Ian Gravenor, Clinical Research Associate, ORION Clinical Services Ltd
Microbiology BSc (Hons)
PhD, Comparative Immunology, Durham University
I was always interested in biology and the working of the body, so the interactions of micro-organisms and the body really appealed. It was also something that was specific and related to yourself and how your body fought infection. The best thing about studying immunology is that the more you learn about the subject the more you learn about your own body and how you fight off infections, why you react the way you do to things like pollen, you finally understand why as a kid you were given all those vaccinations which at the time you felt were unnecessary tortures! The more you learn about immunology the more interesting it becomes. A lot of subjects that you initially enjoy lose their appeal as you go deeper into them – for example chemistry – the deeper your knowledge in that field the less appealing it became – but immunology was completely different – the more you understand the more you wanted to learn and know more.
Career history: After his PhD, Ian worked for five years as an academic researcher on two projects – the first was a clinical project and involved trying to determine the nature of the immune defect in patients with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, a disorder of the immune system that prevented them from clearing infections with the fungus Candida albicans. His second research project looked at respiratory syncytial virus, a cause of respiratory infections in babies. Once again it was a cellular immunology project looking at the way T lymphocytes and macrophages respond to this virus. Ian's research helped us understand that it was the body's own immune response to RSV that actually caused most damage indirectly whilst trying to rid the body of the virus. Having worked on clinical research projects, Ian had come into contact with CRAs and decided this career appealed.
My current job is away from the laboratory. I am working as a clinical research associate for a clinical research organisation (CRO) called ORION Clinical Services Ltd. The company runs clinical trials on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. My job is to set the trial up in hospitals or GP surgeries, ensure the smooth running of the trial and deal with any problems that arise. I am responsible for regular visits to sites to ensure that the data captured for the trial is accurate and true, and collect the data when completed.
Although it is not a laboratory-based job, I am using a lot of the skills that I acquired during my research training. You have to be organised, be able to interact with people at all levels, work independently, but also as part of a team. The job involves quite a lot of travelling to centres throughout the UK, and some other co-workers also travel to Europe doing the same job. I am involved in many aspects of clinical trials including the recruitment of investigators, initiation, monitoring and close down of centres. I joined the team in November 2000 and am involved several clinical trials covering hypertension, ovarian cancer and breast cancer and non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I have experience in both GP-based and hospital-based trials.
The work tends to be split into two types. Some days you spend in the office making phone contacts with centres and investigators, writing up visit reports, updating databases, preparing for visits, attending project meetings – a whole variety of office based duties. Then there are days when you go out on visits. This involves meeting with the study staff to make sure there are no problems and trying to sort them out if there are, ensuring that the data recorded for the trial is accurate and verifying it against the patients' notes, making sure that supplies at the centre are adequate, carrying out accountability for any study medication etc. I enjoy the variety of the job – often you are working on several different trials at one time so there is no chance of getting bored! And there is the travelling, it often makes a refreshing change to get out of the office and travel to different centres, although this can become a bit of a chore if there are too many visits and the paperwork builds up while you are away!
