The Christie Charity
Eleanor Johnston is a research project coordinator in our experimental cancer medicine team (ECMT). Here, she talks about her role and how she contributes to the life-enhancing cancer research taking place at The Christie.
When people think about clinical trials, an image of someone in a lab coat looking into a microscope is probably the first thing that comes to mind.
Although that’s obviously a very important part of research, there are many more people – like me – who work behind the scenes to set up, run, and report on clinical trials here at The Christie.
I’m a research project coordinator in the experimental cancer medicine team (ECMT). The ECMT delivers a lot of the early phase trials (the ones that trial new cancer drugs in people for the first time) and my team helps with the day-to-day running of them. This includes everything from communicating with trial sponsors and maintaining electronic records, to invoicing and helping the team set up new studies.
Research doesn’t always involve trialling new drugs
I work specifically in the investigator-led team within ECMT, which helps deliver non-commercial studies and projects developed by one of the 5 academic consultants/principal investigators. One of the projects I’ve been leading on is called Patient Understanding of Genomics (PUG). We’re trying to understand how patients want to receive genomic testing results by organising focus groups and speaking to people about their experiences and what could be better. It’s a great example of cancer research that doesn’t involve a lab or testing new drugs.
One of the larger investigator-led studies I’m involved with is TARGET National. This involves the use of a blood test to ‘match’ people with cancer to the best early-phase clinical trial for them. The trial, which started at The Christie, has now been extended to nearly 20 other hospitals across the country. We’ve just signed up the 2000th patient to the trial, which is brilliant.
I’m learning new things all the time
I have a background in science – I did a degree in pharmacology – and although that’s not necessary for what I do, it helps. I always knew that I wanted to work in healthcare but didn’t want to work in a lab or become a doctor, so working on the admin side of things seemed like a good fit. I started at The Christie in 2020 and haven’t looked back since.
