The research team

Christina leads the research activity at LOROS, developing projects, collaborating with research colleagues in universities and other hospices and enabling patients and families to participate in research. She supervises colleagues undertaking research for higher degrees and makes sure that findings are known locally, nationally and internationally so that patient care is improved.

Christina has worked as a consultant for 25 years and has been at LOROS since 2003. She is the NIHR East Midlands Clinical Research Network clinical speciality co-lead and a member of the National NIHR Motor Neurone Disease Clinical studies Group. She has also served on the National Association for Palliative Medicine Executive Committee, chairing the Education Committee and sitting on the specialty committee of the Royal College of Physicians.

Her research interests are:

• End of life care and assisted ventilation
• Anticipatory discussions, decisions about treatments and anticipatory medications for end of life care
• Empowerment and support of family carers

Zoebia has a passion for research particularly in the areas of ethnicity and disadvantage. She is a sociologist by background and her doctoral work explored the complex negotiation of identities by Pakistani and Bangladeshi severely disabled young people in the UK.

Before joining LOROS, Zoebia was the Heart of England Hub Manager for the Mental Health Research Network and a Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust (BSMHFT). She has been involved in a number of innovative projects at the University of Warwick’s Medical School and BSMHFT, including:

• An exploration of organisation, policies, process and service user and carer perspectives in relation to transition from Child to Adult Mental health services (TRACK Study, SDO Funded).
• A programme of research studies exploring the appropriateness of Early Intervention Services in Psychosis for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities (ENRICH programme, NIHR Funded).

At LOROS Zoebia draws on her work in mental health and research interests to undertake the development of novel work in the areas of health inequalities and diverse ethnic communities. Zoebia is the Principal Investigator for the NIHR funded ‘Thinking ahead about medical treatments in advanced illness: A qualitative study of barriers and enablers in end-of-life care planning with patients and families from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds’ (Reference: 17/05/30).

Zoebia is also involved in teaching at LOROS and Medical students at the University of Leicester.

As Research Manager, Wendy is helping to take forward the research strategy for LOROS, providing governance, monitoring and project management support to research projects, whilst ensuring the highest standards of research activity and compliance with statutory frameworks and the Health Research Authority.

Wendy’s interest in research began in 1991 working as a nurse at LOROS and becoming involved in projects happening at that time. She went on to progress her research career, working as a research nurse, and later a research manager, firstly at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and latterly for the University of Leicester. For the last four years Wendy has worked as the Research Governance Manager for the University of Leicester.

As a Research Nurse, Naomi will be helping to oversee the recruitment of patients to research studies taking place at LOROS, whilst ensuring the care teams are well-briefed about research development.

Naomi started working at LOROS over ten years ago as a registered nurse on the in-patient unit. In 2004, she undertook a secondment as a Research Nurse at Hayward House specialist palliative care unit at the Nottingham City Hospital. More recently, to accommodate a change in personal circumstances, Naomi has worked as a bank nurse on the Day Therapy Unit at LOROS, working closely with the CNS teams, out-patient clinics and therapists.

Naomi now works two days a week with the research team.

Dr Anne Patterson is a Research Fellow on the Thinking Ahead project.
She is an experienced researcher with a portfolio of projects in the area of health and social care. She is particularly experienced in using qualitative methodologies but also has quantitative research experience. Her ongoing research interests are in inequalities in health and social care provision in the context of potentially vulnerable and/or marginalised groups.

Matilda joined LOROS in October 2018 as a Research Associate to work on the Thinking Ahead project. She moved from Staffordshire University where she conducted a study on health professionals’ views and experiences of providing End of Life Care. Previously, she worked at UCLan as a Research Assistant.

Natalie is a Research Nurse at LOROS Hospice. She has been working in this role since October 2018. Prior to that she was a Research Nurse at UHL working in Genetics and Critical Care. Her main role is to screen, approach, consent and recruit participants into the research studies being undertaken at LOROS, always abiding by GCP principles and research protocols.

Emma has been employed at LOROS in the Research Department since September 2017 in the role of Administrator and PA to Professor Faull. Her role is very varied providing support to the whole team with a range of administration tasks, financial management, co-ordination and general support for the team.

She previously acquired a wide range of transferable skills from finance management, governance and regulation, management of large teams, to achieving and maintaining high level accreditations. She worked as a GP Practice Manager, led and managed large refurbishments and relocation projects and worked as a non–clinical operating theatre manager in a large private hospital.