Dr Abdul Ashish, Consultant Respiratory Physician at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Respiratory Speciality Lead for Greater Manchester, has received an award for his exceptional leadership in research.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) and Royal College of Physicians (RCP) run an award in partnership to recognise outstanding contributions of NHS consultants and trainees who are active in research.
Dr Ashish’s leadership in research across Greater Manchester has helped to transform respiratory research in the region, much of which has had an extremely positive impact locally on WWL and the care provided to patients. He recently led a team that has been shortlisted at the upcoming HSJ Patient Safety Awards and spearheaded WWL’s involvement in the NIHR’s RECOVERY trial into the drug Tocilizumab, which helped to reduce the risk of death for hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19.
Speaking about the award, Dr Ashish said: “I am extremely proud and humbled to receive this award, but none of this would be possible without the incredible teamwork involved in making our research projects so meaningful and successful.
“I’d like to thank Holly Monaghan and Joanne Collins from the Greater Manchester CRN for their support throughout all my endeavours in improving research across acute trusts, CCGs and trainee groups in the region.
“We can’t gather the vital data needed for our research projects without team members and it’s because of this that we can continue to be part of the UK’s world-class clinical trials infrastructure.
“At WWL, I’d like to thank Chris Birchall and our Trust research team, as well as all of my respiratory consultant colleagues, nurses, pharmacy and juniors who have collaboratively pulled together as a team to steer WWL as one of the highest recruiting Trusts for the RECOVERY study nationally.”
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.”
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.
Professor Nick Lemoine, Medical Director of the NIHR CRN said:
“Clinical leadership is vital for the world-leading performance of the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Each of the consultants and trainees who are prize winners this year have made outstanding contributions to the delivery of research studies in their region and it is wonderful to see the next generation of researchers coming through.”