Paula is the Clinician Researcher Credentials Framework Programme Manager at the NIHR CRN National Coordinating Centre.

A registered nurse with qualifications in Adult, Learning Disability and Emergency Nursing, Paula has been engaged in clinical research since the mid-1990s. She spent fifteen  years in senior research leadership posts at North Bristol Trust (NBT), University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) and the Clinical Research Network: West of England (CRN:WE). This experience provided extensive opportunities to be involved with, and influence, research delivery in a trust wide, regional and national platform at both an operational and strategic level. Paula has played a pivotal role in the design of a number of national training programmes and resources to support staff in the delivery of clinical research, including the development of the NIHR training matrix and pathway for all staff involved in Covid-19 vaccine trials.

Tom Baker leads the Education Directorate at the Royal College of Physicians, which supports the professional development of clinicians in the UK and around the world. The work of the directorate focuses on supporting clinicians to develop as educators, leaders, lifelong learners, researchers and improvers. We achieve this through providing high quality education programmes and learning resources; supporting high quality assessment and examinations; consultancy and bespoke packages; curriculum development; credentialing; supporting implementation of quality improvement; and developing clinician researchers. An educator by profession, Tom has significant medical education, leadership and management experience having worked across mainstream and higher education programmes. His work focuses on helping healthcare professionals and organisations master: supervisory practice; assessment; feedback; leadership development; development of training curriculum; and faculty development.

Fraser is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University (from August he will be the UK’s first Honorary Professor of Lifestyle Medicine & Innovation). He holds Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for work developing interprofessional learning models, including the Master of Clinical Research Programme at Newcastle University and national group consultation training. He also works as a consultant Rheumatologist with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, is Engagement Lead for the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Integrated Research into Musculoskeletal Ageing, Director of Science & Research for the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Lifestyle Medicine. Fraser’s research interests are clinical, translational and educational, including osteoarthritis, healthy ageing, epidemiology, biomarkers, patient engagement, in-person, hybrid and virtual group consultations and lifestyle medicine. Fraser was the first UK clinician to establish the group consultation model in routine clinical practice. He now helps others to understand and share the benefits of this model for patients and staff and is Chief Investigator of the Sir Jules Thorn Trust virtual group consultations training and evaluation hub at Newcastle University and NIHR CRN-adopted national evaluation study. This has resulted in over 1,000 general practice and 500 hospital teams being trained, supporting best practice across the UK.

Kerry is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at University of Exeter and is the Inaugural Programme Lead for the online Postgraduate Certificate in Leading Clinical Research Delivery.  Kerry has a background in Medical Education spanning 17 years with particular expertise in curriculum creation, development and delivery across several areas of learning, including Enquiry and Problem Based Learning curricula, widening access to medicine, developing reflective writing skills and reflexive practice in medical students. She is particularly interested in the  development of self-guided learning to promote critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills, including the innovative assessment of these skills in practice. Kerry has demonstrated expertise in development of learning materials for online delivery and delivered online educational learning sessions locally, nationally, and internationally. Kerry is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (now Advance HE).

Maria is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Nursing Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London where she leads the MRes in Clinical Research. Maria has a background in nursing and 20 years of experience in the design, organisation, and delivery of health care education across several areas of learning, including public health, epidemiology and research methods.

Jennifer Read is a University teacher, Research Fellow and state registered Occupational Therapist.

She leads and teaches on the University of Sheffield Masters Programme in Clinical Research (MSc, PgDip, Pg Cert and CPD). Her research interests lie in qualitative research and complex real- world mixed-methods health and social care evaluations.

Jennifer is a clinician by background and worked within the NHS for 20 years as a stroke specialist Occupation Therapist in acute and rehabilitation services. She remains passionate about her profession: she supports Occupational Therapists, nurses, midwives and other allied health professionals (NMAHPs) who are active in research and innovation, and is an active member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapy.

It is Jennifer’s firm belief that empowering health and social care practitioners of all levels to engage with research, innovation and evidence is essential to improving the health and wellbeing of service users, provision of quality services and enhanced staff experiences.

Jennifer is a member of the Health and Care Research Unit which focuses on the development and evaluation of complex interventions and services in healthcare, social care and third sector organisations. She joined this unit in 2018 and since then has been Principal Investigator (PI) and co-applicant on a range of research grants.