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King’s Clinical Academic Training Office Newsletter - May 2022

King’s Clinical Academic Training Office (KCATO) had its official launch on Wednesday 4 May at an evening reception in the studio of the newly re-opened Science Gallery.

The KCATO was developed by the Centre for Doctoral Studies and works in partnership with the Health Sciences DTC to support research training of health professionals. The KCATO has been set up to offer advice, best practice and information on academic careers, recruitment, training and development for all health professionals across all stages of research training as well as support for grant applications and funding.

The launch followed the recent appointment of Professor Frances Williams, Professor of Genomic Epidemiology and Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist as the new Director of King’s Clinical Academic Training Office (KCATO) and Dr Rina Dutta, Reader in Suicidology and Psychiatry and Consultant Psychiatrist, who has been appointed as the Deputy Director of KCATO.

You can find further information on KCATO on our website, and connect with us on Twitter @Kings_CATO or email kcato@kcl.ac.uk.

PGR340 Advancing in Academia: Health Professionals

We are excited to announce that PGR340 Advancing in Academia: Health Professionals course is now available for booking. Please register via Skillsforge.

Advancing in Academia: Health Professionals is a blended learning course for health professionals in research roles who are planning dual careers in clinical practice and research. It seeks to demystify clinical academic careers, and the emphasis will be on managing the academic and research side of the dual career across two very different work cultures and the demands they place on individuals. You will hear from a host of colleagues across the health faculties, including KCATO Director Prof Frances Williams and KCATO Deputy Director Dr Rina Dutta as well as many experienced clinical academics including Prof Sir John Strang, Prof Angus Forbes and Prof Bijan Modarai.

The course will run over four themed weeks from Monday 6 June to Friday 1 July 2022.

• Week 1 - Is clinical academia for me?

• Week 2 - Planning and Strategising

• Week 3 - Applications and Pitches

• Week 4 - Summarising and wrapping up

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At the end of each week there is a live webinar with academics who will share their career insights and experiences and in week three there is an additional live workshop on job applications and pitching for research opportunities. The course is delivered by expert researcher careers consultants from King’s College London Careers and Employability and is structured to allow researchers to work at their own pace, connect with other professionals in similar situations and to foster discussion of the issues as they arise.

Third Annual Clinical Research Fellows Networking Meeting

The Crick Clinical Research Fellows Networking Meeting Organising will be hosting the third annual Clinical Research Fellows networking meeting at the Francis Crick Institute on Thursday 30 June 2022, 10:30-17:00.

This meeting will bring together doctoral clinical fellows from across the UK (including fellows who are part of the 4ward North Clinical PhD Academy, fellows at CRUK centres nationwide and fellows based at Crick’s five clinical programme partner institutions: Imperial College London, King's College London, UCL, The Institute of Cancer Research, Barts Cancer Institute/Queen Mary University of London), as well as MB-PhD students.

This meeting will provide an informal opportunity to meet other fellows from a range of clinical backgrounds to share research interests, to discuss challenges to developing a clinical/academic career, to hear clinician scientists speak about their career progression, and to participate in talks and poster presentations.

The full programme details and registration can be found here. The event is free but you must register by Friday 27 May 2022. Places are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Advanced Therapies Intensive

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in partnership with King’s Health Partners and King’s College London is offering, for the second time, a one-week transatlantic educational experience for trainees focused on the development of novel therapeutics. The intensive is led by Emma Meagher, MD from Penn, Anne Greenough, MD from KCL, and Francesco Dazzi, MD, PhD from KCL. The week will include presentations with expert faculty and small group learning activities.

The intensive will take place 12 – 16 September 2022, 1 PM BST - 5 PM BST (Except Fri, 16/9 – extends until 5:30pm BST) and will be delivered online with Asynchronous and Synchronous Components. There is no cost associated with this program.

Topics include:

• Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine with Farzin Farzaneh, PhD, Mauro Giacca, MD, PhD, and John McGrath, MD at King’s College London

• Clinical Trial Ethics with Steven Joffe, MD, MPH and Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBE at Penn

• Cell Therapies and Gene Editing with Andrew Fesnak, MD, MHCI and Elizabeth Hexner, MD, MSTR at Penn

• A Roadmap to Finalizing a Product with Nalaka Gooneratne, MD, MSc and D. Kacy Cullen, PhD at Penn

• A Roadmap to Commercialization with Cathy Prescott, DPhil and Dusko Ilic, MD, PhD at King’s College London

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Eligibility:

• MDs, PhDs, and PhD candidates (who have progressed in their studies beyond their prelim examination and/or upgrade viva) at Penn, CHOP, KHP, and KCL who are interested in developing novel therapies

• Participants must commit to full attendance and complete all assignments, inclusive of pre-readings, in advance of synchronous sessions

• Eight US and eight UK participants will be selected

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The application deadline is 27 May 2022. Materials required for a complete application include an application form which requires the submission of a CV and a recorded 5-minute elevator pitch briefly introducing yourself, describing your background, why you are interested in this intensive, and how you believe it will further your learning and career goals. Click here to submit an online application.

If you have any queries about the application process, please email: khplearninghub@kcl.ac.uk.

IMPARTS Courses

The IMPARTS course ‘Mental health skills for non-mental health professionals’ is a short, highly popular module for clinicians working in physical healthcare settings. Taking place one day a week over five weeks, teaching from highly experienced professionals will cover the most common mental health problems encountered in the general hospital setting. Teaching includes role play scenarios with specialist actors, and is a unique opportunity to confidentially share professional experience and expertise with peers. The course will take place on five consecutive Tuesdays between 7 June - 5 July and further information on the course, eligibility and how to apply can be found here.

HEE National Learners Assembly 2022

HEE National Learners Assembly 2022 will take place 09:30-16:30 on 27 May 2022. You can register for the free event here.

The Assembly is to meet, discuss and work to address your concerns to generate ideas and solutions to make medical and dental training more inclusive.

The morning is your chance to have your voice heard by senior leaders in healthcare including keynote speeches from Dr Navina Evans, CEO of HEE, and Prof Namita Kumar, Postgraduate Dean of Northeast and Yorkshire and chair of the HEEDS EDI committee.

The afternoon showcases best practice from learners across the country to inspire us all with enlightening talks from doctors in training across the country including topics such as mentoring, IMG induction, using enhanced simulation and experiences of VISAs.

International Day of Midwives and International Nursing Day

In celebration of the International Day of Midwives (5 May) and International Nursing Day (12 May), we are thrilled to be featuring a number of fantastic spotlights and articles about staff and students at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care. Discover six impactful articles from early career researchers here.

Making the Invisible Visible

The 6th Black Minority and Ethnic Early Career Researcher Hybrid Conference – how to stay in academia? is a hybrid conference hosted by University of West London and King’s College London. Taking place on Thursday 7th July 2022 with the theme ‘Making the Invisible Visible’. You can register and see the program and the speakers' profiles here.