As Director of Governance and Operations for the Lancashire Clinical Trials Unit, Denise takes the lead on all aspects of research governance, ethics and implementation across the trial portfolio, coordinating the oversight and design of studies from pre-funding to closure.
As Principal Clinical Trials Manager she is responsible for the implementation and management of all studies on the Lancashire CTU portfolio across a variety of disease groups.
Denise has expertise in all areas of clinical trial management but specifically in feasibility trials and trials of complex interventions. This includes writing and reviewing trial protocols, ethics applications, contract negotiations and costing, research governance approvals, designing implementation and monitoring systems, ensuring protocol compliance, and training trial managers and research staff.
In her dual role, Denise is working to further improve the effectiveness and efficiency of clinical trial management by understanding the barriers and challenges of embedding research into practice.
Denise is a previous Chair of ethics committees covering health related research at UCLan and the previous UCLan signatory as Sponsor for IRAS and NHS applications. She has a keen interest and significant expertise in best ethical practices, including the protection of vulnerable research participants and has previously taught research governance and ethics in the Masters in Research and PGC courses.
Denise is a registered nurse, and her experience working in a clinical setting (both in the UK and in the Middle East) has given her a comprehensive understanding of all stages of the healthcare research system. Denise is particularly interested in facilitating research into complex interventions of nursing care, that will help to promote adoption of evidence-based practices.
