Cymru

Ceri is a Consultant Physiotherapist in Morriston Hospital and an Honorary Professor in Trauma and Emergency Care at Swansea University Medical School. She is the AHP representative on the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Research Committee. She is speciality lead for Trauma and Emergency Care Research in Wales, and the AHP representative on the NIHR Incubator for Emergency Care Research.  Her main research interest is management of blunt chest wall trauma and she is the chief investigator of the Health and Care Research Wales funded STUMBL and ELECT trials. She is currently completing a Health Research Fellowship, developing co-produced guidance for patients with blunt chest wall trauma discharged home directly from the Emergency Department.

Nichola is Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Cardiff University, undertaking teaching and research. Her research interests include the assessment and management of comorbidities in chronic lung disease, as well as the development and assessment of supportive interventions in people affected by cancer. She is currently working with an interdisciplinary team to develop inclusive prehabilitation for patients with cancer, funded by the NIHR. Nichola is passionate about supporting building research capacity in healthcare and co-leads the Community for Allied Health Professionals Research (CAHPR) Cymru, to strengthen research capacity, capability and the profile of Allied Health Professionals. She also leads research capacity building at Velindre NHS Trust.

Sue: ‘I consider myself to be a VERY early career researcher! Being a co-lead for CAHPR Cymru with my fab colleagues Ceri Battle and Nic Gale, allows me to learn so much from them, as well as from our great network of research-interested AHP colleagues across Wales.

With some experience in both qualitative and quantitative research, I hope I can help to support and encourage others to get involved with all aspects of enquiry and innovation, including audit, improvement, evaluation, as well as research. Together we can use the right tools to answer the right questions and improve healthcare!

Here’s a little bit about me, and my involvement in research so far.

I am a Dietitian by profession. I am currently working as Assistant Director for AHPs and Health Science in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales.

I graduated with a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Chester in 2007 and went on to complete my MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice at Bangor University in 2018.

I have a keen interest in using research to advance practice and patient outcomes, and understanding the contextual influences which enable or impede research implementation in practice. My particular area of research interest is in Critical Care Nutrition. In 2018 I completed a before and after study using techniques to successfully improve nutrition practice in the intensive Care Unit (ICU); the work was published in 2019: https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-019-2388-7

Experiences during this work informed my PhD, which is now progressing towards its final year.  I am investigating the influence of organisational history on the implementation of nutrition best practice in the ICU, using an ethnographic case study approach to enquiry.

Further published work includes the investigation of intracellular mechanisms leading to cancer cell death caused by nutrient activity: https://academic.oup.com/biohorizons/article/1/1/9/232983?login=true

In 2020, I was very proud to have been awarded the prestigious British Dietetic Association Ibex Award for significant contributions to the profession.’

Liz currently holds a principal lecturer post in allied health at Wrexham University, with a specific focus on strategic research development and supporting academic colleagues to build capacity and output. This role follows an established career as the professional lead, principal lecturer and practice education lead in pre-registration Occupational Therapy. She currently holds external examiner roles at two Universities.

Liz was awarded a Doctorate in Health Science with the University of Wales in 2021. Her research interests are in resilience, entrepreneurship and individual difference through diverse placement experiences. This informs development of professional identity, understanding of occupational science and role diversification. She has successfully published in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy and holds a peer reviewer role with two journals. Liz actively engages in a research career and supports the University in ethic and academic integrity committee roles.

Liz qualified in 1987 and worked clinically in social care and accessible housing before moving into an educational role.  She held a therapy consultant position in personal litigation between1996 and 2001. She is passionate about occupational science and the art and science of everyday living as well as public health and reducing inequality by overcoming occupational barriers.