CATO Steering Committee

The committee will have an advisory role in two parts: to help the CATO plan our schedule of events and courses throughout the year, and to inform the CATO of how we can provide further support and advice for trainee-led initiatives.

The Steering Committee has representatives from all the clinical academic trainee cohorts the CATO supports: the Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) trainees, Academic Clinical Fellows (ACFs), Clinical Research Training Fellows (CRTFs), Academic Clinical Lecturers (CLs), and Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPs).

Intergrated Academic Training Advisory Committee (InterACt) Reps

• Dr Nicola Maciocia, ACL in Haematology at UCL
• n.maciocia@ucl.ac.uk

Steering Committee members

Nabih Alkhouri, Academic Clinical Lecturer

I am an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer (CL) in Paediatric Dentistry at The Eastman Dental Institute UCL. I have followed an academic pathway, previously achieving my ACF and PhD at the Eastman as well. As an overseas graduate, I have worked in Syria and Dubai before moving to the UK to pursue my academic aspirations.

My current research focuses on dental materials and developing a novel filling material for children’s teeth (currently undergoing clinical trials). I am also passionate about the applications of AI in my field, leading a group of 3 postgraduate students researching and optimising these applications. 

nabih.alkhouri.15@ucl.ac.uk 

Connor Brett, Academic Clinical Fellow

Connor is an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at the UCL GOS Institute of Child Health (ICH) and a Specialty Registrar in Paediatrics. 

At ICH, Connor works with the UCL Genomic & Pathogen Surveillance Group, which investigates the transmission, evolution and control of infectious diseases through proteomic, genomic and metagenomic approaches, in collaboration with Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. 

He also contributes to trainee development and engagement through the London School of Paediatrics Trainees Committee.

connor.brett@ucl.ac.uk

Dena Ettehad, Academic Clinical Fellow

I am an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice.

d.ettehad@ucl.ac.uk

James Evans, Honorary Lecturer in Dietetics

James is a paediatric dietitian having worked for 13 years at Great Ormond Street Hospital in children’s cancer care and bone marrow transplant. His NIHR-funded Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship was undertaken between UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street and was a mixed methods study investigating outcomes and family experiences of enteral tube feeding in paediatric bone marrow transplant.

James currently works as Research Lead for Dietetics at University College London Hospitals. The work involves building capability, capacity and culture of research within Nutrition and Dietetics. This role also includes working with nutrition companies in industry and James is Principal Investigator for a portfolio of income-generating commercial studies of new clinical nutrition products. James is also an Honorary Lecturer on the MSc Dietetics course at UCL.

james.evans.20@ucl.ac.uk

Rebecca Giddings, Clinical Research Training Fellow

I am a Clinical Research Training Fellow (CRTF) in the Division of Medicine. My overarching career aim is to do something that ‘matters’ and I can be proud of. More specifically, I aim to utilise clinical and research expertise in Medicine and Public Health, alongside strong mathematical and leadership skills to influence decision making and policy to improve patient healthcare experience and reduce inequalities in care. I have a particular interest in utilising mathematical and statistical techniques to learn from health care and population level data, aiming to lead a team who are utilising cutting-edge techniques to design and implement digital solutions into the healthcare setting.

r.giddings@ucl.ac.uk 

Shane Liu, Academic Clinical Lecturer

I am currently an MRC/Fight for Sight Clinical Research Fellow at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital. Prior to this role, I was an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow and an Ophthalmology Registrar at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. My research focuses on integrating molecular discoveries with clinical data to improve patient outcomes. My present work aims at gaining a deeper understanding of the genetic factors that drive the onset and progression of Fuchs’ Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD), the most prevalent short-tandem repeat expansion-associated disorder characterized in humans to date. Using innovative genotyping techniques and advanced clinical imaging, we aim to discover new molecular insights with clinical relevance, which will ultimately allow for the development of decision support systems that can help to guide personalized medicine and improve risk stratification approaches.

siyin.liu@ucl.ac.uk

Alex Ng, Clinical Research Training Fellow

Alex graduated from University College London and is currently a Clinical Research Training Fellow. An aspiring Academic Urologist, he is a committee member of the national Urology BURST Research Collaborative. He has been involved in many collaborative research projects, including a 10-year 2,000 patient RALP service evaluation at UCLH, and LEARN, the largest evaluation of undergraduate Urology teaching globally. On an international scale, Alex has a strong foundation with international, multi-centre, prospective, interventional studies, leading on the PRIME, GLIMPSE, ARTS and PARADIGM Trials.

Alex is also passionate about widening access, and led the Virtual Academic Surgery Conference 2021 (495 attendees, 58 countries, 6 continents), and leads the UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences’ Widening Access to Medical Sciences Programme. His research interests lie in Uro-Radiology and Prostate Cancer, and will be undertaking his PhD in Prostate Cancer diagnosis.

Outside of work, Alex is a keen photographer and enjoys travelling. 

alexander.ng@ucl.ac.uk

Lynden Nicely, Academic Clinical Fellow

I am an Academic Clinical Fellow (ACF) in Neurosurgery.

l.nicely@ucl.ac.uk

Natasha Schoeler, Senior Research Fellow

Natasha is a Senior Research Fellow at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Specialist Paediatric Dietitian at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. She specialises in the area of ketogenic diet therapies for neurological conditions, and has worked on genetic laboratory and bioinformatics work, clinical trials, meta-analysis and qualitative research. She completed her PhD on genetic predictors of response to ketogenic diets in 2014 and is the Founder and Chair of the Ketogenic Dietitians Research Network.

n.schoeler@ucl.ac.uk

Jessica Westwood, Specialised Foundation Programme trainee

I am a Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) trainee with an academic rotation in Nuclear Medicine.

jessica.westwood@ucl.ac.uk