NHRP Academy: Meet our Community – Victoria Macrae
Tuesday March 3, 2026
Vicki Macrae is a Clinical Trials Officer (CTO), a patient-facing NHS role and is registered with the NIHR Clinical Research Practitioners (CRP Academy for Healthcare Science).
We spoke with Vicki about her career as a Clinical Research Practitioner and the growing importance of CRP roles within the NHS. Vicki shared how she entered the field, what her day‑to‑day work involves, and why bringing clinical insight into research design is essential for meaningful, patient‑focused studies.
Can you tell us about your role and how you got into it?
I work as a Clinical Trials Officer (CTO) and I am registered with the NIHR Clinical Research Practitioners (CRP Academy for Healthcare Science).
My interest in clinical research began during my undergraduate degree in Pharmacology at Newcastle University where I learnt the background of drug development. Alongside this, I had prior NHS experience working as a healthcare assistant which gave me valuable clinical insight. This combination led me into my first research role as a Clinical Trials Associate within the NHS. After a year I progressed to a CTO position and I completed a part-time Masters in Clinical Research alongside my job.
What does a Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) do?
People ask me this a lot, and I completely understand why. Research is full of similar job titles and acronyms, and unless you work in the area, it’s not always obvious what each role involves.
My position sits within the NHS but I also work closely with Newcastle University. I manage the clinical delivery of research studies, whilst also taking on more of the project‑management responsibilities that come with running them. As I’ve gained experience, my role has shifted toward supporting NHS-sponsored studies and helping researchers set up their own projects. A big part of my job now is guiding academic researchers through the clinical side of research – making sure their ideas are feasible for patients, staff and NHS services. I support everything from study set-up and governance to funding considerations and patient-public engagement.
For me, being a Clinical Research Practitioner means combining clinical insight with research expertise. I’m involved in the hands‑on delivery of studies, recruiting and supporting patients and clinical teams, but I also have oversight of the wider project such as the ethical considerations, governance, funding considerations and patient-public engagement. That dual perspective is essential.
Patient engagement is a fundamental part of clinical research. Because I work clinically, I can help bring the patient voice into research from the earliest opportunity. It’s important to do this as without this engagement research doesn’t always translate into clinical care.
Shaping the future of the role
I’m working in a space that’s still developing and CRP roles are evolving which is exciting. When a role is new, there is a real opportunity to help define it, add structure and advocate for it’s value. But there is also the risk that momentum can be lost if we stop pushing for recognition and development.
There are lots of variations of job titles that come under the CRP umbrella. Within Newcastle Hospitals, Clinical Research Practitioner roles include:
- Clinical Trials Associate (Band 4)
- Clinical Trials Practitioner (Band 5)
- Clinical Trials Officer (Band 6)
One of my main concerns is the lack of clinical progression beyond CTO. In research, career progression often means moving away from patient contact and into management. However, I’d like to see the development of senior research specialist roles that remain clinically rooted. There’s currently a strong push to reduce bureaucracy and bring more clinical roles back into research and across the NHS. I think that’s vital. We need professionals who can bridge the gap between academic ambition and clinical reality.
I’ve also explored Clinical Research Fellow posts. These roles are often assumed to be only for doctors, but that isn’t always the case. Some fellow roles focus on clinical project leadership rather than prescribing or overseeing drug trials. Those responsibilities could absolutely be opened up to other professions, depending on the study.
Looking ahead
For me, the most important thing is that the role stays connected to clinical practice. Research needs people who understand patients and the realities of care, and who can ensure studies are designed with that in mind. Without that, something really important gets lost.
I’m hopeful that the profession will continue to grow and that we’ll see more opportunities for clinical progression within research. I’m excited to be part of shaping what that future looks like. I have recently been awarded an NIHR internship via the NIHR North East and North Cumbria Health and Care Professionals Internship Programme, which will fund a project aiming to develop the profession further over the next year.
It is really important to have practitioners with a ‘360 degrees view of the entire study/trial, who can foresee challenges during study design, and pre-empt bottle necks during set-up and recruitment.
Professor John Isaacs
It is also exciting to recognise Vicki’s desire to progress whilst remaining close to trial participants and their carers – we lose too many excellent clinicians through the paradoxical requirements for career progression. Thirdly, Vicki’s innovative mindset will help to shape the clinical practitioner role across professions, with huge benefit for the workforce as a whole, as well as the participants themselves.
Associate Medical Director for Research at
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
and Chair of the Research Oversight Committee at Newcastle Health Research Partnership
“It has been a privilege and pleasure working with Vicki over a decade, she started her career as a clinical trial assistant helping with the establishment of a national registry – the UK primary Sjogren’s syndrome registry”, which has equipped her patient-facing clinical research, data management, and gain experience in clinical study coordination. She excelled in her role and progressed in her career as a clinical trials officer coordinating multi-site recruitment. She has since supported the management and coordinated participant recruitment of many studies including during the COVID lock-down periods. In the past 6 years, she coordinated a large multi-country, multi-site European study, expanding her expertise beyond the UK research landscape. Her “all-round” knowledge and experience in clinical research delivery is the key to the success of all the studies she coordinated (all reaching at least 95% of the recruitment targets).”
Professor Wan-Fai Ng
Professor of Rheumatology at Newcastle University
and Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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