NCA Research & Innovation

Snowdon for the Jeff - DONE! ✅

On the hottest day of the year, cancer research nurse Kandeel Batool climbed Snowdon to raise funds for glioblastoma research at the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre & NorthCare Charity Charity at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.
She says it was physically exhausting, mentally challenging & at times terrifying because of her fear of heights - but every step was for her patients.
Huge congratulations to Kandeel and many thanks to everyone who donated and supported her throughout this challenge.
Her fundraising link is still live for a few more weeks if anyone would still like to donate:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/kandeel-batool-1

Congratulations to Dr Meghna Jani, consultant rheumatologist at Salford Royal (part of Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust), who has been awarded The University of Manchester's Research Fellow of the Year Award 2026 for funded intermediate fellows within the faculty of biology, medicine and health.

The awarding panel said that she is an exceptional clinical academic whose work is improving medication safety and shaping practice nationally and internationally. Alongside this, she is a mentor and leader in the research community, supporting early-career researchers.

A quick summary of our stats for 2025-26. Well done to all at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust who have contributed in any way to research to improve diagnosis, treatment and care for our patients and service users.
Huge thanks to everyone who volunteered to be part of a research study - we know from our regular surveys of participants that patients appreciate being able to contribute to future knowledge and value the care they receive from our colleagues.

Pupils at Ladywood School in Little Lever are taking part in a research study screening for type 1 diabetes.
Ladywood is the first special school in the area to get involved in the ELSA study for children and young people. It uses a simple fingerprick test to check for type 1 diabetes antibodies before they have any symptoms. Identifying children at risk at this stage allows them to be treated sooner, preventing further complications.
More than 20 youngsters were screened by NCA’s community research team at the school, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted.
The team’s visit was supported by deputy headteacher Leanne du Preez, who is pictured with team lead Rachel Newport and research practitioner Danyal Mohammed. Ms du Preez said: "By bringing the ELSA study directly into Ladywood School, this initiative has broken down significant barriers to healthcare access for our children, ensuring that life-saving preventative screening is inclusive and stress-free. Ladywood SLT were delighted with so many families wanting their child to participate in the ELSA study. The Team were so empathetic supporting our children and intentionally did not wear uniforms as they felt this may create anxiety."
The study is open to children and young people aged two to 17 – schools and youth organisations who would like to offer this screening should contact [email protected]

Our latest research star of the month at Salford is psychological wellbeing assistant George Blakely, thanks to his work to improve placements for students.
He has helped develop an infographic about service development work to improve the promotion of neuropsychology placements at Salford Royal, as well as making them more accessible. The results have been disseminated them to the regional universities we draw clinical psychology doctorate students from (Manchester, Liverpool, and Lancaster).
In addition to this, he has applied his learning on content analysis to a study we are carrying out which is looking at better understanding the Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence (ABC), which we use to analyse behaviours that challenge, which form part of a future publication in a scientific journal.

We've had some wonderful from patients taking part in the Orion-4 study, which is looking at whether having an injection of a new cholesterol-lowering medication, inclisiran, every six months prevents heart attacks, strokes and other circulatory problems.
Research nurse Marie Gibson looks after the patients on the study at Fairfield General Hospital - here are some of the latest comments they've shared about their experiences:
• Our talking and lovely conversations, Marie is lovely and I will miss her.
• Feel valued, like to help. I have had cancer and want to give back.
• Very attentive.
• Everything's been great. Would do it again. Feel appreciated. Lovely staff.
• Valued and enjoying helping research. Pleasure taking part and the overall experience of research.

Our latest research star of the month at Bury, Dr Robert Irving, is described by colleagues as the exemplar of what a great principal investigator should be. He is completely dedicated to his patients and offering them research opportunities and always finds the time to complete patient visits despite an extremely busy, demanding schedule. He has even come in on his days off to ensure these visits go ahead when patients have traveled a long distance. He is always on hand to offer support and advice, with his patients' safety and well being at the heart of everything. Patients always comment on how approachable he is and how well-cared for they feel. With his commitment and leadership, we have been able to build the portfolio of movement disorder research at Fairfield and are currently the top recruiters nationally to an important Parkinson's disease trial.