Double success for the North East as two thyroid research clinical trialists are honoured with prestigious award

Dr Claire Wood and Dr Salman Razvi have both received a prestigious National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Medical Research Council (MRC) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Advanced Fellowship (EME AF) to build clinical trials experience.

A total of five EME AFs have been awarded nationally as part of an initiative by the MRC and NIHR to explore new ways to support the development of capacity and expertise in conducting clinical trials. Dr Wood and Dr Razvi have received a combined total of over £6 million in funding.

The EME Programme is a partnership between NIHR and MRC to develop the next generation of trialists and combine the career development support and mentorship of an Advanced Fellowship with the resources to gain experience of leading and delivering a clinical trial.

The EME programme primarily supports clinical trials and other robustly designed studies that test the efficacy of interventions. The interventions should have the potential to improve patient care or benefit the public.  The programme will only support studies where there is sufficient evidence that the intervention might work in humans, i.e. that there is ‘proof of concept’.

Dr Claire Wood and Dr Salman Razvi were awarded the EME AF, with support from Newcastle Health Research Partnership (NHIP) Academy.

Dr Claire Wood, NHIP Fellow, Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Great North Children’s Hospital has been involved in Child Health research for more than 20 years and has a broad range of research experience and associated expertise.

Her research aims to increase the remission rate in young people with Graves’ disease (GD). Graves’ is a common disorder of the thyroid gland, affecting 700 young people in the UK each year. In Graves’, the immune system mistakenly stimulates the thyroid, causing it to produce too much thyroid hormone, leading to four main symptoms: weight loss, shakiness, heart racing and feeling hot or sweaty. This leads to a profound impact on physical health, quality of life, attention span and education or work performance.

Treating Graves’ in young people is harder because antithyroid drugs (ATD) often cause side effects and rarely lead to a permanent cure. Only 25 per cent of patients stay in remission after two years of ATD. If Graves’ returns, options like surgery or radioactive iodine therapy come with more risks, higher costs, lifelong thyroid hormone replacement, and a lower quality of life. Rituximab (RTX), used to treat immune disorders, may help by targeting the cells that attack the thyroid. A recent study suggests one dose of RTX with ATD might improve remission rates in young patients, which Dr Wood is now investigating further.

Dr Wood said:

“I believe that the supervision, mentorship, and opportunities available through this NIHR EME AF award will be an invaluable boost for my career development and extremely timely at this stage in my career. It will provide vital first-hand experience in running a complex, multi-centre clinical trial. On completion of the fellowship, I hope to use the experience and knowledge gained to set up and run further clinical studies within Newcastle University and Great North Children’s Hospital.”

Dr Salman Razvi, Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Endocrinologist at Newcastle University Translational and Clinical Research Institute (NUTCRI) and Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, is a clinical academic with a special interest in thyroid diseases. His research focuses on the effects of thyroid hormones on cardiovascular health and changes in thyroid hormones with ageing.

Heart failure means the heart can’t pump blood well enough to keep the body healthy. Thyroid hormones, especially the more active triiodothyronine (T3), help the heart use energy and pump normally. People with heart failure often have low blood T3 levels, and lower levels are linked to a higher risk of death. Previous studies with a small number of patients have shown that giving T3 to heart failure patients is safe and can improve heart function for a few weeks. Dr Razvi’s research will test if T3 treatment in more patients can improve exercise ability, heart function, and quality of life, and check for any side effects.

Dr Razvi said:

“Based on the work I have done so far, I am recognised as an expert in the field of cardiovascular thyroidology, particularly in Europe. There are, however, several areas that I need to gain more experience and training in to be able to boost my career to becoming a world leader in this area and to achieve my aim of enhancing patient care. Getting exposure to these specialist areas requires dedicated time and resources as some of these are complex and others are based outside of Newcastle. Therefore, I intend to gain experience and training in several key aspects of novel clinical trial design and analyses, patient public involvement and engagement and research leadership.

“As well as completing this trial which will answer a key clinical question, this Advanced Fellowship will expose me to experiences that will greatly enhance the scope of my future work as a translational clinical investigator.”

With this fellowship, Dr. Razvi will mentor and support future thyroid researchers. A clinical research fellow will be hired to help with recruiting and following up with participants during the clinical trial. This fellow will also receive customised training through Newcastle University’s NHIP Academy, tailored to their needs.

Professor John Simpson, Programme Director for the NIHR MRC EME programme, said:

“The EME Advanced Fellowship scheme is a close collaboration between the NIHR Academy and the EME programme. It was designed to allow future research leaders the opportunity to train in delivering high quality clinical trials through prestigious fellowship funding. The highly competitive scheme significantly grows and enriches the pool of excellent, well-trained clinical trialists in the UK. The scheme is regarded as a flagship in the EME portfolio.”

NHIP Academy played a crucial role in providing practical and logistical support required for the successful awards. This includes bringing high quality intelligence and advice on career and training opportunities through to interview coaching and practice.

Professor Dave Jones, NHIP Academy Director, said:

“I am delighted about the success of Dr Salman Razvi and Dr Claire Wood in the prestigious EME AF programme. Their success is a reflection of their ability and vision as clinicians who want to improve the lives of patients. The success also reflects on the highly effective partnership between Newcastle University and the NHS in the North East, in this case the Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trusts. I wish Claire and Salman every success.”

If you are interested in applying for this or any other career development award, please contact: nhip.academy@ncl.ac.uk