Q&A with the newest additions to the SITU team: Part 4
29 January 2021
Introducing Elsa Mauricio Reus, Clinical Trial Manager for the PART study and Nadjat Medeghri, the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences Operational Lead.
Introducing Elsa...
My name is Elsa Mauricio Reus and I am the PART Trial Manager. I have been working on this in this role since the End of November 2020, so I am fairly new!
We asked Elsa...
HOW DID YOU COME ACROSS THE ROLE AND WHAT IN PARTICULAR INTERESTED YOU ABOUT IT?
For years I wanted to be a Clinical Trial Manager and it seemed a good time to apply for a job like this. Lock down made me look for a challenge! I am very friendly and organised, so it seemed a job where I could fit in easily.
WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS POSITION?
Before this role, I was a Clinical Researcher. I was running a few research studies in the Cardiovascular Department. I gained experience on clinical research and trial methodology. From setting up a trial and asking for approvals to supervising sites and recruitment.
IF YOU WEREN’T A CLINICAL TRIAL MANAGER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
If I didn’t work on science I would have loved to be a singer, although I don’t think I am good enough!
how has it been getting to know the team & learning your new role remotely?
I was used to (partly) working remotely in my last job, so the transition was easy. It has been very different to not being able to have the interview face-to-face and to not meet my colleagues face-to-face in the first week, but I think I am used to it now. Everyone has been very approachable and that has really helped. I am particularly grateful to Clare Thompson, who was the interim PART trial manager and has being so kind and helpful, and to all the CTM on the Trial Management Forum, who are always very easy to reach and have made the transition way easier (and FUN!). The team is very approachable and friendly. Changing jobs during lockdown has been a new experience and you have all made me feel really welcome! I am very happy to be part of the SITU team! 😊
Introducing Nadjat...
My name is Nadjat Medeghri, I’ve recently joined the team as SITU Operational Lead
We asked Nadjat...
HOW DID YOU COME ACROSS THE ROLE AND WHAT IN PARTICULAR INTERESTED YOU ABOUT IT?
Well, I’ve been in UK since January 2020, and was looking for a position that allows sharing my experience in clinical research field and at the same time learning what are the particularities here in the UK, as I came from France. What particularly interested me is the mission set by the SITU to promote randomized clinical trials in Surgery.
WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS POSITION?
Throughout my career, I have learned to deal with changes. Being someone who invest a lot in all my commitment did help me a lot. My first professional experience started in 1999 as a Researcher and Lecturer in the University of Oran (Algeria) where I graduated in Chemistry. Then, when I moved to France in 2004, I came across the clinical research field that fascinated me and prompted me to join a multidisciplinary clinical trial unit in Paris hospitals (APHP) where I spent over 10 years as a project manager, setting up and developing trials in several therapeutic areas as Rare Diseases, Paediatrics, Obstetrics, Cardiology and Cancer.
In the last 5 years, when I moved to Lyon, I joined the Cancer Institute of Hospices Civils de Lyon ICHCL, where I developed a new structure called the Clinical Research Platform of ICHCL, which taught me how to make a new structure sustainable by raising funds via grants and partnerships.
The variety of missions and tasks in the clinical research field offers the opportunity to meet exceptional people and enrich oneself professionally and personally, it is, above all, a great human adventure.
IF YOU WEREN’T working within clinical trials, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
I love cooking and doing pastries, and on the other hand I love teaching and sharing learning as well. To join both, I would say if I did it in a professional way I would be a star chef/pastry chef.
HOW HAS IT been GETTING TO KNOW THE TEAM & LEARNING YOUR NEW ROLE REMOTELY?
I am quite new to the team, and have started in very specific and challenging conditions. Indeed, because of the current crisis, I haven’t met any member of the team face to face yet.
However, I consider myself very lucky, everyone is so friendly and supportive, and everything I have seen so far is extremely positive and encouraging despite remote working.
Not to mention that the team is currently expanding and we are welcoming new members and hopefully having experienced starting a new position remotely, will help me to better support new arrivals.