Meet the team behind MedConnect North.

Professor Amar Rangan – MedConnect North Group Lead

I am a clinical academic and NHS consultant with over 15 years’ extensive clinical and research experience in trauma and orthopaedic surgery at South Tees NHS Foundation Trust.

I have broad experience with use of surgical implants and devices for musculoskeletal conditions, including their clinical testing, evaluation and reporting of performance.

Professor Sam Eldabe MB ChB, FRCA, FFPMRCA

I am an NHS consultant based at South Tees NHS Foundation Trust with 18 years’ experience. Throughout my career I have been an active user and researcher into the role of medical devices in improving patient care. My background in anaesthesia has given me a broad exposure to all classes of medical technologies from simple Class I devices to the more complex Class IIB. My work as a chronic pain treatment specialist has afforded me experience in research with various class III active implantable devices.

""Hyder Latif

I am the Research Operations Manager for MedConnect North and have worked in clinical research over 10 years years, giving me a wealth of experience from NHS, academia and life sciences environments. I studied Business Management at Teesside University and then worked in the cancer research team at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and from there moved into the commercial research sector as a lead study coordinator at a research clinic before moving on to become a Trial Manager at a Clinical Trials Unit. After a year as a Trial Manager I moved to South Tees to become a project Manager for MedConnect North for two years. In my role as Project Manager, I supported five MedTech studies, including BEST, Nebula and Rescue Study.

Craig Mower

I am one of the Project Managers for MedConnect North. I have 5 years of clinical research experience, plus 13 years of diagnostic pathology, working with a variety of cutting-edge instruments and analysers whilst regularly liaising with MedTech companies, device manufacturers, and clinicians. I read English at Teesside University, followed by an FdSc in Health and Social Care Practice. In my current role I support MedTech studies including BEST, Nebula and Rescue.

 

""Naz Iqbal

Hi, my name is Naz and I am a Project Manager for MedConnect North. I began my research career at Durham University as a Research Associate working on a number of public health research projects including cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity, and health inequalities. In 2018, I pursued a career change in clinical research at South Tees Hospitals as a clinical trials co-ordinator. Prior to joining MedConnect North, I have also worked at the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria as a research operations co-ordinator, which involved working with partner organisations in the set-up of clinical trials.

I am extremely passionate about research, particularly in evidence-based practice and its impact on patient and public care outcomes. I hope I can have a positive impact on the MedConnect North service. I look forward to bringing my skills and expertise to the MedConnect North team and developing these skills with the overarching aim of promoting new technologies and services to enhance and improve patient care.

Odelle Phan

""I provide the operational support to the MedConnect North team and am the first point of contact for all initial engagements, administration and marketing of MedConnect North.

With a broad range of experience from my role in study delivery for the North East and North Cumbria, I have excellent knowledge in the process of initial engagement through to portfolio adoption.

 

Dr Shaun Wellburn

Dr Wellburn is currently employed, in a role co-funded with MedConnect North, as a Health Research Methodologist in the School of Health and Life Sciences at Teesside University. He graduated from the University of Sunderland in 2010 with a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Sciences. He went on to study for his PhD at Teesside University investing the information needs of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients and their families; he was awarded his PhD in 2017.

Dr Wellburn has been employed in a research capacity at Teesside University since 2014 and has worked on a variety of projects across a broad spectrum of disciplines. These include the evaluation of the North East of England Regional Back Pain and Radicular Pain Pathway evaluation and VR4Rehab projects. Dr Wellburn has published several peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers.

Professor Alan Batterham

Alan is Emeritus Professor of Health Sciences at Teesside University. He is an independent consultant and Senior Research Analyst with MedConnect North. Alan is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He is a member of the Statistical Advisory Board of BMJ Open.