Meet The Team

Rachel has been a nurse for 36 years. She has worked in 4 different countries and 30 hospitals. She brings expansive nursing and life experience along with boundless enthusiasm. She has found this first year with the team incredibly rewarding. She is excited to be part of this growing team and feels passionately about getting everyone involved in research.

After graduating university with an undergrad degree in Pharmacology I started as a clinical trials assistant in June 2021 working at West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals NHS trust. I covered  multiple specialities such as respiratory, stroke, critical care,  gastro, maternity and public health. In October 2022 I moved to St Barts Hospital to work as a clinical trials practitioner in their cancer research delivery group specialising in CTIMP trials for Genitourinary cancers.

Chinnu has been with the LEH Primary and Community Care Research team for under a year and she brings a real passion for Clinical Research with her. She has a master’s degree in nursing and three years of clinical experience on a surgical ward. She is excited to apply her skills to the research process and is thrilled to be a part of such a dynamic and dedicated team and she is looking forward to contributing to their important work.

Hannah has worked as a registered nurse for over 15 years working in Acute Medical and Surgical Wards, A&E and as a Specialist Sister in Cardiology where she spent 11 years working in the Cath Lab on the Coronary Care Unit. Hannah worked on the front line throughout the Pandemic which to date remains one of the most challenging and rewarding times of her career. 

She has worked in Research since 2022 in Secondary Care managing and expanding the Women's Health, Maternity and Paediatric Portfolios as well as working on End of Life, Acute Care and Respiratory Studies. Hannah has transitioned over to MSE to work with the LEH Primary Care Research Team and is passionate about removing barriers and making research accessible to all. 

Ashley is the Head of Research at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSENHSFT). Ashley began her career in research in 1994 after ten years in nursing and has held various roles withing the field of research management up until February 2020 when she was appointed Head of Research with a specific remit to merge the research teams across the three sites and the development of a five-year research strategy. The pandemic has delayed both these but work on the development of a Mid and South Essex, system wide, research strategy is not gaining momentum in collaboration with Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System and Anglia Ruskin Polytechnic University.

Ashley is passionate about clinical research and believes that the staff should be given the opportunity to develop and support research that will improve the experience and outcomes and believes this will give patients and carers the opportunity to participate in research that will give them access to new and innovative treatments and care.

Tracey has worked as a clinical research nurse for the past twenty-five years and has a wealth of experience as she has worked as both Research and Development Director level and as a Lead Research Nurse. Tracey has had the privilege of establishing research teams both in London and in Essex and she is passionate about developing staff and the research workforce. More recently she has been working with community primary care research teams and has had to problem solve various challenges working in non-NHS areas, GP practices, hospices, and schools. Tracey is passionate about being able to develop research within the local community as following the COVID pandemic there is a national drive that patients wish to be reviewed and treated within their local community wherever possible.

Ghazal has recently joined the North Thames CRN team as a Research Admin Coordinator for Primary Care, helping the delivery of Commercial and Non-Commercial studies and expanding the NIHR portfolio. Prior to joining the CRN Ghazal completed a Master of Clinical Neuroscience at King's College London.

Dr Charitha Thenuwara has been a fulltime general practitioner partner since 2006 and has seen many changes in primary care. He is married with three children and in his early years was looking for something different from the nine clinical sessions he was working. He originally became interested in research when he saw an article in a medical journal for trailing a dermato-scope and since then has not looked back. Working in a teaching practice meant that research was a natural fit. It makes a precious change to the weekly routine. Also meeting people from a completely different part of the health service is refreshing and academically stimulating. He has been involved in all sorts of trials from looking at the genetic make-up of patients with a low BMI to early medications in COVID positive patients. Research is well supported, and well remunerated and primary care is at the heart of research. Getting involved in research is something he feels all GPs should consider.