A Derriford Hospital consultant has been recognised for his contribution to intensive care clinical research.
Dr Nikitas Nikitas, a consultant in intensive care medicine, was named as one of the winners of the Joint Intensive Care and National Institute for Health and Care Research Award 2023 alongside Brendan Sloan, a consultant in anaesthetics and intensive care medicine at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
The award celebrates the contributions of NHS employees to intensive care clinical research. Applicants have to show how they have contributed to the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio, with a focus on patient engagement and study participation numbers.
A grant has been given as part of the award which will be used for the educational and administrative support of Derriford’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) research nurses’ team.
Speaking about the achievement, Nikitas said:
“I am delighted to have received this year’s clinical research award. It is with my deepest gratitude for our joint work and their continuous support, advice, and trust, that I would like to dedicate this award to all members of our ICU Research team and of our Research and Development team, with whom I have been working together, for the last three years.
“This award supports our team’s efforts to continue developing our ICU clinical research delivery services and expanding our research portfolio, for the benefit of our patients.”
Dr Gary Minto, Derriford’s associate medical director for research and development said:
“This award is testimony to the success of our Intensive Care Unit’s (ICU) approach to embed research within everyday critical care.
“It is now routine for ICU staff to ask ‘do we have a clinical trial running which could benefit my patient?’ and take ownership for answering this question. In a very short period, we have grown from having a modest research footprint into being one of the most research active ICUs in the country.”
