Overview

My current role as Exeter Clinical Trials Unit Senior Trial Manager involves all aspects of running clinical trials including trial design, regulatory submission, safety reporting, co-ordination and management, patient recruitment and consent, financial control, analysis and production of clinical reports.  I am also responsible for trial costing, supervision and training of staff, and maintaining records in line with Good Clinical Practice (GCP), University and NHS Trust governance and all other applicable regulatory requirements (HRA, MHRA).

My research interests include the following trial types:

• Surgical

• Medical device (including digital tools) 

• Complex interventions (specifically mental health and rehabilitation)

I am also interested in research methodology around how we conduct clinical trials.

As part of my current role I manage the Exeter Clinical Trials Support Network and organise a termly meeting forum for clinical trial/study personnel to network and collaborate and share best practice for the effective management and delivery of clinical trials.

I am part of the coordinating team that manages the UK Trial Managers Network that has worked to support Trial Managers nationally for over 20years and on the editorial board of UKTMN members that produced the 6th edition of the Guide to Efficient Trial Management.

I’ve trained as a mentor through the UEMS Mentoring Scheme, supported by the UEMS Equality & Diversity Group, and would be available to provide PhD, peer and other mentoring opportunities. Please feel free to contact me, in confidence, so we can discuss this further. http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/medicine/mentoring/

ORCID ID 0000-0001-7195-8759

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7195-8759

Qualifications

PhD Neuroscience

MPhil Neuroscience

BSc Chemistry

Career

March 2016 - present

Exeter Clinical Trials Unit Senior Trial Manager

April 2012 - Present
Exeter Clinical Trials Support Network Manager 

April 2012 - March 2016

COBRA Trial Manager, The University of Exeter COBRA (Cost and Outcome of Behavioural Activation), a NIHR-HTA funded research project

June 2009 –April 2012
Research Fellow & Study Manager, The University of Aberdeen Human Biomarkers of Zinc Status (HuBZS) £1million Department of Health funded study
 
Oct 2003- June 2009
Research Associate & PhD student, Newcastle University Researcher and lab administrator. PhD in Anaesthetic regimes used in laboratory rats, implications for animal welfare and experimental data

Oct 2000 – Oct 2003

Senior Technician , Research Assistant & MPhil student, Cambridge University Neuroscience MPhil in Inter-hemispheric synchronisation during bimanual motor performance. Researched bimanual arm movements using human volunteers, computer simulations and animal models Responsibility for maintaining records, administration of drugs, surgical assistance, ECG, EEG, EMG , capnography, pulse ox , in-vivo electrophysiology recording and TMS Home Office Personal Licence holder (module 4)

Research group links

• Institute of Health Research

Back to top

Research

Research interests

My research interests include the following trial types:

• Surgical

• Medical device (including digital tools) 

• Complex interventions (specifically mental health and rehabilitation)

I am also interested in research methodology around how we conduct clinical trials.

Research grants

• 2019 NIHR Research for Patient Benefit
  The HemiSPAIRE study: The effects of a modified muscle sparing posterior technique (SPAIRE) in hip hemiarthoplasty for displaced intracapsular fractures on post-operative function compared to a standard lateral approach; A randomised controlled trial
• 2019 NIHR Research for Patient Benefit
  A comparison of usual care versus usual care plus a smartphone self-harm prevention app (BlueIce) in young adolescents aged 12-17 who self-harm.

Back to top

Publications

Back to top

External Engagement and Impact

Committee/panel activities

UKTMN Working Group and Training specific sub-group.

Dr Shelley Rhodes joined the UKTMN Working Group in 2017. The UK Trial Managers Network  (UKTMN) facilitates the development of a well-trained, highly motivated, effective workforce of Trial Managers within the UK health care system who contribute to the efficient delivery of high quality clinical trials. It provides a forum which promotes best practice in effective management and delivery of clinical trials, and provides a focus for the professional accreditation of the competencies required to effectively manage a clinical trial, thereby developing a career pathway for Trial Managers. UKTMN also seeks to promote a shared understanding of the role and value of effective trial management within clinical research.

For more information see http://www.tmn.ac.uk/

Dr Shelley Rhodes Invited to participate in Performance Metrics in Multicentre Clinical Trials consensus workshop (Nottingham, 28.9.17).

This is an NIHR CTU supported project aiming to improve the conduct and efficiency of large multicentre trials by reaching consensus on a standardised set of performance metrics for the management, reporting and tracking of site performance in multicentre trials and by developing a standardised tool for presenting the metrics to Trial Managers, Trial Management Groups and Trial Steering Committees.

Back to top

Teaching

https://store.exeter.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/university-of-exeter-medical-school/cpd-courses/clinical-trials-cpd-course

I’ve trained as a mentor through the UEMS Mentoring Scheme, supported by the UEMS Equality & Diversity Group, and would be available to provide PhD, peer and other mentoring opportunities. Please feel free to contact me, in confidence, so we can discuss this further. http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/medicine/mentoring/

Modules

2023/24

• HPDM056Z - Clinical Trials

Back to top