Clinical Fellow in Experimental Cancer Medicine

Applications are invited for a Clinical Fellow in renal cancer, melanoma and early-phase trials to work within the Academic Oncology Department at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The post-holder will join internationally recognised, multidisciplinary teams, and play a key role in developing clinical research including early-phase trials in the newly established NIHR Royal Free Clinical Research Facility. As such, they will have responsibilities for patient care, recruitment into clinical trials and working with academic laboratories at UCL.

The appointee will gain a range of generic and transferable skills including trial design and management, and will be expected publish research manuscripts and present at national and international meetings. The post would be ideally suited to trainees who wish to strengthen their CV in pursuit specialist training or ACF positions within Oncology, or senior trainees looking for entry points into postgraduate research. The post will run for a 12 month period.

The Royal Free is part of London Cancer, an Integrated Cancer System (ICS) dedicated to improving cancer outcomes in North Central and North East London and West Essex. London Cancer is the integrated cancer programme of UCL Partners, which is one of five accredited Academic Health Science Centres in the UK and also an Academic Health Science Network.

Job plan-This job description outlines the current main responsibilities of the post. However the duties of the post may change and develop over time and may therefore be amended in consultation with the post holder

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

AM

Drug development clinic

Renal Clinic

Renal MDT

Drug development MDT

Research

PM

Trial/Clinical Admin

Drug development clinic (new patients)

Melanoma Clinic

Research

Research

The Royal Free began as a pioneering organisation and continues to play a leading role among UK hospital trusts. Established in 1828 by William Marsden, a newly qualified surgeon shocked that he could not find treatment for a penniless young woman, we were the first to provide care free of charge and the only London hospital to stay open during the 19th-century cholera epidemics.

In the 21st century, we continue to lead improvements in healthcare, from targeted cancer therapies to new kinds of surgery. We offer an exceptionally wide range of local and specialist services, including cancer, plastic and neurosurgery, blood disorders and infectious diseases and are proud to have some of the best clinical outcomes in the country.

We are a campus of UCL Medical School and conduct important medical research. We also train doctors, nurses, midwives and many other clinical and non-clinical professionals. We helped to set up the academic health science centre,UCLPartners. Our mission is to be in the top 10 per cent of English hospitals for clinical quality, customer satisfaction, staff satisfaction and financial performance. We want to give patients the best possible care in a safe, clean and welcoming environment. Our commitment is to offer world class care so everyone at the Royal Free can feel welcomed all the time, respected and cared for, confident because we are communicating clearly and reassured that patients are in safe hands.
- Professional / Clinical responsibilities
- The focus of this post will be on supporting the renal cancer and melanoma service as well as the early-phase drug development program.
- The post holder is expected to recruit patients into clinical and translational studies. They will participate in the management of patients within these clinical trials as well as other patients with renal cancer and melanoma. The post holder is expected to lead and/or participate in collaborative decision-making within the multidisciplinary oncology team and the research team.
- Associated clinical responsibilities include dealing with both routine and emergency patient review in outpatient clinics and on inpatient wards, organizing and managing administration duties related to outpatient clinics, planning and prescribing of chemotherapy and other protocol-specific treatments, accurate record-keeping in medical case notes and clinical trial documentation, and enabling inter-disciplinary management.
- The post holder must at all times ensure that GCP guidelines are maintained and that Research Governance Standards are adhered to. This includes monitoring the quality of own work and the work of others within the research team.
- The post holder is expected to educate patients, relatives and staff as necessary, for example ensuring patients and their families receive accurate information regarding potential complications of trial-related treatments i.e. cytotoxic chemotherapy, targeted therapy and radiotherapy.