Prestigious Royal College of Physicians’ research award win for Eastern doctor

A doctor at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) has won a prestigious national award honouring the enormous contribution they have made in delivering research to find new treatments and care pathways for NHS patients.

Dr Nuru Noor, Specialist Trainee in Gastroenterology at CUH, has been announced as a winner in this year's Royal College of Physicians’ (RCP) Awards, run jointly with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The awards recognise NHS consultants and trainees who are active in NIHR research.

Applicants were required to outline their contribution to the leadership of several NIHR CRN Portfolio studies, with a particular focus on:

• how they demonstrate clinical leadership enabling their organisation to increase its participation in clinical studies
• how they engaged with patients to inform them of new opportunities to participate in clinical research
• their contribution to successful delivery of clinical research studies, with a particular emphasis on industry (commercial contract) studies.

On winning this prestigious award, Dr Noor said,

“I am truly honoured to receive this award and would like to highlight the huge influence and contributions of Prof Miles Parkes, Dr James Lee, and Prof Matt Sydes in helping shape my clinical and academic development in the fields of Gastroenterology, Translational Medicine and Clinical Trials. There are many more individuals to thank, who have also provided support and inspiration throughout my career including past and present supervisors, mentors and colleagues.

“In particular, it has been a pleasure to work alongside and within a great team as a Clinical Research Fellow, to lead the PROFILE trial. This is the first “personalised medicine” clinical trial for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – the findings from which, we anticipate will deliver better outcomes for patients with IBD for many years to come.”

Since its inception in 2006, the NIHR has significantly increased the scale of clinical research in the NHS, particularly through the NIHR Clinical Research Network. The engagement of NHS physicians and trainees is essential for sustaining and building on this success, particularly given the many competing demands on clinician time and resources.

Dr Helen Macdonald, Chief Operating Officer for the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network in the Eastern region, said: “Huge congratulations to Dr Noor and his fellow deserving winners. Our region is extremely privileged to include such dedicated clinicians who strive to deliver research, while also inspiring others to do the same, to improve treatments and care for patients.”

On the award winners, Royal College of Physicians academic vice president, Professor Ramesh Arasaradnam said:

“It’s been a real privilege to witness the high level of research set by my colleagues and RCP is proud to be supporting them. Truly it’s a testament of how to embed research within clinical practice. Many congratulations.”

As part of the application process the applicants had to set out how they would use the prize money to increase their contribution to NIHR CRN Portfolio studies in the future.

Trainee award winners will be invited to attend the Royal College of Physicians’ New Members Ceremony in September 2022.

For more information about this year's awards visit www.nihr.ac.uk.