THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
RECRUITMENT ROLE PROFILE FORM
Job Title:Clinical Associate Professor in Molecular Pathology

School/Department:School of Medicine – Division of Cancer and Stem Cells

Salary:£75,249 - £101,451 per annum depending on seniority

Job Family and Level:Clinical Academic, Clinical Associate Professor

Contract Status:Permanent

Hours of Work:Full time

Location:Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham

Reporting to:Head of Division of Cancer & Stem Cells

Purpose of the New Role:

This is a new post of Clinical Associate Professor (Honorary Consultant) in Molecular Pathology. This has arisen due to the development of the Nottingham Molecular Pathology Node (NMPN) within the University of Nottingham.

NMPN is a collaborative research programme between the University of Nottingham (UoN), the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust and several industrial partners. It is part of a of a £16 million grant from The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to develop molecular pathology tests which will help deliver stratified medicine across a wide range of diseases.

The major purpose of this appointment is to deliver the aims of the NMPN which include (i) the development of a Masters-level molecular pathology training programme for clinicians and scientists in the NHS, academia and industry and (ii) the development of world-leading molecular pathology research, preferablyaligned to activity in NMPN. In addition, teaching undergraduates and postgraduates will be an important role and theappointee will contribute to an excellent Gastrointestinal (GI) and Respiratory clinical service within the Histopathology department of NUH. The person appointed will be required to devote the whole of their time to the duties of the post and give them priority at all times.

Academic Duties

The appointee will be responsible for the development of an MSc programme for molecular pathology and diagnostics. It is also expected that the appointee would fully participate in the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching as well as developing a portfolio of research activities (preferably dovetailing with the themes of the NMPN). Academic responsibilities will include:

  • Working with Professor M Ilyas and engaging with other nodes to develop and deliver an MSc programme for molecular pathology and diagnostics. This will comprise a number of modules which can be taken as stand-alone units or which can be combined to lead to award of an MSc degree. The program will be targeted to pathologists and non-pathologists within and outside Nottingham and support will be provided through the appointment of a full-time administrator.
  • Working with Professor M Ilyas to organise annual Molecular Pathology Summer Training schools
  • Delivering pathology teaching (including lectures and examinations) to postgraduate and undergraduate students (both within the University and the NHS)
  • Engaging in research activity including supervision and training of Ph.D. / DMstudents
  • Obtaining external grant funding
  • Submitting scientific articles for publication at a standard which is suitable for returning in the next round of the Research Excellence Framework.
  • Participating in management activities and local committees to support the Nottingham molecular pathology node research agenda.

Clinical duties

The appointee, in collaboration with the other consultants will be expected to fulfil the following duties with the agreed Job Plan.

  • To provide a comprehensive GI and Respiratory pathology diagnostic service, including full clinical liaison, to (i) Clinicians at NUH, treatment centre. (ii) Other hospitals that hold service level agreements for specialist services with NUH Trust such as Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust
  • To take a lead role in the development of specialist diagnostic techniques to meet the increasing demands of clinical users.
  • To be involved in the training of specialty trainees, scientific and BMS staff.
  • Provision of reciprocal cover for periods of leave
  • To contribute, as required, to the teaching of pathology to undergraduates and postgraduates within the Medical School of University of Nottingham.
  • To take part in Medical Audit and Quality Control.
  • To pursue a programme of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) with the Royal College of Pathologists and to participate in annual Individual Performance Reviews (IPR) and consultant appraisals.
  • To contribute to the requirements of Clinical Governance.
  • To share in the administrative duties associated with the running of a clinical laboratory.
  • If desired, there is opportunity to participate in a very active Coroner’s autopsy service. This work comes from the jurisdiction of Nottingham and Lincoln Coroner.

These duties are subject to regular review in the light of the changing requirements of the academic and clinical service. If alterations to the described duties are required these will bemutually agreed between the successful candidate, their academic and NHS Consultant colleagues, the University and the NHS Trust.

The person appointed will be expected to have a primary research and teaching commitment in conjunction with service responsibilities. It is anticipated that the job plan will comprise 5 academic University programmed activities and 5 GI/respiratory pathology service NHS programmed activities. However this will be negotiable and the proportion of academic activity could be increased. We will appoint the strongest candidate regardless of specific areas of research interest although research excellence in areas of hepatology, respiratory or luminal GI pathology would be preferred.

Other Duties as Agreed

The person appointed may eventually wish to take on other roles. Positions such as Clinical Director are offered by the NHS Trust on fixed-term contracts. Any positions offered by anyone outside the Trust (e.g. Training Programme Director, Regional College Advisor, Royal College Representative etc.) must be discussed with the Clinical Director, Head of Division and colleagues in advance of the position being accepted, so that consideration can be given to the job plan and whether this needs to be revised should the additional role be accepted.

Main Responsibilities / % time per year
1. / Provide high quality clinical orientated research in collaboration with colleagues both within and outwith the University of Nottingham. / 35%
2. / Undergraduate & postgraduate teaching in Pathology / 10%
3. / Clinical service work & SPA, including leadership, service developments in the NHS, CPD / 50%
4. / Academic administration. / 5%

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications/ Education /
  • PhD or MD, or equivalent,
  • FRCPath or equivalent,
  • Entry on GMC Specialist Register; eligible for entry on Register or within six months of receipt of Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) at time of interview.
  • Evidence of continuing professional development (existing consultants must be able to demonstrate active participation in a recognised relevant CPD & EQA scheme).
/
  • Teaching qualification,
  • Relevant managerial qualifications and experience,
  • Member of relevant Professional Societies,

Research skills and training /
  • Experience in Molecular Pathology and diagnostics,
  • Ability to manage a research portfolio
  • Prestigious publications in peer-reviewed journals,
  • Experience in supervising post-graduate (PhD and MSc) students and undergraduate (BMedSci and BSc) students,
  • Experience of gaining ethical and R&D approval for studies,
  • Ability and experience to contribute to the University of Nottingham and NMPN goals, for example through serving on committees,
/
  • Proven ability to attract research funding,
  • Laboratory experience as a post-doctoral researcher,
  • Active interest in developing novel research methodology,

Teaching skills and training /
  • Aptitude and ability to teach post-graduate students,
  • Aptitude and ability to teach undergraduate medical students,

Diagnostic skills and training /
  • Ability to offer expert clinical opinion in GI and / or Respiratory Pathology,
  • Experience of supervising junior doctors in training,
  • Experience of audit,
  • Ability and willingness to work within the Trust and NHS performance framework and targets,
/ Active interest in developments in GI & Respiratory pathology,
Statutory/Legal /
  • Satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service.
  • Full GMC registration with a licence to practice at the time of appointment.

Other /
  • Ability to work in a team,
  • Good interpersonal skills,
  • Enquiring, critical approach to work,
  • Ability to communicate effectively with health professionals and members of the public,
  • Commitment to Continuing Medical Education and the requirements of Clinical Governance and Audit
  • Willingness to adopt the Ethos and Principles of the School of Medicine to improve the student experience.

Decision Making

i)taken independently by the role holder

Decisions regarding personal research projects.
Clinical decisions at Consultant level involving patient care.

ii)taken in collaboration with others

Development of MSc program in Molecular Pathology within NMPN
Collaborative research within the University Division or School.
Clinical care planning within the MDT.

iii)referred to the appropriate line manager (please name) by the role holder

Clinical and Academic job planning.
Decisions regarding clinical service development and academic development.
The line manager for clinical matters will be Dr I Soomro, Head of Service for Histopathology. The line manager for academic matters will be ProfessorP Patel, Head of Division.

Additional Information

Applicants will be considered on an equal basis, subject to the relevant permission to work in the UK as defined by the requirements set out by the UK Border and Immigration Agency. Please visit for more information.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Professor Mohammad Ilyas, Tel: 0115 8230735; Email: or Dr Irshad Soomro (head of service) Tel 0115 969 1169 ext. 57706 (). Please note that applications sent directly to these email addresses will not be considered.

This is primarily an academic post and the emphasis is on research and teaching together with a service delivery component. The context for these activities is given below.

Research

The successful candidate will develop a full portfolio of research with an expectation of obtaining external grant funding, supervision of PhD student supervision and publication of original peer-reviewed research. NMPN will provide unique opportunities to develop research collaborations both within the node and with other nodes in the network. Whilst research activity would preferably align with the activities in NMPN, this is not an absolute requirement as long as the successful candidate brings knowledge/technical skills which can be used within the research programs in NMPN.

The multidisciplinary nature of the NMPN will allow both innovation and clinical translation. The NMPN will build a novel infrastructure to produce world-class innovative research and progress new biomarkers from discovery, down the development pathway into the clinic. It is a multi-disciplinary programme with the following departments contributing to its infrastructure:

  • University of Nottingham Advanced Data Analysis Centre (ADAC)
  • Empath and the Academic Unit of Molecular Pathology
  • Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre Biomedical Research Unit (NDCC BRU)
  • Nottingham Respiratory Research Unit (NRRU)
  • Nottingham Health Sciences Biobank (NHSB)
  • Industrial partners for NMPN include Gilead Science, Nordic Biosciences, Galecto Biotech, Biogen Idec chest, GE/Omnyx and Source Biosciences. Expressions of interest to join NMPN have been received from Roche, Merck-Serono, Johnson & Johnson, Barco, TissueGnostics.

The NMPN is themed around infection/inflammation/fibrosis in the lungs and the gastrointestinal tract (including liver). Specific areas of research will include:

  • Intelligent search informatics
  • Computational data analytics
  • Histogenic Molecular Mapping and Reverse Phase Proteomic Analysis
  • Molecular endotyping of chronic fibrotic lung disease.
  • Markers of tissue remodelling to determine the activity of destructive lung diseases.
  • Molecular microbiological signals to stratify patients and monitor therapeutic responses in CF.
  • Stratification of chronic liver disease and evaluation of efficacy of interventions
  • Prognostic biomarkers for Helicobacter pylori-induced gastro-duodenal disease.

Teaching

Both campuses within Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust are major centres for undergraduate and postgraduate education and teaching. The successful candidate will be expected to play a full role in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

Clinical Activity

This appointee is expected to play a major part in the delivery of the specialist GI & Respiratory pathology service including related non-gynaecological cytology and MDT meeting commitments. This post is primarily based at the Queen’s Medical Centre Campus. This may change as a result of service reconfiguration although no such plans currently exist. The Cellular Pathology service is embedded within East Midlands Pathology (Empath).

The GI Pathology service provides diagnostic and surgical pathology services including molecular testing to NUH and is numerically the largest volume service provided by the NUH Histopathology laboratory. It is based primarily at the Queen’s Medical Centre campus with contributions from Pathologists at the City Hospital campus. The work is varied and encompasses a wide variety of areas including inflammatory and neoplastic diseases of the luminal GI tract, the liver/biliary system and the pancreas. The Respiratory pathology service is based at the City Hospital campus and most of the work relates to diagnosis of lung and mediastinal cancers.

The appointee will provide help to the bio-bank in sample collection including cancer and non-cancer cases. There are ample opportunities to develop teaching skills. There are 16 histopathology trainees available for training who actively share the cut-up rota in histopathology. This gives them opportunity to learn and also support the service component of their job. Histopathology registrars are taught on multiheader microscopes.

Job Plan

The following draft Job Plan reflects our best assessment of what the final plan will be, based on 10 PAs. This includes 1.5 SPA for CPD, appraisal, job planning and revalidation. An additional 1 SPA could be given if there is any special duty. The Job Plan will be subject to review after one year or earlier if necessary and further annual review.

PROGRAMMED ACTIVITIES:

Clinical:

Laboratory clinical diagnostic Work (DCC) / 3.75
Autopsy work (optional and time-shifted)
Multi-disciplinary meetings (DCC) / 0.5
Audit, CPD, Appraisal, Job planning, revalidation (SPA) / 0.75
Sub Total / 5.0

Academic:

Training (MSc course) / 1.5
Medical Education (Undergraduate, Post-graduate) / 0.5
Research / 2.25
Management / 0.75
Sub Total / 5.0
TOTAL PAs / 10[SH1][UoN2]

Administrative Support

Office accommodation and administrative support will be provided by the Trust and University, as will a PC with Email and Internet access. All consultants are required to check their hospital Email regularly.

Appendix 1

The University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham is a global-leading, research-intensive university with campuses in the UK, Malaysia and China. Our reputation for world-class research has yielded major scientific breakthroughs such as Nobel-winning MRI techniques, drug discovery, food technologies and engineering solutions for future economic, social and cultural progress.

Already ranked among the UK’s elite universities and global polls for research excellence, our reputation for world-class research has been further enhanced with the 2014 results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

In addition to scoring highly in quality rankings covering major disciplines in science, engineering, the social sciences, medicine, business and the arts, it is Nottingham’s research power rankings which demonstrate the impressive volume of excellent research which is carried out. We are now ranked 8th in the UK on a measure of ‘research power’ which takes into account both the quality of research and the number of research-active staff who made REF returns, confirming Nottingham’s place in the top tier of the world’s elite higher education institutions.

The main University campus is set beside a lake, in an extensive belt of woodland, parks and playing fields. The 330 acre University Park Campus is the focus of life for more than 32,000 students and houses the majority of the University’s academic schools and many of the central Services. The Jubilee campus is situated 2 miles away from the University Park, and provides extra capacity. The University Medical School is situated next to the University Park. Together with the University Hospital, it forms the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC).

University of Nottingham Medical School

Nottingham has a strong reputation for both clinical medicine and teaching. As one of the most popular medical schools in the country, it is able to select excellent students and produce and attract good junior doctors.

The School of Medicine was formed following Faculty reconfiguration on August 1st 2013. The new School of Medicine comprises the Divisions of Cancer and Stem Cell Sciences, Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Clinical Neuroscience; Epidemiology and Public Health; Primary Care; Psychiatry and Applied Psychology; Rehabilitation and Ageing; Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine; Respiratory Medicine; Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology and the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre. The School also hosts the Medical Education Centre, the Centre for Interprofessional Education and Learning, the Clinical Research Facility, the Clinical Skills Centre, NIHR design Service East Midlands, Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, PRIMIS and Medical Imaging Unit.

The new School of Medicine brings together in one School staff undertaking research for the benefit of the health of patients. It includes all primary care and hospital-based medical and surgical disciplines, principally in the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital Nottingham Campuses, Royal Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and also at the University’s main campus and at the King’s Meadow and Jubilee Campuses. Most of our School’s Senior Researchers and Teachers are also clinicians who dedicate 50% of their time to patient care within the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust & Royal Derby Hospitals NHS Trust. This close juxtaposition brings cutting-edge clinical care to our patients and clinical relevance to our research and teaching. We are closely integrated with our full time NHS clinical colleagues, many of whom are themselves leaders in research and teaching and who work closely with the University and this increases the mutual benefit from integration between the University and NHS.

Mission:

Our mission is to improve human health and quality of life locally, nationally and internationally through outstanding education, research and patient care.

Priorities:

  • Teaching and learning, particularly training tomorrow’s doctors and teaching specialised postgraduates
  • Research and research training: We will perform and support the highest quality “big” research which impacts on human health and disease
  • Partnership with the NHS and other healthcare providers
  • Visibility and profile of the School of Medicine:We will do what we do better, and we will tell others about it
  • Ethos and principles:
  • Having people and patients at the heart of all we do: our teaching and learning, our research and our patient care
  • Contribution within the School ofMedicine and to society beyond our immediate roles; helpfulness and service
  • Openness and fairness, with particular emphasis on communication (both internal and external) and on equality and diversity among students and staff
  • Personal and group responsibility for all aspects of our work, within a culture of opportunity and reward

Our research spans 11 major themes, ranging from cancer to vascular medicine.We work closely with industry and the NHS. Our world-leading research ranges from basic and translational science through to clinical trials, epidemiology, and health services research. Our clear theme is improving human health, underpinning a vibrant postgraduate research training programme leading to PhD or DM. Many of our academics are clinicians, using their expertise to provide cutting edge specialised treatment to NHS patients; reflecting our ethos that patients are at the heart of all we do.