UCL SCHOOL OF LIFE AND MEDICAL SCIENCES UCL FACULTY OF POPULATION HEALTH SCIENCES UCL Institute of Health Informatics Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research The Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, London: Non-Clinical / Clinical Senior Lecturer (Honorary Consultant) ______________________________________________________________________________ 1 The Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, London invites applications for these two newly created, HEFCE funded Clinical or Non-clinical Senior Lecturer posts. These positions will play a pivotal role in leading and enhancing the research expertise that is being brought together in the Farr Institute, London. These exciting opportunities will suit engaging and inspirational researchers, with a strong track record of research in a field relevant to exploiting emerging opportunities in electronic health records, ‘big data’ and digital health. The Appointees: will have a strong methodological background in one or more relevant disciplines including: health informatics, medical bioinformatics, imaging, genomics, computer science, biostatistics, epidemiology and clinical trials. There are no preconditions as to the field of clinical interest, although consideration will be given to synergy with existing scientific programmes of the Farr Institute London. These include, but are not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, mother and child health, infection, cancer, neurodegeneration, eyes, musculoskeletal and mental health. The appointees will draw on the wealth of research excellence and translational experience brought together in UCL Partner organisations. The post-holder will foster the development of a vibrant culture of translational science, and will act as role models for scientists at all stages in their careers. The successful candidates will be expected to leverage the multidisciplinary culture that characterises the Farr Institute London, and for which UCL is also renowned. The successful candidates will base their research activities at the Farr Institute and for clinical appointees conduct their clinical activities at an appropriate clinical partner. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The mission of the Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research is to improve the health and well-being of the population through world-class research, education and public engagement. The Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research comprises four nodes distributed across the UK and led from the University College London (Farr Institute @ London), University of Manchester (Farr Institute @ HeRC N8), Swansea University (Farr Institute @ CIPHER), and the University of Dundee (Farr Institute @ Scotland). With a £17.5m-research award from a 10-funder consortium, plus additional £20m-capital funds from the Medical Research Council, the Farr Institute aims to deliver high-quality, cutting-edge research linking electronic health data with other forms of research and routinely collected data, as well as build capacity in health informatics research. The Farr Institute aims to provide the academic –NHS – industry partnerships and the physical and electronic infrastructure to facilitate collaboration across the four nodes, support their safe use of patient and research data for medical research, and enable partnerships by providing a physical structure to co-locate NHS organizations, industry, and other UK academic centres. The Farr Institute, London is a collaboration between Higher Education Institutions (UCL, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary University of London), the National Health Service organisations in UCL Partners and Public Health England. The Director is Professor Harry Hemingway (UCL) and the Deputy Director Professor Liam Smeeth (LSHTM) and there are 33 co-investigators from across the partners. The Farr Institute has newly refurbished accommodation at 222 Euston Road in central London with space for 140 staff and dedicated teaching space for 50 students. The Farr Institute, London brings together researchers, clinicians and those with an interest in e-health records research in an environment to foster collaborations and to establish a centre of excellence in innovative health informatics research to maximise translational impact from discovery through trials to clinical practice, service delivery, patient outcomes and public health. Our aim is to establish research programmes spanning the translational cycle, exploiting our nationally leading informatics strengths in areas 2 of major clinical and public health importance. The vision is to harness the scale and phenotypic depth of linked electronic health records for research that can be translated into improvements in health for patients and communities. Expertise from across the institutions is brought together from clinical areas (hospital clinical medicine, primary care), across scientific disciplines (health informatics, epidemiology, biostatistics, computer science and genomics) and across translational phases (from discovery, through experimental medicine, to trials and quality of care and outcomes research, and public health). The Farr Data Lab (London) leads the linkage and curation for research of a diverse set of national and local electronic health record and administrative health data sets and undertakes methodological research with regards to phenotyping such sources and performing randomized trials. National record sources: CALIBER (www.caliberresearch.org), curates an expanding range of linkages between multiple national electronic health record sources: the longitudinal primary care data (Clinical Practice Research Datalink), the national disease and procedure registries (Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project), hospitalisation and procedure data (Hospital Episode Statistics) and cause-specific mortality and social deprivation data (Office of National Statistics) in cohorts of ~1.25M adults (with 10M years of participant follow-up). The resource will be expanded with further planned linkages such as additional registries from the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR), cancer registries and other EHR and secondary care data sources. Hospital Informatics: Instigated by NHS Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies, the NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative (HIC) is a collaborative project involving the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and four other BRCs (Cambridge, Guys and St. Thomas’, Imperial and Oxford) seeking to unlock and make available for research rich phenotypic data currently held in clinical information systems. The NIHR HIC will design and develop an IT platform across five participating BRCs and clinical areas (clinical care, ovarian cancer, renal transplantation, acute coronary syndrome and viral hepatology) facilitating the capture, sharing and curation of collected care data for research. The Farr Institute, London has invested in substantial eInfrastructure including a dedicated secure data safe haven (which is ISO/IEC 27001 certified), a high performance computing cluster and large-scale research data storage. We have implemented a virtual machine infrastructure to make pseudonymised clinical data collected from over 36,000 cardiovascular patients at Barts accessible to Farr researchers, which builds on a secure data transfer layer enabling data to flow between UCLP NHS Trusts and Farr. We have established a clinical information systems training platform for EMIS and Cerner clinical information management systems in order to facilitate training and capacity building with the aim of embedding health informatics training in the medical student curriculum, starting in autumn 2014. Farr Institute, London investigators also lead or are involved in other high-impact research projects such as a) the Administrative Data Research Centre – England, an ESRC-funded initiative for linking and making available for research administrative data (e.g. crime, education, finance) for research b) Genomics England, funded by the Department of Health to sequence 100,00 whole genomes from NHS patients with a rare disease, their families and patients with cancer and c) MRC Medical Bioinformatics award eMedLab, a partnership between UCL, the Francis Crick Institute, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute, LSHTM, and QMUL aiming to establish common eInfrastructure to facilitate the large-scale storage and high-throughput processing of genomic data linked to electronic health records. Farr Institute, London Academy has Europe’s leading masters programme in health informatics and has a long established reputation for research in architectures for electronic health records, clinical decision support and ehealth. The Institute will deliver an ambitious new MSc in Data Science for Research in Health and Biomedicine from 2015, and a range of short courses drawing on the inter-disciplinary strengths of UCL. The Academy hosts the Doctoral programme, currently with 20 PhD students. Academic clinical training at the Farr spans foundation year, clinical fellows and clinical lecturers. 3 The Farr Institute, London is now firmly established within the UCL management structure. In order to deliver the Farr mission UCL has established the Institute of Health Informatics in August 2014 in the Faculty of Population Health Sciences led by Professor Harry Hemingway. The Faculty of Population Health Sciences has established itself as UCL’s largest research-based faculty encompassing seven institutes. Research income across the Faculty of Population Health Sciences leapt from £48M in 2011, to £73M in 2013, and is now top the UCL tables for research funding. The Faculty hosts a number of longitudinal cohort studies such as Whitehall II, the British 1946 Birth Cohort and Life Study and incorporates the MRC Clinical Trials Unit. UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences (SLMS) brings together four UCL Faculties to create one of the largest and most prestigious aggregations of academics in biomedical, life and population health sciences. The School has a global reputation for teaching informed by cutting-edge research. A full profile of the School can be found at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/about-us. In addition to its Faculties, the School also coordinates three Research Domains (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/domains) which are informal networks that bring together researchers regardless of their host Faculty. Colleagues engage in as many of the domains as are relevant to their area of research activity, encouraging interdisciplinarity across our School and beyond. UCL also provides a range of services for computationally intensive research, including high performance and high throughput computing, software development and data management platforms. About UCL Partners: UCL Partners brings together over 40 NHS and higher education partners with a mission to improve health outcomes for the 6 million population served. UCLP Informatics Board is chaired by Professor Andrew Morris which is delivering innovations to drive both quality of care and research. DUTIES OF POSTHOLDERS These two full-time positions are expected to undertake a similar role within the Institute. The successful candidates will base their research activities at the Farr Institute London and for clinical appointees conduct their clinical activities at an appropriate clinical partner. One position is available from early 2015 and the other from August 2015. Leadership: As senior roles in the Farr Institute the post-holders will work effectively with the Farr Institute and UCL leadership teams to develop and implement an ambitious research strategy that realises the translational objectives of the Farr. Research & Knowledge Transfer: The post-holders will lead the development of excellent, sustainable programme(s) of EHR research which: meets the Farr Institute’s strategic scientific objectives develops ground-breaking independent research programme secures new funding applications from granting and commercial organisations complements and supports UCL’s overall strategy (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/about-us/slmspublications ; http://www.ucl.ac.uk/research seeks to maximise research effectiveness, by fostering links between individuals and appropriate research groupings and exploiting opportunities Teaching & Learning: To be responsible for the development, delivery and quality assurance of specific aspects of the teaching and learning within the Farr Institute Academy, including MSc and short course teaching PhD supervision, in accordance with UCL policy, procedures and regulations. The appointees will: contribute to the teaching programmes of the Institute at undergraduate and graduate levels. provide project topics and research supervision for MSc and PhD students ensure timely completion of research degrees and publications for research students attract to the Farr Institute postgraduate research students/fellows. 4 Key working relationships: Farr Institute, London Leadership team (Professor Harry Hemingway, Professor Liam Smeeth, Professor Andrew Hayward, Professor Ruth Gilbert, Professor Judith Stephenson, Professor Mark Caulfield, Professor Adam Timmis, Professor John Deanfield, Professor John Shawe-Taylor, Professor Ann Blandford) Staff and Research Groups in the Farr Institute , London (Dr Paul Taylor, Dr Spiros Denaxas, Dr Mike Barnes, Dr Steffen Petersen, Dr Richard Pebody, Dr James Carpenter, Professor Aroon Hingorani) Staff and Research Groups in the Institute of Health Informatics (Dr Paul Taylor, Dr Spiros Denaxas, Dr Henry Potts) Staff at all levels in the Directorate of the appropriate Trust (Professor David Fish, Professor Bryan Williams, Professor Andrew Morris) Directors and staff at other Farr Institutes in UK (Professor Andrew Morris, Professor Ronan Lyons, Professor Iain Buchan) Accountable to: The post-holders will be joining a team of senior investigators contributing to Farr, and responsible administratively to the Director of the Farr Institute (Professor Harry Hemingway). As with all senior investigators within Farr the idea is to develop their own research portfolios while contributing to the overall Farr endeavour (research, teaching, innovation). Appraisals will be undertaken annually by the Director and for clinical candidate’s job planning will be undertaken by UCL in conjunction with the appropriate Divisional Clinical Director. For Clinical Candidates only Clinical Duties / Job Plan: The post-holders will be awarded an Honorary Consultant Contract with an appropriate clinical or non-clinical partner (e.g. PHE, LGA, LA). The Job Plan will comprise a mixture of UCL Programmed activities and NHS/PH Programmed activities appropriate to the appointee’s interests and experience. The specific clinical duties will be agreed between the successful candidate, the Trust and UCL, depending on their specialty, but it is expected that these will include clinical research, clinics, theatre, grand round and clinical audit etc. On appointment, the post-holder will be expected to discuss and agree a detailed job plan including their personal and professional objectives with Professor Hemingway. These may include some clinical work with patients. An indicative Job Plan is shown below: Monday Tuesday Wednesday am Direct Care Direct Care pm Academic Academic Supporting Professional Activities Supporting Professional Activities Thursday Friday Academic Academic Academic Academic Administrative support A core administrative team provides full support on all financial, human resource, computing, teaching and Institute support (e.g. committees) activities. Administrative support for each research group/research programme is dependent upon the generation of funding by individual groups. Estates support Generous space allowances at 222 Euston Road, offer the opportunity for post-holders to move with their own group and / or for rapid expansion. 5 PERSON SPECIFICATION E = essential D = desirable Assessed by: A = application I = interview Qualifications / Certification Clinical and Non Clinical applicants must possess: E Higher academic degree e.g. MD/MS or PhD (or in final stages of preparation), or evidence of an equivalent level of attainment in research publications Clinical applicants must also possess: E Medical degree Accreditation by / membership of the Royal College of Physicians/Surgeons E Faculty of Public Health or equivalent national body E Certificate of Completion of Training, or equivalent (for clinical applicants) Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List or UK Public E Health Register(UKPHR) If included in the GMC/GDC Specialist Register in a specialty other than public E health medicine/dental public health, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health medicine practice Non-UK trained doctors must supply at interview evidence of eligibility for full E GMC registration and entry on specialist register in appropriate specialty A A/I A A/I A/I A/I A/I Skills / Experience Relevant publication record in high quality peer-reviewed journals E A Outstanding methodological skills in a relevant discipline including: health E informatics, bioinformatics, genomics, biostatistics, computer science, epidemiology, or clinical trials E Information governance issues in using big health record data A/I Excellent verbal and written communication and networking skills E A/I A track record of obtaining research grant funding D A/l Developing, delivering and evaluating teaching in a relevant discipline at D undergraduate and postgraduate level A/I Management of complex team based research projects to achieve research outputs on time and within budget Leadership skills in inter-disciplinary research collaborations Evidence of impact of applicants research on patient / public outcomes and/or the NHS Experience of presenting complex issues to diverse audiences including policy makers and other health stakeholders Experience of service on peer review and or policy making Committees Experience of collaboration with patients and/ or the public in research Skill and experience in clinical specialty to a nationally recognised high standard (clinical applicants) D A/I/R D D A/I A/I D A/I D D D A/I/R A/I/R A/I A/I Knowledge Awareness of the current UK and international policy environment relevant to E using electronic health records for research 6 A/I Awareness of the UK Higher Education context and implications for Farr E Institute Appreciation of NHS Plan and Clinical and Research Governance application in D clinical service delivery (for clinical applicants) Well-developed understanding of clinical training context (for clinical D applicants) A/I A/I A/I General The highest ethical and professional standards in research, education and E clinical practice and flexible attitude E Involvement in continuing professional development A/I Member of Medical Defence organisation (for clinical applicants) E A/I Involvement in professional activities external to the workplace D A/I Supervision of PhD students as first or second supervisor D A/I Developing and delivering teaching at undergraduate or postgraduate levels D A/I Evidence of promoting and leading interdisciplinary research programmes D A/I A/I In addition to the person specification criteria, the successful candidate will need to meet UCL’s expectations of: Academic excellence, as outlined in ‘Excellence and the UCL community: a shared endeavour’ (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excellence/), and Management competency as outlined in ‘Competency expectations of post-holders with management responsibilities (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/competencies/). Hard copies of these documents are available on request. These will inform the candidate's induction, probation, and appraisal, in discussion with the Head of Department. ENQUIRIES / VISITS – If you wish to discuss the posts informally, please contact Professor Harry Hemingway, Director, email: h.hemingway@ucl.ac.uk Applications Applications should be completed on line http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs/, however if you are having difficulty accessing the on-line recruitment system please contact Denise Beales (d.beales@ucl.ac.uk ) for advice. The closing date for applications is: Friday 16th January 2015 GENERAL INFORMATION Appointment The appointment will be made in accordance with UCL's Statutes and Regulations for Academic staff. Further details are available in the staff handbooks provided by UCL (available on request). Non-Clinical Candidates Appointment will be made on UCL Grade 9; the salary for which ranges from £50,200 to £54,841 (excluding London Allowance of £2,919.00). Progression through the salary scale is incremental. Cost of living pay awards are negotiated nationally and are normally effective from 1st August each year. 7 Clinical Candidates Appointment will be made at an appropriate point on the new Consultant Clinical Academic pay scale according to seniority (currently £75,249 - £101,451 pa plus London Weighting of £2,162 pa, superannuable). Calculation of basic salary and pay thresholds is based on the seniority indicated on the application form. A senior lecturer taking up his/her first NHS consultant level post will be appointed to the bottom point of the scale set out in Annex B – see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/ca/consultant_clinical_pay_appendix.php. Eligibility for additional pay thresholds and additional programmed activities, where agreed, will be paid in accordance with this table. Basic salary on commencement may be set higher than Threshold 1 subject to a successful claim supported by written evidence to reflect non-NHS consultant level experience and/or flexible training. If the successful candidate already holds a consultant-level post on the new clinical academic contract he/she will be asked to provide written evidence of the date of transfer and seniority agreed in order to ensure pay progression in a timely manner. In this instance clinical academics will become eligible for pay thresholds as set out in Appendix A or B (depending on when they transferred/were first appointed to the scale) that can be accessed on http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/ca/consultant_clinical_pay_appendix.php on the 1st of the month nearest the anniversary of their start date. Additional Programmed Activities, where agreed, will be paid according to this. A successful candidate holding a consultant-level post that opted to remain on the “old” contract will ‘transfer’ to the new Consultant Clinical Academic pay scale (Annex B) on taking up this post based on the seniority indicated on the application form. Appointment to the post will be subject to the successful applicant having obtained accreditation by the relevant Royal College. Full registration with the General Medical Council and acceptance on the GMC Specialist Register are requirements for this post. Appointment will be subject to Satisfactory pre-employment health screening by UCL and occupational health clearance from the relevant NHS Trust to ensure compliance with the Trust's infection control policies and associated health screening procedures and may require a 'research passport'. Terms and Conditions and Staff Benefits Please follow the links in the advertisement for information on UCL Terms and Conditions for Academic Staff and Employee Benefits. Diversity in the Workplace UCL recognises that in our society, individuals and groups are discriminated against both directly and indirectly on the grounds of: age, colour, disability, ethnic origin, gender, HIV status, marital, social or economic status, nationality, race, religious beliefs, responsibility for dependants, sexual orientation, trades union membership or unrelated criminal convictions. To counteract discrimination, UCL is committed to actively opposing all forms of discrimination, raising awareness and tackling the causes and consequences. It is committed to providing a learning and working environment in which the rights and dignity of all its members are respected and which is free from discrimination, prejudice, intimidation and all forms of harassment including bullying; to making staff and students feel valued, motivated and enabled to do their best work and to creating a safe, welcoming working environment accessible to all. The need to continuously update and improve our knowledge and skills in regard to assuring diversity means that all our courses include and address relevant aspects of the diversity agenda as required. 8 The online training consists of a package called Diversity in the Workplace and provides essential, up to date information about Diversity in UCL. It takes about an hour to complete. Completion is a requirement for all new starters within 6 weeks of joining UCL; details will be provided with their contract of employment. Honorary Clinical Contract An honorary Consultant contract will be awarded by the appropriate NHS Trust, Primary Care or PHE, this honorary contract will be governed by the Trusts’ Terms and Conditions of service applicable to such honorary medical and dental appointments, and in accordance with those of the Whitley Council. See also Specific Conditions Relating to the Clinical Aspects of this post at the end of this section. Job Plan A job plan will be agreed between the successful candidate, Head of the Farr Institute and appropriate Medical Director and will be kept under routine periodic review. As part of the Terms and Conditions of Employment post-holders are required to complete an integrated job plan on an annual basis, which will set out their duties, responsibilities and objectives as agreed with both their UCL manager and a representative of the NHS partner Trust. The UCL Clinical Academic Job Planning Guide and Job Plan template can be accessed at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/ca/. Where a Clinical Academic undertakes privately remunerated work that has not been expressly agreed in the integrated Job Plan, s/he may be asked by either the NHS Trust or UCL to undertake one additional PA. Agreeing to undertake an additional PA, if asked to do so, will form part of the criteria for pay progression. If UCL offers an additional PA and this is accepted by the individual s/he will have the right to engage in private practice for personal gain. In the event that UCL does not offer the additional PA the Clinical Academic still has the right to engage in private practice for personal gain outside the integrated Job Plan. Private Practice for Personal Gain Medical and dental staff may perform private clinical practice in accordance with conditions agreed by the Medical School, which are broadly in line with the University of London policy. (Full details are set out in the UCL Academic Staff Handbook.) Research Governance The post-holder will be expected to be familiar with the requirements of the Department of Health (DoH) and UCL research governance frameworks and to comply with all UCLH NHS Trust’s policies pertaining to research governance. This will include ensuring that all clinical research activities of the post-holder are approved by the Trust and an appropriate ethics committee before commencement. This will also include meeting all the Trust research audit, monitoring and training requirements. The UCL research governance framework can be found on the UCL website at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/jointrd-unit/ The DoH Research Governance Framework for health and social care can be found at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Researchanddevelopment/AtoZ/Researchgovernance/DH_4002112 Specific Conditions Relating to the Honorary Clinical Contract Clinical Governance The post-holder will comply with the NHS Trust’s clinical governance requirements and participate in related initiatives where appropriate. This will include participating in clinical audit and review of outcomes, working towards achievement of national and local performance management targets, complying with risk management policies, and participating in the consultant appraisal process. 9 The post-holder will also be responsible for maintaining satisfactory patient notes and, when relevant, for entering data on to a computer database in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Data Protection Act. Confidentiality All employees are required to exercise discretion and maintain confidentiality at all times. Criminal Record In view of the nature of the work this post is exempt from Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exemption Order 1975). Applicants are, therefore, not entitled to withhold information about convictions including those which for other purposes are “spent” under the provisions of the Act. In the event of employment, any failure to disclose such convictions could result in dismissal or disciplinary action by UCL. Any information given will be completely confidential and will be considered only in relation to application for positions to which the order applies. It is now NHS policy that all new staff with patient contact will require satisfactory disclosures from the Criminal Records Bureau; disclosures will therefore be sought for all new medical appointments. Such checks will be carried out by the NHS Trust with which the honorary clinical contract for this post is held. Customer Awareness UCLH NHS Trust expects its employees to communicate with colleagues, patients and visitors in a polite and courteous manner at all times. Hepatitis B All employees who perform "exposure prone procedures" should be immunised against Hepatitis B; antibody response should be checked on a regular basis. All employees must report to Occupational Health within two weeks of taking up appointment. Failure to comply with this, or the new regulations pertaining to Hepatitis B, may result in an employee being suspended from duty. Insurance Policy UCLH NHS Trust accepts no responsibility for damage to or loss of personal property with the exception of small valuables handed to their officials for safe custody. Staff are therefore recommended to take out an insurance policy to cover their personal property. Patients Charter UCLH NHS Trust is committed to meeting the rights and standards required by the Patients Charter; staff are expected to be aware of these rights and standards to be fully involved and co-operate in meeting them. Recruitment and Selection All employees who are responsible for recruiting new staff are required to attend an in-house recruitment and selection training course before they can be involved in the recruitment process. Residential Criteria It is considered acceptable for new employees to commute a distance of approximately 25 miles to the hospital unless there are exceptional circumstances or job requirements that prevent this. Trust staff must be able to contact a consultant by telephone. Risk Management All UCLH NHS Trust staff have the responsibility to report all clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly and when requested, to co-operate with any investigation undertaken. Use of Ionising Radiation Under the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000 the Trust is obliged to maintain a register of all persons entitled to act as Practitioners or Operators (i.e. to justify or to carry out a medical exposure) 10 and to keep records of their training. If this post includes the responsibilities of either “Practitioner” or “Operator” as defined by these regulations you must provide the Trust with evidence of training. This should include evidence of completion of an approved training course plus details of practical experience. Please note that if, during the course of their duties, employees refer a person for a medical exposure they are obliged to provide sufficient relevant clinical information to the Practitioner who justifies the use of ionising radiation. Employees are expected to follow any guidelines for such referrals, which the Trust provides. 11 Supplementary information The UK Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research The Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research was formally announced by Rt Hon David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, on 3 July 2013. In addition to health benefits for patients and UK citizens, the Institute will help to cement the UK’s reputation as a world leader in research using large electronic health data Capitalising on the unique opportunities afforded by NHS data across the UK, the new Institute will enable data to be harnessed for patient and public benefit on a massive scale. Concentrated in the four HIRCs, the Farr Institute acts as the nexus of the wider UK Institute network and makes the UK the come-to place for data-intensive, translational health science. The aim of the Farr Institute is to integrate and scale, at the UK level, the work of the four Centres. The Institute will thus provide a new UK-wide focus for each of the workstreams in the Centres: e-infrastructure, research, capacity and public engagement. The Four Centres of Excellence in e-Health Informatics Research The Farr Institute in Scotland is a collaboration between NHS Scotland and six academic Institutions (Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Strathclyde, Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews), led by the University of Dundee. The Farr Institute in Wales is a multi-national research collaboration led from Swansea University, with investigators from a number of other UK universities (Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Leicester, and Sussex). The Farr Institute in North England is a research centre created to consolidate the Health Informatics groups research base into a combined programme managed through a 'hub' at the University of Manchester and 'spokes' in the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool, and York. The Farr Institute in London brings together its Higher Education Institutions (UCL, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary University of London), the National Health Service organizations in UCL Partners and Public Health England (formerly the Health Protection Agency) to supports a relentless drive for improving patient outcomes, teaching and research across its 6 million-strong local population. The UK Health Informatics Research Network The UK Health Informatics Research Network (Network) is a research network led by the Farr Institute of Health Informatics bringing together the four Farr Centres. It is supported by a 10-funder consortium co-ordinated by the Medical Research Council (MRC). The lead institutions of the Network are the Universities of Dundee, Manchester, Swansea, and University College London. The University of Dundee is the co-ordinator of the Network. The Network’s mission is to address healthcare challenges nationally and globally by harnessing large health data sets and making the UK the come-to place for data-intensive, translational health science to improve patient care and public health. The Network aims to partner with NHS, industry, government, academia, and the public who are interested in the design, linkage, conduct and analysis of e-health related research. It aims to build and sustain a vibrant e-health informatics research capability in the UK and facilitate information exchange about research opportunities and best practice, including consideration of ethics and governance issues. The Farr Institute in London The Farr Institute in London brings together Higher Education Institutions (UCL, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary University of London), the National Health Service organisations in UCL Partners 12 and Public Health England (formerly the Health Protection Agency). The Director is Professor Harry Hemingway (UCL) and the Deputy Director Professor Liam Smeeth (LSHTM) and there are 33 co-investigators from across the partners. UCL Partners UCLPartners was originally established as one of five Academic Health Science Centres in 2009. Since then, UCLPartners has developed in geographical scope, remit, and ambition. Our partners now represent a population of about 6 million people across North Central and North East London, South and West Hertfordshire, South Bedfordshire and South West Essex. Our purpose is to deliver in partnership, measurable population health improvement and wealth creation through innovation, education and discovery. We develop solutions with a wide range of partners spanning universities, NHS trusts, community care organisations, commissioners, patient groups, industry and government. Our role is not to mandate change or to “own” solutions ourselves. Rather, we work with our partners to co-create, test and implement solutions, ultimately embedding these solutions in normal ways of working. By demonstrating the benefit of integrated solutions, we support our partners in raising their targets for improving outcomes. At any one time UCLPartners is working on a diverse portfolio of research and improvement projects across the healthcare spectrum – creating a flexible space for innovation. UCLPartners’ levers for improvement UCLPartners has available to it a number of levers, or functions, that can be used to align incentives and create the optimal environment to bring about change and implement innovation within the NHS. Figure 1: Our levers 1. Discovery through to “first in man” research (Academic Health Science Centre: AHSC) 2. Improving the uptake of patients into clinical trials (Clinical Research Network: CRN) 3. Network development to reduce variation in quality of care, by facilitating innovation into practice at scale (Academic Health Science Network: AHSN). As of May 14th 2013 UCLPartners was accredited as an Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), enabling the partnership to further affect change and implement better practice on the ground. 4. Applied health service research, including service evaluation, formalised in a Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC), supported by NIHR; Improvement Science (through Improvement Science London); and robust academic health economic evaluation (Health Improvement Science (HIS)) . 5. Education and training: UCLPartners is the primary provider of most clinical education in North Central and North East London (NCNEL) and is closely aligned with the NCNEL Local Education and Training Board (LETB). 13 LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences (SLMS) brings together four UCL Faculties to create one of the largest and most prestigious aggregations of academics in biomedical, life and population health sciences. The School has a global reputation for teaching informed by cutting-edge research. A full profile of the School can be found at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/about-us. In 2011, SLMS was restructured into four Faculties of (i) Brain Sciences (ii) Life Sciences (iii) Medical Sciences and (iv) Population Health Sciences. These structural changes have further enhanced the exceptionally strong base of research and teaching in biomedicine at UCL. In addition to its Faculties, the School also coordinates nine Research Domains (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/domains) which are informal networks that bring together researchers regardless of their host Faculty. Colleagues engage in as many of the domains as are relevant to their area of research activity, encouraging interdisciplinarity across our School and beyond. SLMS Faculties i. UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/) undertakes world-leading research and teaching in neurology and neural pathways, neuroscience, language, cognition, psychology and psychiatry. It takes an integrative approach to the study of mind and brain by focusing on the determinants of human perception, cognition, emotion and behaviour. We are recognised as world leaders in our fields and our work attracts staff and students from around the globe. UCL neuroscience has the highest level of ISI citations in Europe, and is ranked second worldwide (behind Harvard), in the field of neuroscience and behavior.The Faculty and its component parts create an outstanding and vibrant environment for study and research. The Faculty of Brain Sciences comprises: UCL Institute of Neurology (Queen Square, WC1) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ion/ UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (WC1) http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/ UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (Bath Street, EC1) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioo/ UCL Ear Institute (Gray’s Inn Road, WC1) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ear/ UCL Division of Psychology & Language Sciences (WC1) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/ UCL Division of Psychiatry (Riding House Street, WC1) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/ ii. UCL Faculty of Life Sciences (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lifesciences-faculty/homepage) was founded in October 1990 and combines the strengths of UCL’s basic biological and preclinical sciences. Some of the constituent research departments have long and distinguished histories that can be traced back to the early nineteenth century and the foundation of UCL. In January 2012 the School of Pharmacy (founded in 1842) merged with UCL to form a new division within the Faculty of Life Sciences, the UCL School of Pharmacy. The Faculty has been associated with six Nobel Laureates. It presents an unrivalled environment for students and researchers in life science disciplines ranging from neuroscience to the biology of molecules, cells and organisms. Following the merger with the School of Pharmacy the Faculty has now extended the range of expertise and opportunities available to include drug discovery, formulation sciences and medicines use and health. Located in the heart of the UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, it provides outstanding opportunities for research-led and research-based undergraduate and postgraduate study. The Faculty is home to over 500 graduate students studying on some of the UK’s most prestigious PhD programmes. 14 The Faculty of Life Sciences comprises: UCL Division of Biosciences (incorporating the research departments of Genetics, Evolution and Environment; Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology; Structural and Molecular Biology; and Cell and Developmental Biology) https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/ The UCL-MRC Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology http://www.ucl.ac.uk/LMCB/ The Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/ UCL School of Pharmacy http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pharmacy iii. UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/) brings together UCL Medical School and seven of UCL's Divisions and Institutes, creating a powerhouse of medical science research and teaching. Staff in the Faculty undertake world-leading research and teaching in areas that range from viral oncology to connective tissue disease, and oral health. The Faculty and its component parts create an outstanding and vibrant environment for study and research. The Faculty of Medical Sciences comprises: UCL Medical School http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/ UCL Cancer Institute http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer/ UCL Eastman Institute http://www.eastman.ucl.ac.uk/ UCL Division of Infection and Immunity http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infection-immunity/ UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science http://www.ucl.ac.uk/surgicalscience/ UCL Division of Medicine http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicine/ Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research http://www.ucl.ac.uk/WIBR/ iv. UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/populationhealth-sciences/) brings together expertise in Child Health, Women's and Reproductive Health, Population Health, Global Health, Clinical Trials and Cardiovascular Science. Its aim is to deliver outstanding research and teaching for improved human health, and the unifying concept that informs its scholarship and educational activity is the life course. The Faculty’s research elucidates the biological, behavioural and psychosocial processes that operate across an individual’s life, and across generations, that affect the development of disease in populations. This research informs undergraduate, postgraduate and vocational teaching. The Faculty of Population Health Sciences comprises: UCL Institute of Child Health http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/homepage UCL Institute for Women’s Health http://www.instituteforwomenshealth.ucl.ac.uk/ifwh_landing UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cardiovascular/ UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care http://www.ucl.ac.uk/iehc/ UCL Institute of Global Health http://www.ucl.ac.uk/igh UCL Institute of Clinical Trials Methodology http://www.ctu.mrc.ac.uk/ UCL Institute of Health Informatics 15 http://www.farrinstitute.org/centre/London/6_About.html The Institutes represent each life-stage, from conception, birth, childhood, adolescence into adulthood, older age and death, and comprehensively address all these phases and periods, and the health variations associated with them at a population level. The Faculty also undertakes studies that inform the development of services, interventions and policies that address health disparities that occur as a consequence of exposures throughout the life course. The Francis Crick Institute An exciting addition to the UCL environment is the new Francis Crick Institute, a partnership between UCL, the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, King’s College London and Imperial College London. Due to open in 2015, the new Institute will be a leading centre of biomedical research, with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches to the biology of human health and disease. The state-of-the-art facility will occupy a site next to London’s St Pancras station, a few minutes’ walk from UCL’s main Bloomsbury campus, UCL Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Queen’s Square. The facility will house ~1,250 scientists, including existing staff from Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute and the MRC’s National Institute for Medical Research. UCL will be seconding staff to the Institute. Selection for secondment will be undertaken in partnership with the Director of the Francis Crick Institute and will be based on scientific excellence and fit with UCL’s strategic aims, to maximise the Institute’s potential for innovation and for translation of discoveries into patient benefit. It is also likely that UCL will host staff from the Francis Crick Institute in complementary areas of science, creating further opportunities for UCL staff to relate to this exciting development. Read about The Francis Crick Institute at: http://www.crick.ac.uk. Office of the Vice-Provost (Health) Faculty of Brain Sciences Faculty of Life Sciences Faculty of Medical Sciences Faculty of Population Health Sciences OFFICE OF THE VICE PROVOST (HEALTH) UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences The School of Life and Medical Sciences is supported by the Office of the Vice Provost (Health), which brings together SLMS Research Coordination and Platform Technologies, the Translational Research Office, Partnerships and Projects, Clinical Research Support Centre, Academic Careers Office, SLMS Communications and SLMS Finance. The Office of the Vice Provost (Health) work across the four Faculties to promote an integrated, high quality and streamlined service, which optimises sharing of best practise and encourages interdisciplinarity. The Research Coordination team support and strategically coordinate internal research initiatives, particularly relating to the SLMS Research Domains (Neuroscience; Basic life sciences; Cancer; Cardiometabolic science; Infection, inflammation and immunology; Frontier disciplines; Reproduction and development; Experimental medicine and Population health). The Research Coordinator team bring together communities by facilitating events and forums and encouraging academic interaction across Divisions and Institutes, and develop mutually beneficial relationships with external funding agencies. 16 The Platform Technologies team (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/platforms/) help to develop closer working and shared knowledge between UCL research groups who have similar equipment and expertise. They aid cutting edge basic and translational research projects by more effective organization and implementation of these key resources. The Translational Research Office team helps to facilitate the translation of UCL’s basic and clinical research into therapies, techniques and medicinal products with therapeutic value. The team undertakes cost, risk and design assessments to support UCL investigators establishing more effective and reliable clinical trials. The Partnerships and Projects team provide project management capacity for major pan-Faculty strategic projects, and proactively manage SLMS partnership activities, including the relationship with UCLPartners and the Francis Crick Institute. The Clinical Research Support centre incorporates the Joint Research Office (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/jro), UCLH/UCL NIHR BRC management office (http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/research/cbrc/Pages/Home.aspx) and UCLH/UCL Clinical Research Facility (http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/Research/CRF/Pages/Home.aspx). o JRO: Covering UCL, UCLH and Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, this office supports clinical investigators with the design, set up and approval of new clinical trials and other research projects. o UCLH/UCL NIHR BRC management office: The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at UCLH/UCL is one of the UK’s leaders in world class experimental medicine and research. The BRC was awarded £100m to drive a cutting edge and internationally-acclaimed experimental medicine portfolio. Our work focuses in particular on research into new therapies, including novel devices; first in man studies; developing improvements in diagnosis, treatment selection and evaluation of response; and repurposing of therapies. o UCLH/UCL Clinical Research Facility: This 20-bed facility in the Elizabeth Garret Anderson Wing of University College Hospital provides a high quality research environment and Good Clinical Practice trained research nurses and other staff, to ensure the safe conduct of clinical trials and other research. Academic Careers Office is responsible for promoting, supporting and developing all aspects of academic and clinical academic careers. SLMS Communications are responsible for the proactive management of the School’s internal and external communications strategy. SLMS Finance are responsible for supporting, guiding and managing the financial planning of the four SLMS Faculties, in collaboration with SLMS and Faculty leadership, to ensuring a consistent and integrated approach, and an aligned approach with the central UCL Finance and Business Affairs team. The Staffing and Office Management team are responsible for School and Faculty level recruitment/staffing, coordinate school level HR exercises, provide recruitment guidance and templates to Divisions/Institutes, and provide support for Research Domains and School level committees. They also run School-wide student Fitness to Practise Panels, co-ordinate Health and Safety arrangements and oversee Office Management of Maple House 1A. 17