The Exeter Clinical Laboratory team based in the The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital are celebrating the fact that Rachel Nice, Senior Biomedical Scientist has recently secured a place on the highly prestigious Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship (CDRF) scheme, which encourages research in clinical settings.
This is a fantastic achievement given the scheme is extremely competitive, with only a handful of places being offered each year through the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research). This will enable Rachel to undertake a fully funded PhD from September 2020, an incredibly exciting opportunity for her and the RD&E NHS Foundation Trust, as it enables Rachel to continue working in the Exeter Laboratory, retaining her vast knowledge and expertise in the hospital, whilst further embedding research into routine clinical care. This represents a new direction for the Trust who are jointly sponsoring the venture in collaboration with the University of Exeter Medical School.
Over the last 15 years, Rachel has developed a passion for diagnostic testing research. Her project will aim to benefit patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease by investigating optimising laboratory methods for measuring antibodies to Anti-TNFα drugs, which help reduce inflammation. This is an exciting development in a highly specialist area of testing, of which Exeter Clinical Laboratory are leading experts in the UK and at the forefront of innovations in the field, really driving change to optimise how tests are used to benefit patient care and improve outcomes.
To find out more contact Rachel Nice Rachel.Nice@nhs.net
