Requisition ID: 25623
Location:
Newcastle, GB
Contract Type: Fixed Term
Working Pattern: Full Time
Posted Date: 16 Aug 2023
Salary: £31,623 to £40,492 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.
Closing Date: 22 Oct 2023
The Role
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Medical Doctor to work within the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre (JWMDRC), to support and conduct clinical research including clinical trials and to participate in specialised clinical and diagnostic activities mainly focused on Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).
The JWMDRC is a centre for translational research in genetic neuromuscular diseases with around 90 team members and has a long tradition of excellence in research, diagnosis, and management of neuromuscular diseases.
The post will provide a unique opportunity for you to gain experience in the diagnosis and management of patients with FSHD and other neuromuscular disorders, as well as to plan and deliver research both at the clinical and preclinical level.
To apply, you are required to have a medical degree from a recognised medical school, a GMC licence to practise and experience in medical history taking, patient assessment and medical record keeping in accordance with GCP guidelines.
You will play a key role in conducting natural history studies and clinical trials in patients with FSHD and other neuromuscular disorders acting as sub-investigator, being involved in the selection of patients, consenting, and recruitment, delivery of study visits and procedures and safety monitoring. This will allow you to develop clinical skills in the field of neuromuscular medicine, learn about outcome measures, muscle imaging, and ethical issues in conducting GCP compliant clinical research in rare neuromuscular diseases.
In addition, you will be able to participate in a range of different paediatric and adult neuromuscular outpatient clinics across the North of England, and gain exposure to state-of-the-art diagnostics for genetic neuromuscular diseases, as well as to updated multi-disciplinary management of these cohorts of patients. You will participate in the analysis of clinical and muscle imaging data of the large cohort of patients followed up in the centre and elsewhere. Moreover, you will have the opportunity to be involved in basic and translational research studies done at the centre and focused on the study of the pathomechanisms behind muscle degeneration in FSHD and the identification of potential new therapies for this disease.
The post is tenable for 24 months.
For further information on the centre https://newcastle-muscle.org/
For informal enquiries please contact sam.fitzsimmons@newcastle.ac.uk or Giorgio.tasca@newcastle.ac.uk
Key Accountabilities
- Support and conduct clinical trials at JWMDRC: patient identification and selection, consenting, recruitment, interaction with patients and their families, conducting study visits and study procedures, reporting of adverse events etc. under the supervision of senior members of the clinical research team.
- Be involved in JWMDRC led clinical research grants, allowing for insight into networking activities and international collaborations.
- Participate in specialised clinical and diagnostic activities including the national referral clinics for rare inherited forms of muscular dystrophies and adult and paediatric clinics for local patients with neuromuscular diseases.
- Regular liaison with the principal investigators and senior members of the clinical and research teams to discuss the ongoing research and next possible steps.
- Continuously review the literature and technology relevant to JWMDRC work, ensuring a good understanding of other on-going work in the field.
- Publish and present high level scientific information including writing and presenting reports relevant to the work being carried out as part of clinical and translational research.
- Support the submission of research proposals to funders where appropriate.
- Support the clinical initiatives of the Neuromuscular Team, including internal and audits and meetings.
- Participate to the analysis of muscle magnetic resonance imaging studies in FSHD and other diseases.
The Person (Essential)
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Interest in neurology and neuromuscular diseases
- Understanding of clinical trial methodology and GCP Principles
- Training and experience in neuromuscular medicine, neurology, paediatric neurology or genetics (Desirable)
- Presentation of work at scientific meetings (Desirable)
- Previous research publications in the relevant fields (Desirable)
Attributes and Behaviour
- Enthusiastic and hard working
- Excellent oral communication and writing skills
- Team-working skills
- Excellent information technology and computing skills
- High level of personal organisation
- Willingness to undertake work outside of normal working hours
- Willingness to travel internationally
Qualifications
- MB BS (Medical Doctor, MD) or equivalent from a recognised medical school
- Fully registered with the GMC with licence to practice
- Good Clinical Practice Training (Desirable)
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 as well as 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, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 25623