Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Our journals
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Future Healthcare Journal
  • Subject collections
  • About the RCP
  • Contact us

Clinical Medicine Journal

  • ClinMed Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Author guidance
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit online
  • About ClinMed
    • Scope
    • Editorial board
    • Policies
    • Information for reviewers
    • Advertising

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
RCP Journals
Home
  • Log in
  • Home
  • Our journals
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Future Healthcare Journal
  • Subject collections
  • About the RCP
  • Contact us
Advanced

Clinical Medicine Journal

clinmedicine Logo
  • ClinMed Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Author guidance
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit online
  • About ClinMed
    • Scope
    • Editorial board
    • Policies
    • Information for reviewers
    • Advertising

Collaborative clinician-led research networks

Rosalind Simpson, Carron Layfield and Hywel Williams
Download PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.14-6-691
Clin Med December 2014
Rosalind Simpson
AUniversity of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Roles: National Institute of Health Research doctoral research fellow
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carron Layfield
BUniversity of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Roles: UK Dermatology Clinical Trials network manager
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Hywel Williams
CUniversity of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Roles: professor of dermato-epidemiology
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
Loading

Editor – We commend Rajasekhar et al on their development of the Northern Region Endoscopy Group (NREG) in 2007 (Clin Med April 2014 pp 107–12) to facilitate high-quality, multicentre research, service improvement and audit activity within endoscopic practice in their region.

The nature of their collaborative research is familiar to dermatology through the ‘UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network’ (UK DCTN),1 which was formed five years prior to the NREG with the aim of prioritising and developing independent, high-quality clinical trials for people with skin diseases. The UK DCTN now comprises a multidisciplinary membership of over 750 dermatologists, dermatology nurses, health services researchers, patients and carers.

Trial suggestions from UK DCTN members are prioritised and developed using a rigorous and predefined process.2 Funding for individual studies arises from external grant applications made to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and charitable bodies.

The UK DCTN has been successful in securing over £8 million in independent funding over the last 10 years and to date has completed four multicentre randomised controlled trials, all of which have resulted in high-profile publications. An example is the prophylactic antibiotics for the treatment of cellulitis at home (PATCH) (penicillin to prevent recurrent leg cellulitis) study.3 Other studies are currently either in development or are open to recruitment. This method of working has been particularly beneficial in the research of rare conditions whereby multicentre input is paramount in recruitment of adequate participant numbers.

The importance of building research capacity among healthcare professionals is recognised through an annual award scheme, which is open to trainees, staff and associate specialist doctors, general practitioners and nurses, and the formation of a UK DCTN Trainee Group, which is led by former trainee award holders.

An extension to the success of our UK DCTN initiative is the International Federation of Dermatology Clinical Trial Networks (IF DCTN).4 This network aims to share good practice in performing independent dermatology clinical trials internationally, to improve the quality of design and reporting of dermatology clinical trials, and to collaborate on undertaking clinical trials of rare skin diseases across the world.

Putting healthcare professionals, patients and carers on the front line ensures the delivery of meaningful and clinically-relevant research which is facilitated by our group.5 We encourage others to adopt this framework of collaborative research as an efficient method of addressing the many uncertainties that face healthcare professionals and patients.

Footnotes

  • Please submit letters for the editor's consideration within three weeks of receipt of Clinical Medicine. Letters should ideally be limited to 350 words, and sent by email to: clinicalmedicine{at}rcplondon.ac.uk

  • © 2014 Royal College of Physicians

References

  1. 1.↵
    1. UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network
    . Available online at www.ukdctn.org [Accessed 07 October 2014].
  2. 2.↵
    1. Layfield C,
    2. Clarke T,
    3. Thomas K,
    4. Williams H
    . Developing a network in a neglected area of clinical research: the UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network. Clin Invest 2011;1:943–9.doi:10.4155/cli.11.67
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  3. 3.↵
    1. Williams HC,
    2. Crook AM,
    3. Mason JM,
    4. UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network's PATCH I Trial Team
    . Penicillin to prevent recurrent leg cellulitis. N Engl J Med 2013;369:881–2.
    OpenUrl
  4. 4.↵
    1. International Federation of Dermatology Clinical Trials Network
    . Available online at www.ifdctn.org [Accessed 01 October 2014].
  5. 5.↵
    1. Layfield C,
    2. Yong A,
    3. Thomas K,
    4. Williams H
    . The UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network: how far have we come? Clin Invest 2014;4:209–14.doi:10.4155/cli.14.5
    OpenUrlCrossRef
Back to top
Previous articleNext article

Article Tools

Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
Collaborative clinician-led research networks
Rosalind Simpson, Carron Layfield, Hywel Williams
Clinical Medicine Dec 2014, 14 (6) 691; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-6-691

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Collaborative clinician-led research networks
Rosalind Simpson, Carron Layfield, Hywel Williams
Clinical Medicine Dec 2014, 14 (6) 691; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-6-691
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • JAK-inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for refractory primary systemic vasculitides
  • Response
  • Functional disorders and chronic pain
Show more Letters to the editor

Similar Articles

Navigate this Journal

  • Journal Home
  • Current Issue
  • Ahead of Print
  • Archive

Related Links

  • ClinMed - Home
  • FHJ - Home
clinmedicine Footer Logo
  • Home
  • Journals
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
HighWire Press, Inc.

Follow Us:

  • Follow HighWire Origins on Twitter
  • Visit HighWire Origins on Facebook

Copyright © 2021 by the Royal College of Physicians