funding pathways” – Wellcome Trust session participant

“Excellent presentations with relatable experiences and very specific and comprehensive advice given” – Intermediate fellowships masterclass session participant

“All 3 presentations were excellent - very clear and concise. The tips for preparing an application were particularly useful” – NIHR session participant

On Wednesday 24 January 2024, Prof Levy and the CATO team hosted a Masterclass introducing the new NIHR Research Support Services (RSS) NIHR Research Support Services (RSS) and the range of support services they provide to clinicians doing research and offering insights into novel ways of undertaking clinical trials/studies.

An impressive 95 colleagues, coming from various clinical professions across all Imperial College AHSC organisations, joined the Masterclass. Tailored for clinicians doing research across the Imperial College AHSC, both medics and NMAHPPs perspectives were represented on the panel.

Gareth O’Brien, Operational Director for NIHR Research Support Service London (which has replaced the NIHR research design service), gave an overview of the services that the RSS team will provide researchers, including free access to support, advice, and expertise, and help them develop and deliver clinical and applied health and care research.

Professor Victoria Cornelius  is the head of the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) , and Director of the new Imperial NIHR Research Support Service. She gave a brief overview of novel approaches to clinical trials, from her perspective running the Imperial CTU.

Following this, Professor Anthony Gordon , an Intensive care physician at Imperial, spoke about the novel approaches to trials from his perspective having been the UK Chief Investigator on the REMAP-CAP platform trial, evaluating treatments for COVID-19, (and proved the benefits of IL6 antagonists and steroids) and which has now been rolled out to evaluate treatments for severe influenza.

Finally, Professor Natalie Pattison, Professor of Clinical Nursing in the University of Hertfordshire, leading an NIHR funded study into staffing in intensive care units using a very novel approach, "Realist Evaluation" that examines what works best in different situations and helps us to understand why some things work for some people and not others.

You can catch up with what was covered by watching the recording of the session online

On Tuesday 12^th December 2023, Prof Levy and the CATO team successfully hosted a new, interactive in-person event specifically tailored for PhD fellows in all clinical professions. The aim was to share top tips, discuss some of the issues which affect clinicians moving into research, provide support and signpost solutions for clinicians undertaking research degrees.

Held in the Wolfson Building, Hammersmith Hospital, It was the Christmas event above all others to attend! We were delighted to have 25 clinical research fellows/PhD, both medical and NMAHPP and 2 Academic Clinical Fellows (planning for their future PhDs) attend the event.

The panel, as shown below, was comprised of current and recently completed clinicians who have undertaken PhDs, PhD supervisors and mentors. Delegates had an opportunity to hear from and network with clinical academics who are achieving notable academic success. Also shared was information on the vast array of resources available to clinical academics through the Imperial College Libraries, the Graduate School and the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre.

Professor Paresh Malhotra, (Professor of Clinical Neurology, Head of Division Department of Brain Sciences) - PhD Supervisor perspective

Dr Shawn Walker, (Researcher in Residence and Honorary Consultant Midwife) - The NMAHPP perspective; is it different for nurses, midwifes, AHPs, pharmacists

Dr Sarah Onida, (Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Department of Surgery & Cancer) - PhD Supervisor perspective: Are surgeons different?

Cathryn Peppard, (NHS Liaison and Evidence Services Manager, Imperial College London) - Resources available: Library services support and training

Professor Jeremy Levy, (Director of Clinical Academic Training) - Resources available: Using Graduate School & PFDC

Dr Francesca Conway, (Clinical Research Fellow) - Maximising Opportunities in Research

Dr Kier Phillip, (Clinical Lecturer) - The Art and Science of breathlessness

Feedback from the event was incredibly positive with 100% of delegates rating the event as excellent or good. Key comments included:

“I attended the above CATO event recently which was really excellent. I would highly recommend it for all NMAHPPS undertaking or thinking of undertaking PhD studies and beyond. It really made me reflect on how I am working and what I could do differently, what I need to remember and what I can change in how I work”

“Excellent event, massively helpful, should be essential for all PhDs”

“Imperial CATO events are excellent, please continue them”

The CATO team recently delivered a virtual 3-part writing skills workshop conducted by Parker-Derrington Ltd on November 23rd and December 5th, 2023.

The workshop was specifically designed for clinical academic researchers from all clinical professions who are working towards research fellowship awards or research grants. The main focus of the workshop was to enhance the skill of writing a multi-layer case for support using ten key sentences to clearly articulate the argument for funding.  

Participants had access to video lectures and online resources for 28 days, and the workshop included three Zoom sessions: a 2-hour group introduction, an individual feedback session to review a homework task, and a 1-hour group debrief and Q&A session.

The training was attended by 20 delegates from different clinical specialties, including doctors, NMAHPPs, and pre-doctoral fellows, all affiliated with the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) partnership.

We received plenty of positive feedback from the delegates. Comments included:

“Really useful resources and definitely feel will help me with forthcoming applications”

“Excellent information regarding how your case for support is judged and how one should go about structuring it”

“Practical, very good written material that will definitely be of use in the future. Very knowledgeable instructor”

“The 10-sentence framework and other frameworks were excellent”