The research office is located at 250A King's Road. The research team is available to offer support throughout the research process, including;
- research funding, grant applications and communications
- industry-funded research
- non-commercial research
- research regulation, governance and compliance
- research information systems and statistical services
- patient and public involvement
Click on the links below to find out more about our teams and staff members.
If you are a patient or a member of the public and would like to find out more about our research, please contact us at research-findoutmore@rbht.nhs.uk.
Dr Nana Theodorou
Nana has over 20 years of experience, gained across various sectors within the NHS and life sciences. She started her career in Northern England and has worked in several large NHS Trusts including Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. She has a strong background in clinical research, leadership, large scale transformation projects, regulatory expertise, and a commitment to healthcare innovation and ethical research practices.
Nana's previous roles include head of operations at the Sheffield Experimental Cancer Research Centre, acting up biorepository director, regional head of Research and Innovation for Buckinghamshire and more recently deputy director of Research and Innovation at London North West Trust. Nana is affiliated with the University of Manchester as a Senior Lecturer, is an experienced NHS REC Chair and Charity Trustee for Buckinghamshire Disability Service. As a practising clinician she understands emerging healthcare challenges, values community engagement and coproduction.
Stacey Boateng
Personal assistant to the associate director of research & development.
Laura Henderson
Role: Research development manager
Telephone: 0207 352 8121 ext. 2107
Laura’s current role is primarily in grant and fellowship mentorship for all active Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals researchers. She also leads a communication team which broadcasts Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals successes in research.
Laura began working in an NHS research and development environment in 2004 as a trials coordinator and has since taken up various roles covering trial management and research governance. With a background in biochemistry, she is also undertaking an MSc in clinical research.
Zahra Aden
Role: Research development associate
Telephone: 020 7351 8575
Zahra is the lead for patient and public involvement (PPI) for research, with over a decade of experience in managing and facilitating patient groups. She provides a platform for researchers to discuss their research with patients and the public, and mentors researchers in PPI.
She is also the lead for research communications at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, and is responsible for promoting research activity via various mediums. She also supports grant development, working closely with researchers on partner-led grants.
Zahra holds a bachelors degree in Biomedical Sciences and a masters degree in Public Health.
Patrik Pettersson
Role: Research business manager
Telephone: 0207 351 8736
Patrik leads a team of three in the non-commercial team who advise investigators and their teams about research governance, NIHR processes, compliance and other research-related issues including financing and contracts.
He has several years of experience in research governance and before Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals he worked in various large London NHS trusts including Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and University College London Hospitals.
Manoj Trivedi
Role: Research Facilitation Manager
Telephone: 0330 128 7704
Manoj leads a team of research facilitators who provide study setup and research governance guidance to Sponsors, investigators and delivery teams, as well as advice on NIHR processes, compliance and other research-related issues, including financing and contracts.
After graduating with an honours degree in Applied Biology (with a Biochemistry element in both Lisbon, Portugal and Prague, Czech Republic), Manoj subsequently attained professional experience working in a diverse range of environments. He has over 15 years' experience working within the NHS as a commercial research manager and more recently as a research portfolio manager, GLP (Forensic Science Service, Lonza Biologics), GCP (NHS, AstraZeneca, Parexel International, ClinTrials Research) and GMP (Lonza Biologics/Celltech Therapeutics).
Manoj also worked in clinical recruitment, progressing from a junior recruiter to head of recruitment for Phlexglobal and subsequently, managing director at Quest Resourcing Ltd.
Susana Pina
Role: Clinical research facilitator
Telephone: 0207 351 8574
Susana’s current role is in study set up, governance review, costings and contracts, as well as supporting the delivery and recruitment of industry-sponsored research studies.
Since 2010, Susana has worked within the NHS in a variety of roles including feasibility studies, non-commercial research contracts and management of participant recruitment data in different research and development environments.
Educated to a master’s level at Goldsmiths College, Susana also regularly attends meetings, seminars and training relevant to clinical research as well as research and development.
Hamida Ali
Role: Clinical research facilitator
Telephone: 0207 352 8121 ext 2336
Nahid Samer Shaikh
Role: Clinical research facilitator
Nahid's role as a clinical research facilitator is to support the successful delivery of research across our hospitals, as well as assisting the research team with the set up and management of new studies.
Jade John
Jade's role is to support the management team with administrative duties, as well as maintaining the general office supplies.
Role: Research administrator
Telephone: 0207 351 8831
Ira Jakupovic
Role: Head of research governance and regulatory compliance
Telephone: 0207 351 8109
Ira is primarily responsible for the set up and maintenance of the quality management system (QMS) to ensure appropriate oversight, management and administration of clinical research at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.
Ira provides advice to all researchers initiating Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals-sponsored clinical trials of investigational medicinal products (CTIMPs). She assists with:
- writing study protocols
- negotiating study-wide contracts
- obtaining ethics and regulatory approvals
- compliance with regulatory requirements.
Ira is responsible for audit and monitoring of all clinical research at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals. She is supported by the Clinical Research Oversight Committee (Clin-ROC) which oversees clinical delivery of research within Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals. Ira holds a BSc in biochemistry and microbiology, and an MSc in molecular biology.
Ryan Jones
Role: Tissue governance manager
Telephone: 0207 351 8709
Ryan works within the quality and safety team to oversee high-level compliance with the Human Tissue Authority’s (HTA) licensing requirements and tissue governance frameworks.
He ensures that relevant statutory and regulatory requirements across all licensable sectors are met, and issues are resolved in a timely manner.
Ryan is a former biomedical scientist, who has also worked in research and the private sector, and is experienced in working to Human Tissue Authority (HTA), Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA), ISO manufacturing and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulations.
Veronica Tudor
Role: Trial manager
Telephone: 0330 128 8854
Veronica has a scientific background and before starting her current role she worked in the European Medicine Agency’s pharmacovigilance department and as clinical research associate at a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) specialising in central nervous system research.
She was previously the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals' regulatory compliance officer, responsible for the monitoring of all Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals-sponsored studies, ensuring that they were conducted, recorded and reported in accordance with good clinical practice and applicable regulatory requirements.
Veronica’s current role is as Trial Manager.
Peter Lloyd
Role: Research information and systems manager
Telephone: 0207 351 8773
Peter has been a technical IT specialist in the healthcare sector, primarily in the NHS, since 1995. His expertise lies in identifying and creating systems solutions which include:
- database design and development
- internet and extranet implementation
- application security.
He is responsible for all information management systems used in the research office and manages the research sections of the intranet and extranet.
Geraldine Sloane
Role: Interim Head of Research Workforce
Telephone: 0330 128 8815
Geraldine is a registered nurse with a critical care background and has worked in clinical research for over 25 years. She spent 8 years working within the clinical pharmacology division of a major pharmaceutical company, and 8 years working on early phase clinical trials for a CRO managing the clinical operations and business operations teams. She returned to the NHS in 2009 working in a variety of research roles.
Geraldine joined Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in 2012, initially as manager of the cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, and currently manages the research delivery team at Royal Brompton hospital and Harefield hospital.