Vicki Barber

As a scientist by training I have had an interest in healthcare research since 1998 and trials since 2001.  I undertook an undergraduate BSc Hons degree in Applied and Human Biology, and then a PhD in Pharmacology.  I was then selected to be part of the first cohort of fellows in the Midlands MEDICI programme that taught entrepreneurship, commercialisation and business administration.  I then combined all of these experiences to manage the first clinical trial of a one of the University of Oxford Spin Out Companies.  This then led onto me being part of many trial teams, grant applications and feasibility studies.  

To date, I have trial managed CTIMP (drug) trials and complex intervention trials in general medicine, intensive care, paediatrics and most recently in obstetrics.  I directed the INFANT study, a multi-centre randomised controlled trial which recruited over 46,000 pregnant women in the second most expensive study (at the time) ever funded by the NIHR HTA programme. 

I have been active in trial management for over a decade and have in the past contributed to the UK Trial Managers Network Trial Management Guide.

As the Operations Director of the Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU) I oversee all collaborations and take an active role in senior project management of many of our trials. 

I have research interests in trial efficiencies and the role that technology has in trials.

In March 2025, I was appointed as Joint Interim CTU Director