Clinical Research Associate (Fellow)

Newcastle University; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 71,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic institution in the UK is seeking a Clinical Research Fellow to contribute to Parkinson's disease research. Responsibilities include patient recruitment, data collection, and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams. Ideal candidates will have experience working with Parkinson’s disease patients and be registered medical practitioners. The role is funded for 3 years, with competitive salaries ranging from £41,634 to £70,425 per annum.

Benefits

Generous holiday package

Pension schemes

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Coordinate and directly participate in all aspects of patient recruitment.
• Contribute to the collection of clinical and demographic data.
• Prepare and analyze data for research publications.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the recruitment of eligible patients.
• Collaborate with the Trial Management Team on data processing.
• Ensure compliance with good clinical practice (GCP).

Skills

Experience of working with Parkinson’s Disease patients

Excellent oral and written communication skills

IT proficiency at advanced user level

Resourceful and able to act on own initiative

Excellent time management

Education

Registered medical practitioner licensed to practice in the UK

MRCP (UK) or equivalent

Job description

Applications are invited for the post of Clinical Research Fellow who will work alongside the study teams and Professor Camille Carroll on the EJS ACT‑PD trial. Identifying a disease‑modifying therapy (DMT) for Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a major unmet need. The Edmond J Safra Accelerating Clinical Trials in Parkinson’s Disease (EJS ACT‑PD) trial is a multi‑arm, multi‑stage (MAMS) platform trial aiming to increase the scale and pace of PD research. The trial design has been led by the EJS ACT‑PD Initiative, comprised of more than 90 expert members including people with PD and care partners. The objective was to design an innovative clinical trial platform, which is acceptable and accessible for a diverse participant population, and able to provide efficient results which are meaningful to the PD community. The trial will recruit up to 1600 participants across 40 UK sites over 3–4 years. Participants will have 6‑monthly visits for up to 36 months which can be completed either in‑person or remotely. The trial infrastructure is flexible to remove ineffective treatments early and introduce new treatments as funding allows. Trial sub‑studies will include the assessment of digital outcome measures, wet biomarker collection and MRI imaging. Both the EJS ACT‑PD Trial and Initiative are led by Professor Camille Carroll (Newcastle University, Co‑Chief investigator) and Professor Thomas Foltynie (UCL, Co‑Chief investigator). The trial delivery will be overseen by the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit (MRC CTU).

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the recruitment of all eligible patients, including coordination and direct participation in all aspects of patient recruitment, informed consent, clinical assessments such as the MDS‑UPDR, cognitive testing, and patient‑reported outcome measures.
• Coordinate and contribute to the collection of demographic, lifestyle, clinical, paraclinical (serum biomarkers), and relevant sub‑study data (including digital data, imaging and additional biosamples) throughout the study, ensuring compliance with the protocol and good clinical practice (GCP).
• Collaborate with the EJS ACT‑PD chief investigators at Newcastle University and UCL, the Trial Management Team at MRC CTU, Principal Investigators at other participating hospitals, and other members of the EJS ACT‑PD team in data processing, interpretation and future trial development.
• Oversee the review, ranking and resolution of adverse events experienced by trial participants, providing clinical advice and/or escalating as necessary.
• Contribute to public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE) activities and communication materials/strategies as required.
• Provide teaching on topics related to the post holder’s work as requested by the line manager.
• Contribute to the department’s multidisciplinary research projects within the strategy.
• Prepare and analyse data for publications for dissemination of research and for presentation at international conferences, internal meetings at Newcastle University, and meetings with external collaborators.
• Ensure the highest standard of record keeping, maintaining accurate, complete and up‑to‑date records.
• Maintain confidentiality as applicable.
• Attend and contribute to departmental, institutional, and other meetings as appropriate.
• Act at all times in accordance with the highest professional standards and ensure these are maintained in the delivery of all aspects of research.
• Ensure that duties are carried out in a resource‑efficient way and adhere to the policies, rules and regulations of the department, institute and university.

Experience

• Experience of working with Parkinson’s Disease patients.
• Knowledge of the clinical evaluation of patients.
• IT proficiency at advanced user level (MS Office suite, web‑based systems, databases, file management etc).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Resourceful and able to act on own initiative, with strong problem‑solving abilities.
• Meticulous and accurate in all aspects of work.
• Excellent time management, and ability to work to strict objectives.

Desirable

• GCP research qualification.
• Understanding of the biology of neurological conditions and/or assessments, e.g., MDS‑UPDRS, patient‑reported outcome measures.
• Experience of PPIE in research (public and patient involvement and engagement).
• Experience of delivering research trials in clinical settings (e.g., recruiting and consenting participants, reviewing adverse events, completing clinical assessments, recording trial data).
• Good knowledge and recent experience of research ethics, administration and activities.
• Knowledge of Data Protection legislation and the ability to handle sensitive data.
• Previous publications or presentations of research outputs (manuscripts, abstracts, scoping reviews).

Attributes and Behaviour

• Good interpersonal skills with an ability to work cooperatively in a multidisciplinary setting.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Interest in research and a commitment to supporting high quality research.

Qualifications (essential)

• Registered medical practitioner licensed to practise in the UK or eligible to be a registered medical practitioner by the time of appointment.
• MRCP (UK) or equivalent.

Honorary contracts will be sought from Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, for which a DBS check will be required. The post is available immediately and is funded for 3 years in the first instance, with the possibility of extending to up to 6 years. Appointment will be on the CL7, StR, or RDPS salary scale, dependent on NHS contract and/or stage of specialist training, with starting salary in the range £41,634 – £70,425 per annum.

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you. Newcastle University is a global university where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a university of sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity and celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. Newcastle University holds a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality and a Race Equality Charter Bronze award for tackling race inequality in higher education. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.