In spite of leading a busy clinical job, I have always maintained an active interest in clinical research, as demonstarted by the list of presentations and publications relating to the field of surgery for severe and complex obesity, laparoscopic surgery and treatment of upper GI cancers. Close working practices exist with departments of gastroenterology and medical weight management leading to joint publications.
Principal investigator at UHCW NHS Trust for the £3.1 Million NIHR funded SARONG Trial – we are actively recruiting patients in to this trial which will establish the best way to follow up patients who have had surgery for oesophageal and gastric cancer. Across 26 centres in the UK the Trial aims to recruit 926 patients over a 3 year period. Recruitment is ahead of projection with more than 400 patients already enrolled. The trial aims to report in 2030
I am one of the co-investigators for ABC (Arthoplasty bariatric comparision) Trial conceived by University of Warwick comparison bariatric surgery before and after joint replacement in obese patients with BMI greater than 40
I co-supervised a PhD student at University of Warwick pursuing post graduate research degree through published work exploring the different surgical approaches in managing gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (awarded December 2016)
I am also co-supervising another PhD student at University of Warwick looking at biochemical and metabolic changes in patients undergoing bariatric surgery (protocol being finalised)
I have also been actively involved as either the principal or co-investigator at UHCW NHS Trust in national trials (NEOSCOPE – first patient nationally was recruited from UHCW & Vindaloo-2). In addition I support other ongoing national trials currently open at UHCW including CUP ONE, Neo- AEGIS, OCCAMS, STO3, STO3 MRI Sub-study
Co-investigator in the £400,000 BAMBINI Trial funded by the John Moulton Foundation
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the commonest endocrinopathy in women of child bearing age and a leading cause of infertility.
As Co-investigator in this study, I carried out 20 sleeve gastrectomies, a similar number by Imperial College London (all with PCOS and infertility) and we compared with 40 women on best medical treatment for PCOS.
Trial participants on the surgical arm showed a statistically significant improvement in all fertility parameters compared to those on the medical arm.
This landmark finding published in the prestigious Lancet in May 2024 will pave the way to change the lives of millions of women living with PCOS worldwide.
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Development of CALMPOD & Award of £1.7 Million NIHR grant for Gro Health W8 Buddy – Specialist Obesity management Services at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust & University of Warwick
Implementation of Compassionate Approach to Living Mindfully for Prevention of Disease (CALMPOD) programme – an innovative MDT based approach to obesity managementwithin UHCW NHS Trust Obesity Service (2021): Publication of longer term improvements in clinic attendance & weight loss
Implementation of Gro Health W8 Buddy on the back of the successful CALMPOD programme (bespoke digital health lifestyle programme developed from Low Carb & healthy lifestyle app: DDM collaboration: 2020 to present) to complement weight management service
Gro Health W8 Buddy officially recognised by National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in 2023 as one of 5 digital weight management technologies to be used in the NHS to deliver weight management services for adults. (Https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/hte14/chapter/1-Recommendations)
Won Prestigious HSJ Award: ‘Empowering patients through digital (2024)
Long term health & economic impact of using digital tool Gro health W8 Buddy to support people accessing specialist weight management services
Proud to be part of the team of researchers (Multi-disciplinary team) to be awarded the £1,700,00 over 3 years (£1.7 million) NIHR grant in 2024 – National Institute for Health research: NIHR invention for Innovation (i4i) & Office for Life Sciences (OLS) Real World Evidence Call.
Other studies planned for this year include utilising the Human metabolic Research Unit (HMRU in association with Dr T Barber) to assess the effects of bariatric surgery on appetite and post prandial metabolism. We are proposing to look at serum Ghrelin levels pre and post sleeve gastrectomy in addition to glucose level post bariatric surgery and how surgery affects the various incretin agents. A study focussing on brown fat changes with bariatric surgery is also in the planning phase utilising the vast tissue bank facilities at UHCW & University of Warwick.
I contribute to and support collection and collation of data comparing surgeon & unit activity with Hospital Episode statistics (HES) data, providing valuable information on activity, outcomes etc in addition to actively contributing to National Bariatric Surgery Registry (NBSR) and National Oeosphago-Gastric cancer audit (NOGCA)