Colette is a Lead Specialist Dietitian working in intestinal failure at the Freeman Hospital. She’s always been driven by a desire to improve the lives of patients who rely on complex nutritional therapies, particularly those receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN). Very early in her career, she realised that many of the clinical questions she had didn’t yet have good evidence behind them.
The curiosity with the gaps in knowledge sparked her interest in research. She not only wanted to provide care, but generate the evidence that underpins it. Becoming a clinical academic brought these two passions together.
Working closely with HPN patients, I saw how profoundly treatment affects their daily lives. It quickly became obvious that clinical improvements don’t always align with patient experience. I found myself asking how can we better support people? Why do some people do well and others really struggle? What matters to them?
These weren’t questions I could answer through clinical work alone. Research gave me a way to explore them systematically and to contribute knowledge that could shape national practice. It also allowed me to think more broadly about long term outcomes, quality of life, and the lived experience of patients. All areas that are unfortunately often overlooked.
The BRC funding was genuinely transformative for my career. I had applied for NIHR funding previously, and while the panel felt like I was the right fit, they felt the project wasn’t quite right and was too ambitious for my experience at that time. Instead of stepping back, the BRC gave me the opportunity to move forward. They funded the first year of my PhD, which was absolutely pivotal.
That initial year allowed me to begin generating data, develop my skills, and refine the project in a way that simply wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. It also meant I ultimately had four years to complete the work, giving the project the space it needed to grow.
Additionally, the BRC investment demonstrated to NIHR that I was committed to the research long-term and that others believed in me and the potential of the work. When I resubmitted for the NIHR ICA Doctoral Fellowship, I was in a much stronger position, with clearer direction, early outputs, and tangible evidence of institutional support. So in that sense, the BRC didn’t just support my development, they helped unlock the next stage of my career.
The wider ecosystem in Newcastle have been incredibly supportive. Through Newcastle Health Research Partnership, I was able to access grant writing workshops, mentorship and hand-on sessions with experienced academics. These opportunities helped me to understand the research landscape, build confidence, and connect with people across wider disciplines who were willing to share their expertise.
Ultimately, the BRC and NHRP created a pathway and helped navigate the journey from ‘research-interested’ to ‘research-active’, and helped me to secure national NIHR funding.
The application process was intense but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I spent months refining my research question, strengthening the methodological approach, and building a supervisory team that could support every aspect of the project. The BRC were invaluable during this stage, offering feedback, mock interviews and a realistic sense of what NIHR were looking for. I think the biggest lessons I learned were:
Being awarded the fellowship has been career-defining. It enabled me to complete my PhD while staying embedded in clinical practice, and it has opened doors to new collaborations, leadership opportunities, and future research ambitions.
My research focusses on understanding quality of life in adult patients on HPN, and identifying the factors that influence their physical, psychological and day-to-day wellbeing. HPN is lifesaving but it comes with a significant treatment burden. Until now, we’ve had very little high-quality evidence on what predicts good outcomes or how we might intervene to support people better.
By combining clinical, nutritional, biochemical and patient-reported data, my work has begun to map out the drivers of poor quality of life, from muscle mass and liver function to symptom burden and socioeconomic factors. This gives us a much clearer picture of where targeted interventions could make a difference.
Ultimately, the aim is to move beyond simply keeping people nutritionally stable and towards improving how they feel, function and live. I hope this research will shape future clinical pathways, inform national guidelines, and underpin trials of interventions such as exercise, symptom management, and metabolic assessment.
Several important insights emerged from the work:
Taken together, these findings help explain which some patients thrive on HPN while others struggle, and they point clearly to modifiable areas for future intervention studies.
I’m most proud of completing a full, multicentre observational study while embedded in clinical practice and whilst raising two small children! That required a huge amount of coordination, collaboration, persistence and support.
I’m also proud of publishing and presenting my findings, being invited to author national guidelines and supporting junior colleagues and dietitians to develop their own research skills. Perhaps most meaningfully though, is the feedback from patients and clinicians who feel the work genuinely reflects lived experience and will help improve care in the long term.
Start small, be curious and don’t wait until you feel ready, that might never happen! Talk to people who have already made the transition and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Look for protected research time wherever you can get it (even a few hours a week can make a huge difference), but realistically, also be prepared to put in some of your own time. Most importantly, choose a research question that genuinely excites you because passion will carry you through the inevitable tough times!