ICAT

Congratulations to Dr Alex Oldroyd, who has won the 2023-24 Daniel Turnberg Cup at the recent Integrated Clinical Academic Training (ICAT) Symposium!

The Daniel Turnberg Cup is awarded annually to a University of Manchester Clinical Academic Trainee (in Medicine or Surgery) who has made an excellent contribution to clinical research and who has effectively communicated their research findings.

Professor Ian Bruce presented the cup to Alex, who is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology. Commenting on his win, Alex said:“I am delighted to be awarded The Daniel Turnberg Cup – it is an honour to be awarded this considering the prestigious previous winners. Dr Daniel Turnberg, in whose memory the cup is presented, was passionate about inter-disciplinary translational research and was an advocate for international collaboration – these resonate with me greatly. International collaboration across a wide variety of disciplines, including oncology and immunology, is vital for idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) translational research.

My research aims to eliminate excess mortality due to cancer in adults with IIM by enabling early detection/diagnosis via greater aetiological understanding, evidence-based screening, and integration of novel approaches and technologies into routine clinical practice. I hope one day that my research helps answer some of the fundamental questions about the links between autoimmunity and cancer.

During my acceptance presentation I spoke about how my current and future research is only possible due to my academic training alongside clinical training – all the way from the Academic Foundation Programme to my current role as an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer. Integrated clinical academic training is vital to ensure translation of research into clinical practice.

I have only been able to carry out my research with the enthusiastic support of my supervisors, collaborators, patient participants, and the whole of the ICAT team – I am extremely grateful to all!”