Clinical Research Fellow - Lymphoma
Job overview
We seek an ambitious, innovative individual with a specific interest in lymphoma, clinical research and/or early phase clinical trials to act as sub-investigator for a growing portfolio of complex clinical trials.The role offers an exciting opportunity to work with an established, multidisciplinary research team to deliver innovative research. With consultant oversight, you will be responsible for seeing new referrals, follow-ups & managing patients throughout all aspects of their trial experience.
You will take an active role in local and regional meetings to identify and define suitable trial options for patients. You will also be involved with managing NHS patients through our lymphoma clinics, with approximately 50% of your time being dedicated to research, professional development and teaching.
This is a 10 session non-training post. It is suitable for individuals post-FY2 through to those completing specialist training in Oncology or Haematology, and who wish to gain further experience in lymphoma alongside experimental medicine and early-phase trials, including first-in-human trials, advanced immunotherapies and translational research.
Applicants must be able to start early August 2025; applicants requiring GMC sponsorship via MTI recruitment processes will not be considered on this occasion.Salary will be on the NHS scale in line with appropriate clinical experience. Interested candidates are encouraged to discuss this ahead of any application.
Main duties of the job
The portfolio includes a diverse range of lymphoma clinical trials. Following training, you will be expected to participate in these studies as a sub-investigator and associate principal investigator. These include phase I-III trials of small molecule inhibitors, next-generation chemotherapy, novel immunotherapies, CAR-T-cell therapy and translational studies.
You will be involved in managing all aspects of lymphoma trial patients (both in outpatient & inpatient settings), through new patient consultation, consent & screening patients & reviewing patients at follow-up appointments.You will be expected to attend safety review committee meetings to discuss trial patients. This will involve close liaison with the Principal Investigators. In addition, you will interface with external stakeholders such as CROs & pharmaceutical sponsors.
You will be expected to undertake the administrative duties associated with the care of our patients. You will be given opportunities and will be encouraged to be involved in the development & planning of new studies.Up to 50% of your time will be dedicated to lymphoma research, with scope to develop a range of projects according to personal interests. You will be expected to be involved in writing papers & reviews, and there is potential to present your research work nationally and internationally.
Participation in established clinical research training schemes will be encouraged. You will also be required to undergo an annual appraisal.
Working for our organisation
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients per year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services.
We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early-phase clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.
The lymphoma team have the largest portfolio of both commercial and non-commercial lymphoma trials in the UK. You will support an established, dynamic, multidisciplinary research team to deliver innovative treatments to patients from a wide geographic area.You will supported to develop and advance your own research skills and interests.
Facilities include a dedicated NIHR Clinical Research Facility with inpatient beds, outpatient suites, trials pharmacy, laboratory & an administrative floor. The close links with the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute provide GCLP compliant laboratories.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
ORGANISATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
This post is for 40 hours per week to provide clinical research fellow support to The Christie Lymphoma Team. It is based at the main Christie Hospital site in the department of Medical Oncology and the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF).This position is designed for individuals who wish to increase their experience in early-phase clinical trial research and/or lymphoma and are interested in to pursuing a specialist career in medical oncology, haematology or clinical oncology and clinically-orientated research.
Role Purpose
The clinical research fellow post at the Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will support early-phase clinical research in lymphoma under the supervision of Dr Kim Linton and Dr Beth Phillips. The post holder will be involved in all aspects of care for patients enrolled on early-phase clinical trials and will work in close liaison with other members of the multidisciplinary team.
The role will support the Lymphoma Research Team:
The Lymphoma Research Team aims to develop and perform internationally competitive, practice-changing studies of relevance to patients with lymphoma, and to enhance our existing national and international reputation. In 2022-2023, we had the largest portfolio of open lymphoma trials in the UK, both commercial and non-commercial, and were the second-highest UK recruiter to commercial studies.Recent successes include the first UK site to open and recruit a patient to the NX-5948-301 BTK degrader trial, top UK recruiter in the ME-401 trial and leading the field in new bispecific antibody trials as first site to screen a patient for Janssen LYM001 trial, first UK site to consent a patient to GCT3013-02 using epcoritamab in combination regimens and first site globally to dose a patient with subcutaneous odronextamab.
The team also actively contributes to the UK Lymphoma Research Group (formally NCRI) as sub-group chairs/representatives and lead on a number of non-commercial trials. Examples include the ongoing international phase 3 RADAR trial, evaluating brentuximab vedotin as frontline treatment for early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, and the randomised phase 2 REFRACT trial evaluating multiple novel therapies such as epcoritamab-lenalidomide against standard of care.
Members of the team are regularly invited to present trial data at major international conferences (ICML, ASH, ISHL, EHA), have authored/co-authored trial publications in high-impact journals (NEJM, J Clin Onc, Lancet Oncology, Lancet Haematology, Blood) and have acted as expert reviewers for NICE and EORTC.
The team has an expanding portfolio of immunotherapy trials, with a major interest in developing bispecific antibody and CAR-T therapy for lymphoma, collaborating closely with the advanced therapies team within the Trust
In 2012, data from named-patient studies of brentuximab vedotin performed at the Christie were used in submissions to the European Medicines Agency resulting in provisional licensing of the drug that can now be used across the EU in patients with relapsed/refractory CD30+ve lymphomas.Updated results of the same patient cohort were used in 2015 to support continued access to brentuximab vedotin via the Cancer Drugs Fund and was also used as evidence to NICE who undertook a review of the drug in 2016. This work was undertaken by a previous research fellow under supervision by consultant colleagues illustrating the importance of this role to the Lymphoma team.
One of our recent lymphoma fellows wrote the protocol, information sheet and consent form for a highly innovative study (REACT) evaluating the potential role of wearable biosensors in patients at high risk of sepsis, revised a paper now submitted for publication and was successful in a highly competitive and prestigious NIHR Clinical Fellow application.
Currently there are there are 32 lymphoma studies open and recruiting, with 32 in active follow up and a further 28 in feasibility or set-up stage. Of our 32 open and recruiting studies, around 40% are phase I/II studies demonstrating our commitment to early-phase research, and collaboration with ECMC network.Furthermore, referral of patients with haematological malignancies from outside of Manchester is an increasing feature of our practice with the number patients referred for consideration of clinical trials growing year on year.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Christie Lymphoma Team provides expert treatment for patients with a wide range of lymphoma subtypes. Level 2-4 specialist care is provided for the Southern sector of the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Cancer network (GMCCN) (population 900,000).Close clinical collaboration exists between The Christie and the other Haematology Departments of the South sector of the GMCC Network: Macclesfield District General Hospital and Stepping Hill Hospital. Through the weekly sector MDT, virtually hosted at Christie, all newly diagnosed and relapsing lymphoma patients are discussed and all patients requiring level 2-4 therapy are referred to The Christie.
There are also longstanding referral pathways from Lancashire, North Staffordshire, Chester and North Wales. In addition, the team works closely with the haematology transplant unit to provide tertiary care for stem cell transplantation to the wider North West of England and Wales (population 6 million+).
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- MRCP or equivalent - Qualification details and pass dates should be confirmed in the supporting information
- GMC registration
Training
Essential criteria- ICH GCP Training
Management / Audit
Desirable criteria- Evidence of participation in clinical audit
Domicile
Essential criteria- Within 30 minutes travel time to the hospital
Research / Publications
Essential criteria- The ability to contribute to an active research group
- Recent publications in peer-reviewed journals
- Evidence of ethical research relevant to lymphoma, oncology or acute medicine
Experience
Essential criteria- Minimum of 2 years’ clinical practice, with experience in Medical/Clinical Oncology and/or Haemato-oncology
- Experience as an investigator on clinical trials
- 3 years’ experience in Medical/Clinical Oncology and/or Haemato-oncology
Teaching
Desirable criteria- Experience in teaching medical students and other health professionals
Personal skills
Essential criteria- Evidence of clinical leadership skills
- Ability to work flexibly as part of a team
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work under pressure
- Capacity for staff motivation
- Reliable work record
The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.
We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels.In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.
We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.
As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy
All positions within the Christie are subject to the receipt of satisfactory written references, medical clearance and evidence of your Right to Work in the UK. Some roles will require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Please note if you are successfully appointed to a post with this Trust, you will be required to pay for your own DBS Disclosure.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.
If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.
The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.
Overseas candidates wishing to apply for this position and who would require immigration sponsorship, may wish to self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the post on the UKVI website.
You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.