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INTRODUCING Katherine

My name is Katherine De Wilde and I am a Clinical Data Coordinator at SITU. I started in the second week of August, so haven’t been here very long!

WE ASKED Katherine...

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

The previous project I worked on was coming to an end, and I had decided that I’d really love to have a more data focussed role as this was the part of my old role that I had enjoyed the most and become most skilled at. When I came across the role in SITU I thought it would be great to experience working on clinical trials and found it really interesting reading about some of the current research studies. I felt that I had a good amount of experience to bring to the role, but that there would also be lots of opportunities to learn new things.

WHAT DID YOU DO PRIOR TO THE ROLE YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN? 

For the last 4 years, I’ve worked on a large randomised controlled trial (The MYRIAD Project) taking place in 84 secondary schools across the UK, involving around 30,000 pupils, focusing on wellbeing and resilience in adolescent mental health. I moved through various different roles during my time in the project which gave me good experience of lots of different aspects of working on a large research trial. I was lucky enough to manage the data for an exploratory process evaluation taking place alongside the main trial, which was a great way to learn even more about the ins and outs of data coordination on the go, often by trial and error! Before working in research I was actually a primary school teacher, which did teach me a lot about the importance of planning and organisation. I wish I knew half the stuff about data I know now, it would have saved me a lot of time as a teacher!

 If you weren’t a Clinical Data Coordinator what would you be?

I think I’d be a freelance artist/illustrator. I love drawing, painting and photography and did think when I was younger that that is what I would be when I grew up. I’d have loved to have been a children’s picture book illustrator. Art is now more of a hobby than a career aspiration.

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

Everyone has been really welcoming and my induction and training has been so well organised it’s given me a really positive start, particularly as I wasn’t sure what it would be like starting a new job remotely. The first meeting invite I actually received was for the weekly cake and social catch-up, and I immediately thought ‘I’ve clearly joined a good team!’. Hopefully, if we do end up back at the office at some point, I’ll get to actually share cake in person with the team.

INTRODUCING Roxanne

Roxanne Williams, TRANSLATE Trial Manager, Since April 2021

WE ASKED Roxanne...

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

I have worked for the University of Oxford since November 2017 and I was looking to take the next step in my career path. I knew I wanted to stay with the University and came across this role on the University jobs page. The job description was exactly the type of role I was looking for and the trial (TRANSLATE) sounded really interesting. One thing I enjoy most about working with trials/ clinical research is learning about completely new diseases and areas of research with each study. I was looking for a role with more responsibility in a completely new field and I definitely found it! TRANSLATE is a prostate cancer trial and prostate cancer was a completely new field for me; I had previously worked in respiratory and gastroenterology units.

WHAT DID YOU DO PRIOR TO THE ROLE YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN? 

Before joining SITU, I was a research coordinator with the Translational Gastroenterology Unit (TGU) biobank. I worked with a team to support the biobank subprojects and biobank administration. The type of work I did before definitely did relate to my new role and I gained many skills that now help me in my role today.

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

I would love to have my own bakery/ coffee shop. I absolutely love baking in my spare time and discovering/ coming up with new recipes. I particularly love baking cakes, fresh sourdough bread, and pizza. My whole family are coffee aficionados and we are always trying new coffees and coffee machines. The freshly made coffee always pairs well with the baked goods!

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

The people. Everyone in SITU is so kind and so helpful! I particularly enjoy the virtual catch-up meetings that we have had during the pandemic. It has helped me feel connected to the team, even though I haven’t met most of them in person (yet)!