Q&A with the newest additions to the SITU team: Part 3

Introducing Naomi Merritt, Clinical Trials Manager for the PRoCuRe study and Jack Morris, Clinical Trials Coordinator working on the MACRO study.

We asked Naomi...

How did you come across the role and what in particular interested you about it?

It came to my attention that a new trial involving shoulder surgery had been successful in grant application and, having previously been trial manager for CSAW, shoulder studies are something I have some experience in. After informal discussions with the CI and other key members of the team I decided I would apply.

WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS POSITION?

I was the Primary Care Portfolio Manager for Thames Valley and South Midlands Clinical Research Network. Among many other things, my role involved; leading a team of research facilitators to support GP practices to deliver research; working to increase opportunity for patient access to research; and supporting researchers to design, set-up, and deliver their studies in the Primary Care setting. Prior to this I was a clinical trials manager based here in SITU and before that I spent 10 years looking after the good people of Oxfordshire, Berks, and Bucks as a Paramedic. I’ve also spent time in industry working in R&D for Abbott Diabetes Care and also at a GP Practice where I helped to set-up a small research department, build their portfolio of research (commercial and academic), and delivered those studies. This cumulative experience will help me in my new role but when I write it all down like that, I do wonder where the time went!

IF YOU WEREN’T A CLINICAL TRIAL MANAGER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?

I’d be a florist. Flowers bring joy and celebration, they lift sadness and dark times, they let you show someone you care, and they’re a ‘just because’ – hard work I’m sure but it must be so rewarding to be part of all of that.

WHAT’S THE BEST BIT ABOUT BEING A PART OF THE SITU TEAM?

The people always make a job and coming back to the Botnar has certainly felt a little bit like coming home.

WE ASKED JACK...

HOW DID YOU COME ACROSS THE ROLE AND WHAT IN PARTICULAR INTERESTED YOU ABOUT IT?

 I was actually in the process of applying for a different role within the university when I saw this role being advertised on the same page of the university jobs website. Having previously worked only in oncology trials I thought this would be a good opportunity to expand my knowledge and learn more about clinical trials in a different field.

WHAT WAS YOUR POST PREVIOUSLY?

 Prior to this role I was a Clinical Trial Support Officer based in the Churchill hospital working for OCTO. I worked on several different oncology trials including OCTOVA, NuTIDE:301 and MErCuRIC. My role was mainly focused around managing trial data, checking what was entered into the database and raising queries if necessary and answering questions from site regarding data entry. The experience I gained working on these will surely help when it comes to working on trials that are looking to recruit high numbers of patients such as the MACRO trial.

IF YOU WEREN’T A CLINICAL TRIALS ASSISTANT, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?

This is a question I have always found very hard to answer. The honest answer is I don’t really know. I’ve always been very into playing sport, especially badminton so perhaps something related to this maybe?

WHAT’S THE BEST BIT ABOUT BEING A PART OF THE SITU TEAM?

Having only been at SITU for a few weeks so far, I’m sure there are plenty of good things about the team to still discover. However, so far I would have to say the people here have been brilliant. Everyone has been so friendly and helpful, it’s made me feel that coming to work here was a good decision.