Integrated Academic Training (IAT)

Over the last number of years, we have been expanding and improving our Integrated Academic Training (IAT) Programmes. These programmes are funded by the NIHR and provide trainees with the time necessary to progress along academic neurosurgical career paths. Funding for these positions is extremely competitive across England. We feel fortunate that our programmes continue to be supported.

There are two IAT programmes. The first is the Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF), which is aimed at new trainees, and protects 25% of their first 3 years of training for research.

We have typically been successful in being granted one of these positions every 1-2 years and currently have three trainees in each of the first 3 years of training (ST1-3).

Many of these trainees pursue doctoral training after ST3 if they do not already have their PhD.

The second level is the Clinical Lecturer (CL). These positions are even more competitive as there are far fewer of them. They are geared to senior trainees (ST5 or above), and provide up to 4 years of funding, with 50% of time protected for research. We have been very successful in recent years in being granted these positions, with 3 CLs in post in 2023. All Clinical Lecturers have a PhD, and their research during these years is postdoctoral training to prepare them to transition to independence. Their last period of clinical training will typically be focussed on the subspecialty area to which their research is aligned to ensure integration of their academic research with patient problems.

Clinical Lecturers

Rory Piper, Lewi-Spitz Surgeon-Scientist PhD Candidate  

Interests: Novel therapies for treating children with epilepsy, including deep brain stimulation.  

https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=RJPIP52

Former Clinical Lecturers

Anand Pandit, Post-doctoral Research Fellow  

Interests: Using innovative statistical, imaging and machine learning models to improve neurosurgical patient outcomes in neuro-oncology and adult hydrocephalus.

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=lhYMXBQAAAAJ&hl=en

Aswin Chari, Lewi-Spitz Surgeon-Scientist PhD Candidate  

Interests: Improving the neurobiological understanding and surgical outcomes in paediatric epilepsy. 

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=Rz_cvVwAAAAJ&hl=en

Imran Noorani, NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, UCL and Postdoctoral Clinical Fellow at the Francis Crick Institute

Interests: The role of extrachromosomal DNA oncogenes in glioblastoma evolution and resistance to treatment, including targeted and immune-based therapies.

https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/find-a-researcher/imran-noorani

Ammar Natalwala, UCL

Interests: The pathological mechanisms underlying movement disorders, including dystonia and Parkinson’s disease, and the development of new regenerative therapies to treat these incurable conditions.  

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ammar-Natalwala

Ciaran Hill, Academic Consultant Neurosurgery, UCL  

https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=CSHIL96 

Academic Clinical Fellows

Lynden Nicely, Academic Clinical Fellow  

Interests: neuro-oncology and translational brain tumour science, with particular emphasis on glioblastoma biology, biomarker discovery, and the development of novel therapeutic approaches.

https://rps.ucl.ac.uk/userprofile.html?uid=104775&em=true

Former ACFs

John Hanrahan, UCL

Interests: Health systems analysis and process evaluation to improve healthcare delivery.  

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Hanrahan-6  

Danyal Khan, UCL

Interests: Harnessing artificial intelligence and robotics to augment pituitary surgery.

https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=DKHAN91

Linda D’Antona, UCL

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Linda-Dantona

Francisco Fiorini

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco-Fiorini

Anand Pandit, Post-doctoral Research Fellow  

Interests: Using innovative statistical, imaging and machine learning models to improve neurosurgical patient outcomes in neuro-oncology and adult hydrocephalus.

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=lhYMXBQAAAAJ&hl=en 

Oswal Ashwini, Clinical Lecturer (Neurology), University of Oxford

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PVOxx0wAAAAJ&hl=en

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