My experience at the NIHR - Clinical Research Network Coordinating Centre 

I was selected as one of the first cohort of black health data science interns on the HDR UK Black Internship Programme and chose to be hosted by NIHR CRN. I was thrilled to get invited for an interview by Stephen Lock, NIHR’s Head of Business Intelligence and even more delighted to hear I was accepted for the programme. I must confess however that I had a different picture of what I would be doing at NIHR and so finding out what the NIHR CRN and the Business Intelligence team does was a surprise. 

Going in, I assumed I would be working with patient data and was looking forward to using my statistical analysis skills and writing up study findings as my goal is to build my career in health research and academia. Well, what I found instead was more of a ‘behind the scenes’ world of research and I then began to understand and appreciate the immense support, facilitation and training that goes into delivering a research study.

Working with the Business Intelligence team, I was involved in providing feedback on the open data platform from a user’s perspective. These resources are designed to inform and support researchers in designing, setting up and delivering their studies and provide loads of information for researchers and other stakeholders. I also worked with the key facilitator of the internship programme, Shamaila Anwar on a project on improving participation of ethnic minority communities in research, a subject I’m very passionate about. 

I worked on designing information materials to improve research awareness and participation among under-served communities in specific disease areas. Shamaila Anwar found any and every avenue to get the interns involved in mutually beneficial experiences and building our networks.

I have picked up valuable transferable skills in interpersonal communication, using Google Suite and other applications and have really enjoyed working with the team. And oh! so many acronyms: NIHR, CRN, CC, EDI, PPIE, LCRN, ODP, CPMS, and the list goes on.

The weekly team meetings and social catch-ups helped me feel part of the team as this was a totally remote programme. I had numerous opportunities to participate in events of interest to me, especially around Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) and improving ethnic diversity and inclusion in research. In addition, I have had exposure to activities of interest even outside the NIHR, for example I will be observing a Research Ethics Committee meeting, giving me more exposure to the activities behind research delivery.

I commend the HDR UK, the Alliance organisations and the NIHR CRN for ‘walking the talk’ and actively contributing to increasing diverse ethnic representation in health data science and research through this unique internship programme. I sincerely hope there will be more of this going forward.