King’s is a large, multidisciplinary university with considerable strengths in biomedical research, extending from fundamental discovery science through translational research to applied clinical research. Expertise covers a wide range of areas including mental health & neuroscience, experimental medicine (notably cardiovascular, cancer, immunology, genomics and fetal/child/maternal health) and healthcare engineering/imaging sciences. King’s is ranked 10th in the world for “Clinical & Health” (and 35th overall) by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In REF2021, our research environment in all relevant units of assessment (Clinical Medicine, Allied Health, Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience) was 100% 4* (top rating); we ranked 3rd for impact amongst multi-disciplinary universities. In the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) King’s is in the top quintile for five of the seven perspectives (Research partnerships; Working with the public and third sector; CPD and graduate startups; Working with business; IP & commercialisation). Our health-related research is supported by >£170M/year research grant income. All our IAT themes are linked to strong multi-disciplinary research centres with state-of-the-art infrastructure and technologies, providing an excellent choice of projects for trainees and an outstanding training environment.
KHP allows strategic integration across partners to accelerate translational research, build clinical research capability and enable widespread adoption of innovation for patient benefit. KHP provides system-wide platform support for experimental and translational medicine, health data and digital science, populational health focusing on community diversity and health inequality and includes the impact of climate change on health, innovation and entrepreneurialism and leadership development. KHP also provides research capacity to the South London Integrated Care System (ICS).
To facilitate effective transition from IAT training positions into long-term clinical academic careers, King’s offers pre-doctoral (after ACF) and post-doctoral (after CL) one-year bridge fellowships. These support trainees to secure PhD funding (e.g. Clinical Research Training Fellowships) or independent post-doctoral fellowships (e.g. Clinician Scientist Fellowships), respectively. Importantly, for clinical academics completing Clinician Scientist Fellowships, King’s has implemented a transparent process for guaranteed transition to open-ended Faculty positions, subject to satisfactory performance. Over 80% of pre-doctoral fellowship holders have successfully secured external peer-reviewed fellowships from funders including NIHR, MRC, Wellcome and other major health charities. Trainees are made aware of sources of grant income, with access to King’s and other funding databases. For example, 13 King’s CLs have obtained Academy of Medical Sciences starter grants since June 2020.
Every clinical academic career is unique, and therefore KCATO facilitate individual professional development discussions between trainee and supervisory team, to help trainees prioritise their own needs. KCATO support focuses on career transition points through mentoring, support in applying for fellowships, and demystifying career paths. Our programme size facilitates peer-to-peer interaction, collaboration and cohort building through frequent teaching days and professional development events. Trainees can also access individual careers coaching from researcher-specific consultants.
King’s academic supervisors undertake mandatory development programmes which focus on inclusive supervision. KCATO and the Centre for Doctoral Studies (CDS) are developing a bespoke workshop on supervising clinical academics, to empower supervisors to support clinical academic career advancement for trainees. An online Wellbeing Hub acts as a central point of pastoral advice for researchers and their supervisors. King’s has invested in a pool of faculty wellbeing advisors to support researchers who might benefit from independent coaching or counselling. Formal feedback occurs through the PGCert in which trainee and supervisor comment on progress. Recognising that this might inhibit trainee feedback on supervision, we have instituted a formal report of supervision from the trainee that allows KCATO to address areas of deficiency.
Trainees based at King’s benefit from a wealth of research training opportunities (in addition to the PGCert). A key strategic priority of KCATO is to coordinate the communication of these opportunities so that trainees can access what they need at the right time. Signposting is provided via our online KCATO Hub. Across all offerings, flexibility is provided via a mix of on-demand (online) and in-person training.
All IATs are trained in obtaining informed, written consent for recruitment of patients and volunteers into research projects and Good Clinical Practice. Trainees develop skills in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) and co-creation of research projects. King’s Innovation Scholars offers bespoke modular training in big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to the healthcare and research workforce. Developed in-house via £650k UKRI/MRC investment, the training spans three domains (health data science, ‘omics and AI), which are being embedded into our revised PGCert curriculum for 2023/24.
Research and professional development courses and resources offered through the King’s flagship Health Sciences DTC are available to ACFs and CLs. Trainees also have access to dedicated programmes within our research centres (e.g. BHF Centre, Cancer Centre, Medical Engineering Centre).
The Centre for Implementation Science comprises experts in implementation and improvement science and health economists and statisticians to drive the implementation of evidence-based practice in health and social care. The Centre supports research programmes within applied health and care - including the NIHR ARC South London, the NIHR ASSET Global Health Research Unit and the joint UCL-KCL Policy Research Unit in mental health. IATs can access the Implementation Science Masterclass and short courses on the science of implementation, outcome measurements, strategies and core implementation frameworks. Advice Clinic offers trainees advice in design and implementation of research. Summer schools cover academic writing, career planning and practical research methods skills.
King’s IATs benefit from world-class infrastructure and outstanding research expertise across a very wide range of research areas. We have organised this strategically to ensure critical mass and synergy, to drive multidisciplinary research addressing key health challenges, to provide a clear line of sight to translation, for even the most fundamental research, and to create an optimal research training environment. This organisation broadly follows our key strategic themes: Biomedical & Experimental Medicine, Mental Health & Neuroscience, and Med Tech.
King’s is host to a number of major NIHR infrastructures that directly support our IATs:
- The NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre is the UK’s leading translational research infrastructure for mental health and neurology. The BRC incorporates 4 strategic priorities across multiple disease areas: (i) Whole person care (connecting mental and physical health); (ii) Precision psychiatry; (iii) Translational informatics; and (iv) New treatment approaches - pharmacological, neuromodulation, digital and psychological. It is linked to the NIHR Mental Health Bioresource and NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration.
- Two NIHR Clinical Research Facilities: one MHRA Phase-1 accredited with specialist expertise in advanced therapies, one with specialist capabilities in mental health and neuroscience.
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London (£7m): enhancing implementation of health and care evidence into day-to-day practice.
Further research infrastructure at King’s is funded by UKRI and major charities, including:
- Research England-funded flagship research facilities: Advanced Therapies Accelerator (£10m); Comprehensive Cancer Centre (£15m); Neuropsychiatric Hub (£10m); London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (£16m);
- MRC/LifeArc/BBSRC Gene Therapy Innovation Hub (£6m): advancing gene therapies from discovery into patients.
- CRUK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (£2.6m): part of a UK network to drive the development of cancer therapies and diagnostics.
- Innovate UK AI Centre for Value-Based Healthcare (£10m+£16m): a comprehensive centre enabling AI development using NHS data, and AI implementation in the NHS; 4 universities, >10 NHS Trusts, 4 major industry partners and >10 SMEs.
- Wellcome Centre for Medical Engineering (£20m), including 7T MRI, low-field MRI and PET/MR Facilities.
- Wolfson Surgical & Interventional Engineering Facility (technology-equipped mock operating room; £10m)) and Wellcome Medical Devices Manufacturing Facility (£5m).
IATs will also benefit from the ideal training environments provided by our Research Centres and similar strategic awards, which provide critical mass of world-class, externally-validated research expertise. NIHR awards include:
- NIHR Policy Research Unit (Health and Social Care Workforce; Mental Health in partnership with UCL).
- Health Protection Research Unit (Emergency Response and Preparedness).
- NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative: King’s is a founding member.
- NIHR Global Health Units and Groups