CRP Bulletin - June 2026
CRP Bulletin - June 2026
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Welcome
Welcome
Welcome to the Summer edition of the CRP Bulletin. This issue provides the second of our 2026 updates for CRPs and includes insightful articles from members of our CRP community who have presented at events, conferences and roadshows.
Dr Ibiyemi Sadare shares her thoughts on her journey to a PhD in Translational Medicine (congratulations Ibi!) and we are also excited to announce that bursary applications are now open for Masters for Research Delivery Leadership courses. You can find further details and how to apply in this issue. The Deadline for applications is 1 July 2026!
We are looking forward to providing you with more news and important updates throughout 2026.
Contributors: Caroline Winckley, Claire Hall, Ibiyemi Sadare, Jo Sawyer, Polly Bidwell, Rachel Evans, Ruth Johns, Sarah Cluderay, Shannon Galgani, Gill Long, Sharon Morrison,
Apply now for a Masters for Research Delivery Leadership bursary! Deadline: 1 July 2026
Apply now for a Masters for Research Delivery Leadership bursary! Deadline: 1 July 2026
Bursaries for the Masters for Research Delivery Leadership (MRDL) are still available!
Registered health and care professionals, including Clinical Research Practitioners (CRPs), can apply for up to three years of funding to complete a postgraduate certificate, diploma, or masters, gaining the skills and experience needed to lead clinical research studies.
Important information
Applications close at noon on the 1st July 2026.
Applicants should review the eligibility criteria before applying to ensure they meet the programme requirements
For further information, including how to apply, please visit our website or our resource site.
If you have any questions, please contact the team at MRDL@nihr.ac.uk.
Turning curiosity into impact: my journey to a PhD in Translational Medicine
Turning curiosity into impact: my journey to a PhD in Translational Medicine
Dr Ibiyemi SadareSenior Clinical Trials Practitioner, Research and Development Department, Croydon University Hospital
In March 2026, I was proud to be awarded a PhD in Translational Medicine from the University of West London. This is a milestone that reflects not only a personal achievement, but also the growing opportunities available to Clinical Research Practitioners (CRPs) who aspire to contribute to academic research through the predoctoral route (NIHR).
This achievement marks the culmination of a journey that began with barriers to funding due to the absence of a professional register for Clinical Research Practitioners. This was a challenge that strengthened my resolve to join the advocacy train for a professionally accredited pathway for CRPs since 2014. By 2020, I was self-funding my doctoral studies which coincided with the inaugural CRP registration pilot. I took up the challenge and completed my application to join the CRP register in 2 weeks, and my registration was confirmed in March 2021.
My career in clinical research has been shaped by a commitment to improving patient outcomes and advancing evidence-based practice. Currently, I work as a Senior Clinical Trials Practitioner and Team Leader in Croydon University Hospital, leading complex cancer trials and supporting innovation in research delivery since 2013.
Alongside my operational role, I have always been passionate about learning, improvement, and understanding how research can be translated into meaningful benefits for patients. This passion ultimately inspired me to undertake doctoral studies. My PhD explored service users’ intentions to use mobile applications to self-manage long-term conditions, combining my interests in healthcare innovation, digital technology, and patient-centred care.
I pursued my studies while working full-time. There were times when balancing academic deadlines with clinical research responsibilities felt challenging. However, the experience taught me that professional growth often happens when we step outside our comfort zones. Persistence, curiosity, and a willingness to keep learning became some of my greatest strengths throughout this time.
In my journey, I met with many other inspirational people, ready to support my commitment to study. I was inspired through my role as a CRP, with a unique perspective on research. We work at the interface between patients, clinical teams, sponsors, and academia. We understand the realities of research delivery and the challenges patients face when participating in studies. These experiences provide a valuable foundation for developing research questions and generating evidence that can improve practice.
As CRPs, we already possess many of the skills needed to succeed in research leadership, including critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, patient engagement, and project management. With the right support and determination, these skills can be developed further through postgraduate study and doctoral research.
As a CRP Engagement lead in South London, a defining part of my career has been supporting the development of the CRP profession through engagement activities, workforce development, professional registration, and national advocacy. Through this work, I have met many talented CRPs who possess the skills, knowledge, and determination to contribute far beyond research delivery. Yet some may not see themselves as future researchers or academics.
Receiving my PhD was a proud moment, but perhaps more importantly, it reinforced my belief that lifelong learning and professional development remain central to our profession. If sharing my experience encourages even one CRP to pursue a research degree, apply for a fellowship, or take the next step in their academic journey, then it will have been worthwhile.
As the CRP profession continues to evolve, I believe we have an important role not only in delivering research but also in shaping it. By pursuing academic opportunities, we can help generate new knowledge, influence practice, and ensure that the patient voice remains at the heart of research. My message to fellow CRPs is this: be curious, work on satisfying your curiosity, believe in your potential, embrace opportunities to learn, and never underestimate the impact you can have on the future of healthcare research.
Looking ahead, I remain committed to lifelong learning and to using my experience to inspire, support, and empower other CRPs to pursue their own ambitions, whatever form they may take.
This achievement marks the culmination of a journey that began with barriers to funding due to the absence of a professional register for Clinical Research Practitioners. This was a challenge that strengthened my resolve to join the advocacy train for a professionally accredited pathway for CRPs since 2014. By 2020, I was self-funding my doctoral studies which coincided with the inaugural CRP registration pilot. I took up the challenge and completed my application to join the CRP register in 2 weeks, and my registration was confirmed in March 2021.
My career in clinical research has been shaped by a commitment to improving patient outcomes and advancing evidence-based practice. Currently, I work as a Senior Clinical Trials Practitioner and Team Leader in Croydon University Hospital, leading complex cancer trials and supporting innovation in research delivery since 2013.
Alongside my operational role, I have always been passionate about learning, improvement, and understanding how research can be translated into meaningful benefits for patients. This passion ultimately inspired me to undertake doctoral studies. My PhD explored service users’ intentions to use mobile applications to self-manage long-term conditions, combining my interests in healthcare innovation, digital technology, and patient-centred care.
I pursued my studies while working full-time. There were times when balancing academic deadlines with clinical research responsibilities felt challenging. However, the experience taught me that professional growth often happens when we step outside our comfort zones. Persistence, curiosity, and a willingness to keep learning became some of my greatest strengths throughout this time.
In my journey, I met with many other inspirational people, ready to support my commitment to study. I was inspired through my role as a CRP, with a unique perspective on research. We work at the interface between patients, clinical teams, sponsors, and academia. We understand the realities of research delivery and the challenges patients face when participating in studies. These experiences provide a valuable foundation for developing research questions and generating evidence that can improve practice.
As CRPs, we already possess many of the skills needed to succeed in research leadership, including critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, patient engagement, and project management. With the right support and determination, these skills can be developed further through postgraduate study and doctoral research.
As a CRP Engagement lead in South London, a defining part of my career has been supporting the development of the CRP profession through engagement activities, workforce development, professional registration, and national advocacy. Through this work, I have met many talented CRPs who possess the skills, knowledge, and determination to contribute far beyond research delivery. Yet some may not see themselves as future researchers or academics.
Receiving my PhD was a proud moment, but perhaps more importantly, it reinforced my belief that lifelong learning and professional development remain central to our profession. If sharing my experience encourages even one CRP to pursue a research degree, apply for a fellowship, or take the next step in their academic journey, then it will have been worthwhile.
As the CRP profession continues to evolve, I believe we have an important role not only in delivering research but also in shaping it. By pursuing academic opportunities, we can help generate new knowledge, influence practice, and ensure that the patient voice remains at the heart of research. My message to fellow CRPs is this: be curious, work on satisfying your curiosity, believe in your potential, embrace opportunities to learn, and never underestimate the impact you can have on the future of healthcare research.
Looking ahead, I remain committed to lifelong learning and to using my experience to inspire, support, and empower other CRPs to pursue their own ambitions, whatever form they may take.
Supporting and developing a sustainable workforce:Embedding the professional identity of the Clinical Research Practitioner.
Supporting and developing a sustainable workforce:Embedding the professional identity of the Clinical Research Practitioner.
Presented at the RDF26 conference on Monday 11th May 2026 By Ruth Johns, Jo Sawyer and Rachel Evans.
We were pleased to represent the CRP community at this year's Research Development Forum 2026 held in Birmingham. We hosted a workshop and were delighted with the high attendance, the varied professional roles of those who participated (including registered CRPs, AHPs, Research Nurses, Research and Development managers and others), with a high level of engagement throughout.
Ruth opened the session titled Supporting and developing a sustainable workforce; Embedding the professional identity of the Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) by providing an overview of the background and key milestones in the emergence and development of CRP professional identity.
The evolving role of the CRP was discussed, explaining how our identity has developed in response to both the significant demand for research delivery, and workforce challenges within the UK. It was highlighted that CRPs constitute a substantial portion of the UK research workforce, approximately 25%, and currently represent a diverse group encompassing both registered and unregistered practitioners.
We shared how the identity of this profession is developing at pace. The CRP Directory, our community of practice, launched in 2018 now has over 2700 members. More impressively, there are now over 500 qualified practitioners professionally registered with the Academy for Health Care Science (AHCS) Professional Standards Authority (PSA) accredited CRP register. It was emphasised that this number is only going to increase, as having a registered CRP workforce is essential for maintaining the high standards needed for effective and impactful research delivery. The audience agreed with this and many R&D leaders approached us afterwards for advice on how best to help their workforce become registered.
Jo chaired a discussion surrounding the following key themes:
Engagement with the value of CRPs and collaboration across organisations
Reviewing job descriptions and looking at team skill mix
Supporting the development of CRPs within Trusts: directory to registration and skills audit
Engagement with sponsors and building the CRP identity (patient safety and quality assurance)
Community of practice – CRP forums and access to resources and support
Leadership membership, career pathways and becoming a professional body
It was recognised that as this profession grows, the development of career and training pathways are being forged. CRP registration with the AHCS is opening opportunities to access research funding. Routes to registration are being reviewed and developed to include a CRP apprenticeship in the future.
During this workshop, attendees were asked what they felt the barriers were to embedding the CRP identity in practice. The image above shares the responses we received by means of a Slido word cloud.
We then asked what the attendees felt were the enablers to embed the CRP identity in practice. See the Slido responses above.
We hope that sharing these responses will inform how we can develop and support the sustainability of the CRP professional identity.
It was acknowledged how registered CRPs are well-placed with their diverse academic, clinical, occupational, and transferable research knowledge and skills, to support the delivery of research within a rapidly evolving research landscape within the UK.
To conclude the session Rachel made a call for action, requesting that the workshop participants take a moment to think about what activity they could pledge to take to promote the CRP profession.
Throughout the workshop it became clear our audience ranged from wanting to understand what a CRP was, to prominent members of our CRP community including Janice Paterson (Research Delivery Network Workforce Development Lead) and Deirdre Brooking (Workforce & People Senior Manager • North London Regional Research Delivery Network).
We therefore discussed possibly joining the Directory as an action, to the aspiration of one day becoming a Royal College of CRPs. The audience did not disappoint with their pledges as shown above.
We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who attended the session and to colleagues who helped plan the workshop abstract and contributed to the discussions on the day.
CRP Representation at the NIHR North West RRDN Research Roadshow
CRP Representation at the NIHR North West RRDN Research Roadshow
Polly Bidwell, Senior Clinical Research Practitioner
My name is Polly Bidwell, and I am a Senior Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) with 19 years’ experience in research delivery, currently working in the R&D Department at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Teaching Trust.
I was pleased to be invited by my line manager Karen Palmer, Research Nurse Manager, to speak during a breakout session at the NIHR North West Regional Research Delivery Network (NW RRDN) Research Roadshow, held on Wednesday 29 April. The event brought together health and social care professionals from across the North West to celebrate regional research activity, share national priorities and reflect on the realities of delivering research in practice. The roadshow was hosted by Janette Dunkerley, NIHR NW RRDN Health and Care Director for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP), with keynote contributions from Professor Ruth Endacott, NIHR Director of Nursing and Midwifery.
I was invited to join a Provocation Panel exploring ‘Has building a research career genuinely become more accessible over the past decade, or have we simply become better at talking about opportunity while the same barriers quietly persist?’ I was flattered to be asked and felt it was particularly important to have CRP representation within this discussion to put forward the case that CRPs are often underrepresented when career pathways, leadership progression and funding opportunities are discussed. I feel that many opportunities continue to favour statutory registered clinical professions. Positive discussions were held around the significant improvements in recent years - including formal recognition of the CRP role, a professional register, NIHR learning pathways and a strong peer support community – but it was acknowledged that CRPs are still frequently overlooked for funding and progression.
One key question asked during the panel was: ‘If research careers are now more accessible, who is this progress benefiting, and who is being left behind?’. The discussion highlighted that while access has improved for regulated professions, CRPs continue to face barriers. Encouragingly, Professor Ruth Endacott acknowledged this gap and spoke positively about the need to address career progression and funding opportunities for CRPs moving forward.
This marked the first of Professor Ruth Endacott’s visits across the 12 Regional Research Delivery Networks and provided a valuable opportunity to hear directly about national direction while showcasing the strength and diversity of research delivery within the North West. I feel it is important that we have a strong CRP representation at these events to carry the message forward and to help ensure a career in research is more attractive for this highly skilled and passionate part of our research workforce.
Showcasing the CRP Role: Attending the MFT NMAHP Conference 2026
Showcasing the CRP Role: Attending the MFT NMAHP Conference 2026
The theme of this year’s annual Nursing, Midwifery, and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHP) Conference at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) was Nurturing a New Era of Healthcare Together: Empowering Care Transitions Between Hospital and Community.
Two Clinical Research Practitioners (CRPs) saw this as a fantastic opportunity to showcase the vital role of CRPs in the modern NHS. Sharon Morrison and Shannon Galgani both successfully submitted abstracts for presentation at the conference. Here each talks about the work they presented and their experiences of attending the conference.
From Clinic to Couch: Remote Research Visits in the STARR Study
From Clinic to Couch: Remote Research Visits in the STARR Study
Shannon Galgani, Senior CRP and PhD Student
Shannon's spoken presentation was in front of a live audience at Wythenshawe Hospital where Shannon explained:
“The STARR study, led by CI Dr Paul Marsden, investigated whether the triggers and sensations associated with coughing changed after standard of care treatment (1).
Fellow CRP Nadia Rashid and I recruited 80 participants from the Manchester Cough Clinic to this study yet noted several patient- reported barriers to participation. This included time constraints, travel distance, and difficulty attending the ward/clinic during working hours due to work or caring responsibilities. Clinical appointments increasingly being moved to virtual platforms also made it difficult to align face-to-face research visits with clinical visits.
To address this, I led a study amendment that allowed participants to complete the research visits remotely after consent. Participants could take home a study pack or receive it by courier: allowing them to complete the procedures at a time and date that suited them, with researcher support provided by telephone as needed. Recruitment increased by 65% in the 5 months after remote visits were introduced, compared to the five months prior! Participant feedback was positive, with many choosing to receive/pick up their remote pack on a weekday and complete the materials over the weekend.
Overall, we demonstrated that remote research visits improved inclusivity, recruitment and adherence to study timelines.”
Shannon added: “It’s been fantastic to learn more of the work conducted by fellow NMAHP and CRP colleagues, as well as develop my own presentation skills by presenting this data orally and as a poster”.
Supporting Community-Based Research into Childhood Obesity
Supporting Community-Based Research into Childhood Obesity
Sharon Morrison, CRP
Sharon showcased her work at a poster presentation on the Manchester Royal Infirmary Oxford Road Campus site.
The poster detailed the impact CRPs are having on increasing accessibility to research for parents and children. Sharon explained: "I felt the theme perfectly aligned with the work being carried out by myself and my CRP colleague, Nathan Sullivan, on a community-based research study focused on reducing childhood obesity: HENRY III (2)."
The study investigates the effectiveness of a community-based support programme delivered in local children's centres. Sharon's poster highlighted how CRPs removed common research barriers, such as the costs and time associated with travel and childcare, by conducting home visits for questionnaires and measurements.
Sharon said “I now know how to write an abstract and have learnt new skills related to producing an impactful poster. I also found attending the conference highly valuable. I enjoyed learning about various projects that align with the government's ‘left shift’ ambition for the NHS, moving care closer to home”.
A key highlight was the sense of professional acknowledgment. Sharon said: "One of the most significant aspects of the day was the feeling of recognition. Taking a seat alongside my nursing, midwifery, and allied health professional colleagues at the conference felt like a major acknowledgment of CRPs as a valued and integrated part of the NHS workforce.”
Acknowledgements: The STaRR study was supported in part by a research grant from Investigator-Initiated Studies Program of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The opinions expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of MSD Sharp & Dohme Corp. Shannon Galgani is supported by the NIHR Manchester BRC (NIHR203308).
References: King, J., Galgani, S., Digby, J.W., Mitchell, J., Holt, K.J., Dockry, R.J., Parker, S.M., Prior, K.,Sawyer, C., Yorke, J. and Smith, J.A., 2025. Clustering patients with chronic cough using reported sensations and triggers: results from the Triggers and Sensations Provoking Coughing questionnaire. Chest, 168(6), pp.1415-1424.
The HENRY III study. Available from: https://www.henry3study.com/ Accessed 08 May 2026].HENRY III is funded by the National Institute for Health & Social Research Public Health Research Programme and jointly sponsored by the Universities of Leeds, York, Bradford, and Sheffield.
Finally...
Finally...
A new edition to the CRP Learning and Development Framework
A new edition to the CRP Learning and Development Framework
‘A Day in the Life of a Clinical Research Practitioner’ video being added to the CRP Learning and Development Framework. In this video Harriet and Sophie provide an insight into a day of working in clinical research.
Remember to revisit your CPD
Remember to revisit your CPD
It's been over a year since the last CRP CPD audit, so it would be a good idea to revisit your CPD and make sure your CPD log is up to date.
There are lots of learning resources related to CPD on the Continuing Professional Development section of the CRP Learning and Development Framework including a CPD log template.
Keeping your details up to date
Keeping your details up to date
To help us support you and the CRP Community it's very important that you keep your contact details up to date, including the region where you work.
You can update your details here.
Connect on social media
Connect on social media
Check out the latest tweets on X (Twitter) using the hashtag #CRPractitioner - you can:
Want to contribute?
Want to contribute?
If you have any stories or information you would like to share, please contact your local CRP Engagement Lead.
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