Driving change for research excellence

Health and Care Research Wales' Support and Delivery Day 2025 took place on 8 July at Cardiff City Stadium. The event was a chance for research support and delivery colleagues from across Wales to come together to share their achievements and experiences over the past year. 

Theme of the day: Driving change for research excellence

Read more about the day. 

Presentations

Plenaries

Research in healthcare: why it matters
Dr Christopher Scrase, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Strategic action plan for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals in Wales: research for everyone
Jayne Goodwin, National Head of Research Delivery NMAHPs, Health and Care Research Wales

Using confidential health data to invite people to participate in research: A Public Dialogue to inform UK policy
Alex Newberry, Head of Public Involvement, Governance and Data Welsh Government

Parallel sessions

Research excellence TED-style talks
Chair: Helen Grindell, Head of Research Support and Operations, Health and Care Research Wales

• Developing a trauma-informed approach to First Aid
  Catherine Arnold, First Aid Trainer, Trauma Informed First Aid
• Genetic Landscape of Inherited Retinal Dystrophies in a Welsh Tertiary Referral Centre
  Marcela Votruba, Consultant Ophthalmologist, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
• Bridging the gap between rural health and policy
  Veronika Rasic, Founder and Director, Rural Health Compass
• Rural health and care - the need to do things differently 
  Anna Prytherch, Head, Rural Health and Care Wales
• Creating an NHS/Academic Partnership together to drive research excellence
  Rhyd Owen, Cancer R&D Strategy Lead, Velindre University NHS Trust

Innovation in research delivery, approaches and models
Chair: Caradog Thomas, Team Lead Research Nurse, Swansea Bay University Health Board

• Implementing multiple randomisations using REDCap within a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomised Trial (SMART) 
  Ruth Louise Poole, Senior Healthcare Evaluation Scientist, Centre for Healthcare Evaluation, Device Assessment, and Research (CEDAR)
• Innovating research delivery in clinical practice - AIRWAYS 3 Trial
  Kirsty Middleton, Critical Care Outreach Practitioner, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
• Stronger Together: Cross-organisational collaboration driving excellence in cancer research delivery in Wales
  Emma Williams, Senior Nurse Research and Katie Gilmour, Early Phase Research Nurse, Velindre University NHS Trust

Making time for research
Chair: Nia Viney, Research Nurse, Swansea Bay University Health Board

• Embedding Research and Innovation in the Welsh Ambulance Service
  Cendl Xanthe, Research and Innovation Officer, Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust
• Making research everyone's business in Lymphoedema Wales Clinical Network
  Marie Gabe-Walters, National Research and Innovation Lymphoedema Specialist and Daniel Rothwell, Research and Innovation Specialist, Lymphoedema Wales Clinical Network
• Rethinking evidence standards - creating evidence summaries for the social care workforce
  Grace Krause, Research Coordinator, Social Care Wales
• A comparison of paper versus electronic remote consent - lessons learned so far from the HELPP Study
  Samuel Bird, Senior Researcher, CEDAR

Workshop: VPAG task and finish group findings and recommendations for imaging in research delivery: what does this mean for me?
Kate Milne, Senior Research Delivery Health Care Scientist, Health and Care Research Wales

Research excellence presentations
Chair: Maria Johnstone, Research Nurse Team Lead, Swansea Bay University Health Board

• Inner Strength or Outer Armour? Lived experiences of what supports health and wellbeing in young people who have experienced childhood adversity 
  Laura Eddins, Public Involvement and Engagement Coordinator, Health and Care Research Wales
• Parental Expressed Emotion: an analysis of verbal and facial expressed emotion as a mechanism for child emotional development and understanding
  Ellie Dorrans, Postgraduate Research Student, Cardiff University
• Exploring common and unique variables associated with adolescent mental health and mental wellbeing in a nationally representative survey of 11-16 years olds in Wales
  Liam Mahedy, Research Fellow, Public Health Wales
• The landscape of clinical trials research in Inherited Ophthalmic Disease 
  Marcela Votruba, Consultant Ophthalmologist, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Doing commercial research differently
Chair: Helen Tench, Assistant Head of Research Delivery, Hywel Dda University Health Board

• Being Research Ready "Developing a specialised vaccine delivery unit" 
  Maryanne Bray, Early Phase eam Lead, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
• The One Wales Community Trials Centre: Research That Works for Everyone 
  David Foxwell, National Co-lead, Primary Care and Community Research Delivery Centre
• Rethinking Commercial Research: embedding innovation in NHS bowel cancer screening
  Nerissa Thomas, PhD student, Swansea University

Workshop: Proportionate consent; the theory behind it, the practical implications and ethical considerations
Catherine Johnston, Training Manager, Health and Care Research Wales and Emma Heron, Lead Research Nurse - Delivery Support, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Workshop: A united Wales: fostering effective collaboration between clinical and research teams to promote a patient-centred research culture in the NHS  
Rebecca Weston-Thomas, Cancer Research UK Lead Nurse for Wales, NHS Wales