The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is committed to providing the best cancer care to the people we serve. A strong research portfolio is essential to deliver this aim.
The Research and Innovation Department is made up of the Research Governance and Management Team, Delivery Team and the Clinical Academic Unit. The Governance and Delivery Teams provide support to the Clinical Academic Unit and research active NHS Consultants.
Senior management
Prof Christian Ottensmeier
MD, PhD, FRCP
Director of Clinical Research
Christian is responsible for the strategic direction of research at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and collaborates with all of our partners to set our vision, aims and objectives.
“Clatterbridge is committed to securing a national reputation for excellence in cancer research. Central to this goal is improving outcomes for our patients. We want to make real changes for the population of Cheshire and Merseyside.”
Dr Gillian Heap
BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
Director of Research and Innovation Operations
Gillian has over 20 years of experience working in research management within the NHS, industry, contract research organisations and academia. Gillian has operational oversight of clinical and academic research within the organisation.
"Research is fundamental to Clatterbridge's commitment to providing the best cancer care to the people that we serve. We will continue to expand our research portfolio to translate into improved treatments and better prognosis for our patients.”
Dr Maria Maguire
BSc (Hons), MPhil, PhD
Head of Research Governance and Sponsorship
Maria began her career as a biochemist holding post-doctoral positions researching the molecular mechanisms of cancer before becoming Quality Assurance Manager for the Liverpool Cancer Research UK Centre in 2009. She was appointed Head of Research Governance and Sponsorship at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in July 2012.
Maria provides overall operational and managerial leadership for the research management and governance team. She has overall responsibility for all studies where Clatterbridge acts as sponsor and supports her team with any governance, quality or set up-related issues.
Emma Whitby
RGN
Head of Research Delivery
Emma qualified in 1996 as a registered general nurse specialising in the field of oncology and working in a number of cancer centres across the UK, before joining the cancer research team in 2004 to work as a research practitioner.
Emma's role as Head of Research Delivery is to provide overall managerial, operational and professional leadership to all the clinical research delivery staff, providing strategic and operational management of clinical research activity.
Michelle Moffitt
RGN, BSc
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) Lead Research Nurse
Michelle began working at the Centre in 2006 as a staff nurse before joining the research team as an advanced research practitioner in 2009.
Since January 2018 Michelle has worked in the role as Research Delivery Manager and is now the ECMC Lead Research Nurse, providing management and leadership to the dedicated ECMC cancer research delivery staff, including research nurses and clinical trial coordination staff. The team provides specialised infrastructure to deliver high quality clinical research to patients of Cheshire and Merseyside.
Jane Tinsley
RGN, BN (Hons)
Lead Haematology Research Nurse
Jane qualified in 1996 with a bachelor of nursing degree and has worked in haemato-oncology since 1997. Jane began working in research in 2009 and has been the Lead Nurse for Haemato-Oncology studies since 2017.
Jane's role is to provide management and oversight of all haemato-oncology clinical trials at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Her dedicated team of research nurses and data management staff support the delivery of all blood cancer clinical trials.
Linda Lyons
RGN
Oncology Lead Research Nurse
Linda qualified in 1984 and has spent her career working in oncology. She joined Clatterbridge in 1998 and began working in cancer research in 2003.
As oncology lead research nurse she provides leadership and management to the solid tumour research teams, the clinical delivery team, and the administration team lead. The solid tumour teams include research nurses, senior administrative staff, clinical trials assistants and research officers who are dedicated to providing high-quality clinical research to our patients across Cheshire and Merseyside.
David Price
Research Governance and Sponsorship Manager
David is responsible for the management of the Research Management and Governance Team, including the Laboratory Team. He also has responsibility for any research governance issues that may arise across the Research and Innovation department and oversees all sponsorship for Clatterbridge-sponsored studies.
In addition, David runs the public and patient involvement groups, chairs the monthly Sponsorship Committee meetings and provides support to the Head of Research Governance and Sponsorship.
Moon Wilton
BSc, MSc, PhD
BRC and Early Phase Manager
Moon has a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Liverpool with a background in research in obesity, diabetes and brain function.
She brings research skills and experience of management of clinical trials to the Trust, as well grant writing and statistical knowledge. Moon's role is the management of early phase trials and the overseeing of our collaborations and funding bids, particularly with the ECMC, BRC and CRF.
Research Management and Governance Team
The Research Management and Governance Team assure robust, rapid set-up of studies and are available for help, advice and enquiries on all aspects of study management.
Marie Shaw
Quality Manager
marie.shaw9@nhs.net
Marie works with teams across all research and innovation processes, monitoring performance and auditing relevant data, to identify any areas of concern and make recommendations for implementing improvements. This includes further training tools and techniques if required. Marie also chairs the monthly quality and governance meetings.
Suzanne Maloney
Research Partnerships Manager
suzanne.maloney@nhs.net
Sue manages the set-up team that is responsible for initiating commercial studies. This includes collation of regulatory documents, localised headed documents, sub-contracts and liaison with support departments such as finance, and authorisation of capacity and capability for the site. Sue also manages any amendments to contract for studies at Clatterbridge.
Brogan Johnston BSc (Hons), MSc
Research Governance Facilitator
brogan.johnston2@nhs.net
Brogan manages the sponsorship and governance team and is responsible for the governance, set-up and management of studies where Clatterbridge acts as a sponsor. In addition she oversees the honorary contracts and letters of access to facilitate cross-working with other trusts and universities, provides project management for select projects, supports on submission of grant applications and provides governance support to the Research Governance and Sponsorship Manager. Brogan also chairs Study Review/Resource Committee meetings.
Nicola Dean
Research and Innovation Business Intelligence Lead
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Nicola provides business intelligence and activity reports for the department and supports feasibility queries for studies at Clatterbridge. The role bridges the governance and delivery teams to facilitate smoother set-up and transition to faster site opening and recruitment.
Tom Collins
Research and Innovation Industry Manager
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Tom provides support from a commercial perspective to both Clatterbridge and our industry partners. The overarching aim of his role is to strengthen new and current working relationships, to continually streamline study development, set-up and facilitation. He also liaises with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to ensure the commercial portfolio report metrics are correctly maintained, as well as managing the expression of interest inbox.
Ellen Nicholson BSc (Hons)
Research Coordinator
ellen.nicholson5@nhs.net
Ellen works with the Research Governance Facilitator to support research governance and set-up on non- CTIMP studies for which Clatterbridge acts as a sponsor. She also assists in facilitating honorary contracts and letters of access for cross-working with other trusts and universities.
Anastasia Sinclair BA (Hons)
Early Phase Trial Facilitator
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Annie works with the Research Partnerships Manager with a focus on Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) studies set-up for Trust approval. They also assist with contract amendments.
Tracey Wellman
Research Partnerships Facilitator
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Tracey alongside the Research Partnerships Manager with a focus on non-commercial study set-up for Trust approval.
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Research Management and Governance Administrator
Provides administrative and secretarial support to the Research Management and Governance Team. They are also responsible for the implementation of protocol amendments and supports the study set-up team.
Sandra Corbett
Assistant Research Administrator
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Sandra supports the implementation of protocol amendments as well as monitoring the governance inbox and providing administrative support to both the management and governance and delivery teams.
Claire Boothroyd
Assistant Research Administrator
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Claire supports the implementation of protocol amendments as well as monitoring the governance inbox and providing administrative support to both the management and governance and delivery teams.
Laboratory
We have a dedicated Clinical Trials Laboratory with full technical capability for the processing of biological samples for research studies. The Clinical Trials Laboratory also houses the The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's Biobank. The laboratory and its team are managed by the Biobank and Trials Laboratory Manager.
TBC
Biobank and Trials Laboratory Manager
Victoria Chekoldina MBBCh
Biobank Administrator
victoria.chekoldina@nhs.net
Jake Whittle
Clinical Trials Laboratory Technician
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Chloe Duran
Clinical Trials Laboratory Technician
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Octavia-Alexandra Owen
Biobank Technician
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Research Delivery Team
We have a team of expert research practitioners, research officers, clinical trial coordinators and clinical trial assistants working across our Aintree, Liverpool and Wirral sites. Our delivery teams work on both solid tumour cancers and blood cancers. Members of the team are often split into specialist teams for effective delivery.
Oncology (solid cancers) research
Our oncology (solid cancers) research delivery team is managed by Oncology Research Lead Nurse Linda Lyons.
Lung
- Lauren Buxton, Advanced Research Nurse
- Milly Andrews, Clinical Research Nurse
- Cliodhna Mullane, Clinical Research Nurse
- Alana Ross, Clinical Trials Coordinator
- Kathryn Hales, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
Urology
- Lucy Beresford, Advanced Research Radiographer
- Toni Yates, Clinical Research Nurse
- Rebecca Pettit, Clinical Research Nurse
- Sharon Dunn, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
- Debbie Montgomery, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
- Lauren Horner-Wylie, Clinical Trials Admin Apprentice
Hepatobiliary pancreatic (HPB)
- Angela Delaney, Advanced Research Nurse
- Jenny Sheldrake, Clinical Research Nurse
- Will McCaig, Clinical Research Nurse
- Tessa Henderson, Clinical Research Nurse
- Chris Hall, Clinical Trials Coordinator
- Katie Bryson, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
Upper and lower gastrointestinal
- Angela Delaney, Advanced Research Nurse
- Jenny Sheldrake, Clinical Research Nurse
- Will McCaig, Clinical Research Nurse
- Tessa Henderson, Clinical Research Nurse
- Chris Hall, Clinical Trials Coordinator
- Katie Bryson, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
Breast and gynaecological
- Mieke Earnshaw, Advanced Research Nurse
- Louise Hughes, Advanced Research Nurse
- Claire Harwood, Clinical Research Nurse
- Jessica Corbett, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
- Amy Clare, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
Rare cancers
- Pembe Yesildag, Advanced Research Nurse
- Shirley Caldwell, Clinical Research Nurse
- Hiu Lam (Jamie) Kong, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
Clinical Delivery Team
- Sophie Bailie, Chemotherapy Research Nurse
- Kayleigh Byrne, Clinical Trials Support Worker
- Josh Williams, Clinical Trials Support Worker
Observational Research Team
- Kathryn Hughes, Observational Research Lead
- Masuma Begum, Research Officer
- Dan Windsor, Research Officer
- Louisa Brady, Research Officer
- Lisa Langley, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
- Alison Kelly, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
Admin Managers
- Sue Green, Research Admin Manager
- Sarah Bennett, Research Admin Assistant Manager
- Suzy Howard, Research Admin Assistant Manager
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) and Head and Neck research
Our ECMC and Head and Neck research delivery team are managed by ECMC Research Lead Nurse, Michelle Moffitt.
Head and neck
- Peter Pullman, Advanced Research Nurse
- Caoimhe McAleese, Clinical Research Nurse
- Jenny Solheim, Clinical Research Nurse
- Tessa Henderson, Clinical Research Nurse
- Abi Cotter, Clinical Trials Coordinator
ECMC
- Lee Testrow, Trainee Advanced Nurse Practitioner
- Keely DeCosta, Advanced Research Nurse
- Faye Kewley, Advanced Research Nurse
- Catrin Watkins, Clinical Research Nurse
- Lauren Partington, Clinical Research Nurse
- Hollie Sargent, Clinical Research Nurse
- Lucy Johnson, Clinical Research Nurse
- Tom Raybould, Clinical Trials Co-ordinator
- Anna Logan-Sherratt, Clinical Trials Co-ordinator
Haemato-oncology research
Our blood cancers delivery team is managed by Haematology Research Lead Nurse Jane Tinsley.
Multiple myeloma and amyloid studies
- Justine Hewlett, Advanced Research Nurse
Lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic lymphoma studies
- Darren Keats, Advanced Research Nurse
- Aimee Weatherall, Clinical Research Nurse
Acute leukaemia studies, chronic myeloid leukaemia, myeloproliferative disorders and stem cell studies
- Sarah Watmough, Advanced Research Nurse
- Elizabeth Dale, Advanced Research Nurse
Haemato-oncology at Aintree
- Irwin Balquin, Advanced Research Nurse
Clinical trial assistants and data managers
- Stephen Still, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
- David Herbert, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
- Laura Root, Clinical Trials Admin Assistant
