NUH Researcher Sherif Gonem is improving lives with CARP project
NUH Consultants have been reaching for the stars with epoch-making research projects, benefiting patients who live with life-threatening heart conditions, lung disease, Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis and those who require kidney transplants.
Since 2019, five doctors at the Trust have received prestigious CARP (Clinical Academic Research Partnership) Awards, with NUH ranking fifth overall in the NIHR league tables as the Trust with the highest number of CARPs.
This means patients who attend the QMC and City Hospital benefit from cutting-edge research and innovation, which involves close partnership with academic leaders and scientists based both locally and nationally.
We spoke to Dr Sherif Gonem, one of our previous winners, about his research.
If you are a consultant at NUH who would like to apply for CARP, contact the Grants Team in Research & Innovation for advice: email - researchgrantapplications@nuh.nhs.uk
Dr Sherif Gonem
A consultant Respiratory Physician based at City Hospital and joint Divisional R&I Lead for the Medicine Division. In 2019, Dr Gonem was one of three CARP successes for NUH, and used his award time to develop an early warning system to monitor patients on respiratory wards, using AI and machine learning.
What did your CARP award win enable you to do?
Sherif Gonem (SG):
“CARP gave me time to undertake the project which I would not otherwise have had. Research is very time-intensive, it takes a lot of time to set a study up, and to do the work itself.”
How has your research project progressed?
SG: “It has gone really well, we’ve developed a ‘DEWS’ (Dynamic Early Warning score) with machine learning techniques and our first paper has been published in the journal Respiratory Research.
“We hope this will make patients safer by having a scoring system that is more sensitive and likely to pick up patient deterioration earlier. It will also make healthcare more efficient by reducing the number of medical reviews needed by doctors due to false alarms.”
What is your advice to others on making a CARP application?
SG: “Firstly, have a good research idea. This should be an important clinical question from your area of clinical expertise.
“Then seek advice early from the NUH R&I teams. I received help from Karen Asher (Head of the R&I Grants Team) and Kate Frost (Head of Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement) early on.
“Ultimately, the panel is investing in you as a person. Make sure you get letters of recommendation from NUH. You also need to let the panel know why NUH is the best place to do the research in terms of support infrastructure, expertise and data sources you can draw on.”
How has CARP benefitted your career?
SG: “It has helped a lot. CARP enabled me to take on other research roles and I am currently joint Research Lead for Medicine.
“It’s allowed me to increase my profile; I have written a journal article that has been viewed more than 1,000 times.
“CARP is a great opportunity. It gives you dedicated research time to develop and implement your idea. It is a very prestigious award and it can be a springboard to other grants applications and, fellowship applications. CARP has been a really positive experience, I’m glad I went for it.”