"Clinical Reader or Professor of Neonatal Medicine"

About Us

We are seeking to appoint a Clinical Reader or Professor of Neonatal Medicine to replace a retiring colleague to help lead a large scale programme of neonatal research in conjunction with the Evelina London Children’s Hospital. The post is 10 PA, with 5 academic PAs, 4 direct clinical care, and 1 supporting professional activities.

The post holder will be appointed in the Research Department of Early Life Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences (BMEIS), where their duties will include academic, clinical and teaching work. BMEIS is a cutting-edge research and teaching division, dedicated to the development, clinical translation, and clinical application of medical imaging and computational modelling technologies.

The School is placed within St. Thomas’ Hospital and therefore offers an exciting opportunity to perform truly translational research by supporting rapid translation of basic science into clinical applications.

The clinical side of the post will be based in the Evelina London Neonatal unit, located at St Thomas’ Hospital London, where they will join an existing team of 18 Consultants. Candidates wishing to work less than full time can also be accommodated and are encouraged to apply.

The Evelina London Neonatal Unit is one of the largest in the United Kingdom, with 900-1000 admissions per year (of which ~200 were <30w gestation) and ~9000 ICU/HDU cot days in 2021. There are 46 cots, of which 20 are Intensive Care, 12 High Dependency and 14 Special Care. The junior medical staff consists of 31 WTE junior doctors on a 3 tier rota, which also includes 4 Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners.

The unit is one of three NICU in the South London Neonatal ODN. Facilities on the Neonatal Unit were purpose built, alongside the maternity unit in 2002 and we are in the process of planned refurbishment. The postholder will be involved in providing clinical leadership, hands on care and training in neonatal intensive (IC), high dependency (HD) and special care (SC) on the tertiary neonatal unit of ELCH. There will also be commitments to antenatal consultations for women expecting babies with neonatal problems, oversight of care Transitional Care and on the Postnatal Ward and an option to take on neonatal outpatient follow-up commitments. The service weeks entail blocks on either IC, HD or SC areas, with additional clinical commitments in the job plan for some non-attending weeks.

About The Role

The post holder will:

• Take a major part in the academic work of the Department in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, led by Professor Tomoki Arichi, working with clinical and non-clinical researchers with the aim of obtaining major funding for large scale programmes of cutting edge research and conducting research at an international standard.
• To supervise and co-supervise clinical and non-clinical researchers (including PhD and MD students).
• To take an active part in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training.
• To develop an independent research programme and develop leadership as a clinical scientist.
• To contribute to the dissemination of scientific results by means of writing papers for publication in leading academic journals, presenting orally and in poster form at academic meetings, seminars and conferences.
• It is expected that the postholder will wish to continue to contribute to the Clinical work of the Evelina London Children’s Hospital and appropriate arrangements will be made through the Medical Directorate to facilitate this.
• To contribute to the development of research capacity and clinical practice in the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

This is a full time post (40 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Full registration with valid license to practice, PhD qualified in relevant subject area (or pending results), MRCPCH or equivalent and on GMC Specialist Register for Neonatal Medicine or within six months of attaining CCT in Neonatal Medicine.
2. Experience in complex and tertiary neonatal care at senior registrar or consultant level.
3. Ability to coordinate complex clinical care within multidisciplinary team.
4. Experience with neonatal care for babies with subspecialist conditions.
5. High level of clinical skills and knowledge appropriate for busy tertiary neonatal care.
6. Track record of academic publication in leading scientific journals.
7. Track record of being awarded independent academic funding.
8. Research experience/publication track-record within the sphere of fetal, infant or child health.

Desirable criteria

1. Evidence of leadership in the development of clinical services.
2. Experience of undergraduate teaching and post graduate training.
3. Experience with research, which will allow the applicant to communicate with basic scientists to bring basic research into clinical practice (translational medicine).
4. Strong commitment to delivering patient-centred care.
5. Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.