Meet the researcher

WHAT IS INVOLVED

We will be running monthly events, initially online via Zoom, for health researchers to share their ideas, studies and results with patients and the wider public. We would love for you to join us. As well as hearing about our work, we would appreciate your input to these research studies. We might ask you to give your ideas on:

• Research design and patient commitment required 
• Identifying ways in which the study could be improved
• Encouraging diversity and inclusivity of access to research activities
• Helping researchers communicate the findings in a way everybody can understand

Talks are the fourth Monday of the month at 1pm.  There are no talks scheduled in August and December.

Next 4 talks: July 26, Sept 27 2021

Next event - Monday Sep 27  1pm

Booking link

Getting to grips with hand injuries - Justin Wormald

Hand and wrist injuries, also known as ‘hand trauma’, account for 1-in-5 A&E attendances and affect five million people in the UK every year. Hand trauma can be very severe, including cuts to major nerves and blood vessels, broken bones or even amputation of a finger or hand. This has a big impact on people’s lives, as hand and wrist are important in daily life and for earning a living. About 250,000 people need surgery for their injury. The risk of infection after surgery is unknown but may be as high as 1-in-5. Infection after hand surgery causes major problems, including more antibiotics, more operations and re-admission to hospital. In the worst cases, infection leads to complete loss of use of the hand - surgeons have even had to amputate infected hands to save the person’s life. Specially coated stitches, known as ‘antimicrobial stitches’ could reduce infection risk by killing bacteria after surgery. Preventing infection would improve recovery and return to normal life.

I am a DPhil candidate in Musculoskeletal Sciences.  My research focuses on understanding and preventing surgical site infection following surgery for hand and wrist injuries. 

What makes surgery to children's feet and legs successful - Eileen Morrow

Facilitator - Natalie Ford

Natalie is Outreach and Engagement Officer for NDORMS and will be introducing the speakers and asking your questions.  Please let her know on natalie.ford@ndorms.ox.ac.uk if you have any questions that you would like to submit in advance.  

previous Events

Monday 26 July

Speakers

Beyond Rehab - Esther Williamson

We all know that being active or exercising is good for our health, but it can be difficult to do regularly.  As we get older, it is especially important to retain the strength in our muscles, our ability to balance and to walk about safely. Many older people are referred to physiotherapy with joint pains such as knee osteoarthritis or problems with their walking, balance or falls. Exercise will be part of their rehabilitation (rehab). The physiotherapist will provide support and encouragement to exercise regularly.  This makes it easier to exercise but what happens when you finish rehab? Our research tells us that many people then struggle to continue to exercise or be active, so the benefits of rehab are not maintained.  We want to explore ways to help older people to take part in regular physical activity or exercise after rehab is finished. One idea is to access social prescribing services. Social prescribing services help people access non-clinical services to improve their physical and mental health. They could support older people to take part in community-based programmes such as walking groups, exercise classes or dance programmes to reduce falls. 

I am a physiotherapist, and I am working with my colleague, Dr Beth Fordham, who is a health psychologist, to develop this research study. We want to see if is possible to set up a pathway from physiotherapy rehab to social prescribing services. We then want to see if this helps older people to exercise and be active as part of their everyday lives and whether it improves their physical and mental health. 

Monday June 28 1pm

Speakers

Tracking progress - Scott Small 

Our research work focuses on developing methods for remote patient monitoring to assess recovery following knee replacement surgery. Using wrist-worn activity trackers, we aim to understand surgical recovery in terms of patients' ability to return to their normal routines and desired activities.

Big data studies in the development of psoriatic arthritis and its complications  - Arani Vivekanantham

Arani is an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow which allows her to combine a research career with her clinical work as a doctor specialising in rheumatology. Arani’s research aims to improve the care and lives for people living with psoriatic arthritis using routinely collected healthcare data. Currently she is investigating which people with psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis with the aim to develop a prediction model to support early diagnosis and treatment of people with psoriatic arthritis. She is also looking at the safety of the first line treatments used in people with psoriatic arthritis and other medical problems. We would greatly appreciate your thoughts and inputs on this research and look forward to hearing from you. 

Previous  Event - Monday May 24 1pm

Speakers  

Computer Aided Diagnosis - Rachel Kuo 

The scaphoid bone is a commonly broken bone in the wrist, and if it is not treated properly can lead to long-term problems, such as early arthritis or chronic pain. Diagnosing a broken scaphoid bone can be challenging, as early x-rays can be difficult to interpret and sometimes a fracture isn’t visible straightaway. Other methods of diagnosing scaphoid fractures, such as MRI scanning, are costly and patients often end up waiting for a long time for an appointment.  

Professor Dominic Furniss, Dr Irina Voiculescu and Dr Rachel Kuo, based at the Botnar Centre in Oxford, are working to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) to help clinicians to diagnose scaphoid fractures at the point-of-assessment so that patients are treated promptly and correctly. In this session, Rachel will talk about the project and how it may impact how patients are managed, alongside some of the challenges of bringing it to fruition. We would also love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the role of AI in medicine and look forward to connecting with you! 

Moving Pictures - Dr Jack Tu

Pain around or behind the kneecap is a common complaint for many people, including after knee replacement. The path the kneecap travels when the knee bends may be altered by surgery and cause pain. How common this issue is, is unknown because no standard method of its assessment is available currently.  Dr Stephen Mellon and Dr Jack Tu of Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre are developing a new method for doing quick assessments of the kneecap path and investigating pain following knee replacement.

Previous Events

In this talk, we will explore the psychological influences of recovery and why asking the wrong questions may give you the wrong answers! He will also reflect on why the voices of patients and the public have become so important in directing the research he conducts.

Prof Steve Gwilym is a surgeon and scientist who is interested in the factors that influence patients outcomes after traumatic injuries. Prof Gwilym holds research grants looking into the outcomes from traumatic injury as well as having published extensively on the subject.

In addition there will be a short briefing on

Can we predict arthritis development without seeing patients? - A patient led study across Europe looking at development of Psoriatic Arthritis in patients with psoriasis.

SUPPORT

You do not need any specialist research or medical knowledge to volunteer. Additional information to explain about our research process will be provided.  Training in research methods and the PPI role will be available if this would be helpful. 

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

If you are interested in hearing more about these sessions, please contact openarms@ndorms.ox.ac.uk.