My current post is Clinical Research Nurse at Newcastle Clinical Ageing Research Unit. In this role I am responsible for a small portfolio of commercial and academic clinical trials at site level. These trials focus on a number of different conditions linked to the ageing population; including Parkinson’s Disease, atypical Parkinson’s disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
I have a wide experience in recruiting to trials, study coordination, clinical follow up and data collection, as well as liaising with both academic and commercial sponsors and CROs. I am very experienced in the administration of monoclonal antibodies and in the management of infusion reactions. I am trained and accredited in a number of cognitive and clinical assessments widely used in clinical trials, and I am currently registered on the NIHR DenDRoN Cognitive Rater Programme.
Previous Roles
Prior to working in clinical research I was employed as a Staff Nurse on both elective orthopaedics and orthopaedic trauma. In 2007 I took my first post as a Research Nurse at Newcastle Clinical Research Facility, first as a band 5 and then as a band 6. In this post I specialised mainly in early phase rheumatology trials, however also gained experience in clinical trials in a number of different clinical specialities including haematology, orthopaedics, cardiology, gastroenterology and endocrinology.
Funding/Awards
2009 – Alice Cory Early Research Training Fellowship (MRC)
Competitions
2021 – Finalist in the PharmaTimes Clinical Researcher of the Year Awards; Site Team Category
Conferences
May 2015 – The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Annual Nursing Conference –“Streamlining the Band 5/6 Research Nurse Transition Process at CARU” (poster)
July 2012 – UKCRF Network Annual Conference 2012 – “What Motivations Influence Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Patients in their Decision to Participate in Clinical Trials?” (Poster)
July 2011 – UKCRF Network Annual Conference 2011 – “Development of a Cross-Site Rheumatology Referral System; Building Bridges Between Departments” (poster)
Publications
Walker K. (2021) Methods for capturing patient experience and satisfaction in healthcare services. Nursing Standard. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2021.e11664
Walker K.L; Gerakios F. (2021) Redeployment during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for a clinical research workforce. British Journal of Nursing, 30(12) 734-741. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2021.30.12.734
