Category: Department of Surgery and Cancer

A letter to our taught students and their loved ones

This is an open letter from Mr Martin Lupton, Vice-Dean of Education to taught students in the Faculty of Medicine and their loved-ones.

Dear Students and their friends and families,

My eldest son has recently returned to University in the UK and, even though I work in both the health and education sector, I have to acknowledge that I have a certain level of anxiety about him. It is very difficult to read the news about all that has happened during this time of COVID and not to worry.

I am telling you this because I want you to understand that I have some inkling of what you may be feeling right now, particularly if you come from overseas or your daughter, son or relation, has just started their university life. The first thing I want to say is “Welcome to the Faculty of Medicine”. We are very proud of what we have achieved during this global pandemic; the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College has been a key player contributing to the world’s understanding of the virus, the mapping of the virus, teaching people about the virus and developing a new vaccine. However, that is not all that we have been doing. (more…)

Why good cancer research must have the patient at the centre

Kelly Gleason, CRUK Lead Nurse, explores the value of patient and public involvement in cancer research and how it can improve the quality and outcomes of research.

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is increasingly recognised as important. Funding bodies are asking for more and more from researchers in regard to patient and public involvement. They want to see evidence of authentic and ongoing relationships between researchers and the public that is informing what is being researched, how it is being researched and how findings are shared with the public. Funders want to see more co-creation between researchers and the public and for this to happen, researchers require help accessing larger patient networks and support in maintaining relationships with patients.

My journey with PPI at Imperial

I became involved in patient and public involvement almost a decade ago – it was a relatively novel concept back then. The need for cancer researchers to access patients to involve in their research was increasing. The Imperial Cancer Research UK Centre, where I work as a Lead Nurse, established a group of patients and members of the public for Imperial researchers to have easy access to the patient voice. The group served as a resource to researchers and inputted on everything from grant proposals to lay summaries. They helped us create a research culture at Imperial where patients were integral to what and how we carried out cancer research. (more…)

My fight against medical myths and fake news on social media

Dr Amalina Bakri

This festive period Three Wise Women from the Faculty of Medicine will be giving us the gift of wisdom.

Our final wise woman, Dr Amalina Bakri, provides an insight into the role of social media in fighting medical misinformation online.

Some people are often surprised to hear that I’m a General Surgeon (speciality trainee) with a significant social media presence – over one million followers across Twitter and Instagram. I use social media to communicate what I’m passionate about, and that is an evidence-based approach to lifestyle medicine and disseminating accurate health information.

As the internet has matured, social media has developed and become an intrinsic part of many people’s lives. Some commonly use social media as a trusted source of information or news. But in the current climate, fake news or misinformation spreads like wildfire on social media, making it hard for individuals to see the true picture without checking sources.

Despite this, social media is a quick and effective way to spread scientifically proven, correct health information. That’s why I think medics and other healthcare professionals have an important role on social media to provide accurate medical information and to debunk myths and fake medical news. (more…)

Radiation and human health – separating scientific facts from urban myths

Professor Gerry Thomas
This festive period Three Wise Women from the Faculty of Medicine will be giving us the gift of wisdom.

Our first is Professor Gerry Thomas, a leading authority on the health impacts of radiation, who tells us why we should focus on the facts.

I was born in the 1960s and grew up believing that the word ‘radiation’ meant something that was infinitely dangerous. Back then, we were led to believe that nuclear weapons would lead to the extinction of our species, and that to be bitten by a radioactive spider would confer supernatural powers! I was therefore sceptical about the use of nuclear power. It wasn’t until 1992, when I started to study the health effects of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986, that I began to question whether my understanding of the health effects of radiation came more from science fiction than scientific fact. (more…)

Providing medical care during a mission to Mars: science or fiction?

50 years on from the historic Apollo Moon landings, the race to Mars is on. With this in mind, Dr Matthieu Komorowski is examining how to provide medical care during long-flight space missions.

“The extension of life beyond Earth is the single most important thing we can do as a species” once said Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX.

Many other eminent minds have expressed a similar vision, including Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Buzz Aldrin and so on. They all argue that there are too many risks that can befall life on a single planet. As nicely put by Robert Heinlein: “The Earth is just too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in.”

Could we possibly support such a bold idea ourselves? Is it more important to colonise Mars than to: improve our earthly existence, achieve equality and peace for all humans, protect our delicate environment, or cure diseases and world hunger? The argument is that these endeavours, as charitable as they are, all become meaningless if the following day life is wiped out from the face of the planet by a giant asteroid or a superbug. The long-term vision of space colonisation spans way beyond the blink of our existence and space advocates insist that in the long run, there are only two possible avenues: expansion into space or extinction! (more…)

Leading from the front: what can academia learn from the Army

Army leadership

Former British Army officer and current PhD student, Nadia Soliman, discusses the importance of leadership in academia and the lessons we can learn from the Army’s renowned leadership programmes. 

In my opinion the Army and academic institutions are very similar: both are organisations that work globally, across cultures and are dependent upon their people doing remarkable things to tackle some of the greatest challenges. However, one of the stark differences between the Army and academia is how the two train and equip people for the challenges they face in their job. (more…)

How we’re ensuring better care for older people with traumatic injuries

How we’re ensuring better care for older people with traumatic injuries
Originally published on the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust blog, consultant geriatrician Dr George Peck explains how the Trust is ensuring better care for older patients, and how trauma medicine is evolving to meet changing needs.

Bringing geriatric expertise to trauma care

As a registrar working with consultant geriatrician Dr Michael Fertleman, I was increasingly called to the trauma ward to offer geriatric assessments to patients who struggled with multiple issues. Best practice is to give a patient with suspected frailty a comprehensive geriatric assessment within 72 hours, but the volume of patients we receive who qualify has grown so much that this cannot be done without having a consultant geriatrician embedded in the service full time.

As a result, I became the first geriatrician in London to run a dedicated, embedded service in the trauma department. I will sit in the multidisciplinary team meeting with trauma surgeons, go on joint ward rounds with them throughout the week, and see major trauma patients whenever I am needed. I also help look after our surgical rehabilitation ward, which is for patients who are stable but require a longer period in hospital to recover. It is very rewarding to be able to offer continuity of care to our older trauma patients. (more…)

Thinking outside the ice box: revolutionising pancreas transplantation

Karim Hamaoui provides an insight into an innovative solution for the organ donation shortage – a technique that allows the pancreas to be preserved for longer and for better function.

The pancreas responsible for producing one of the body’s most important hormones: insulin. Since the first pancreas transplant in 1966, this procedure has revolutionised the treatment of type 1 diabetes. To date, pancreas transplantation is the only definitive treatment to render patients free from daily insulin injections and provide a better quality of life for these patients.

A key problem in the UK and worldwide is the limited supply of organs available and suitable for transplantation. The majority of pancreases used for transplantation in the UK come from a person who has died, and whose relatives have given permission for them to become an organ donor. To meet demand, the criteria used to identify suitable donors can be expanded from ‘ideal’ to ‘extended’ criteria. Extended criteria donors can also be euphemistically referred to as donors with ‘medical complexities’. They are normally aged 60 years or older, or aged over 50 years but with at least two of the following conditions: high blood pressure history, degree of kidney impairment, cause of death from a stroke. Unfortunately, complications are more pronounced for these types of organs. (more…)

Why curing breast cancer isn’t a piece of cake

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr Luca Magnani unravels the complexity of cancer research, from recent advances in genomics to the power of patients in research. 

In today’s fast-paced world in which everything quickly rotates, spins loudly for your clicks and sights, deciding where to focus our attention is a decisive factor. When trends come and go at lightning pace, it is somewhat surprising that October is still Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’m glad we can still manage to stop and reflect on what this means. Last year we discussed how Breast Cancer Awareness Month has evolved in the era of social media and marketing. This year I thought we could be more optimistic and discuss when October becomes ‘tea and crumpet’ appreciation month. (more…)

You don’t need to be a doctor to change healthcare

HELIX design studio

Healthcare and Design MSc student Peter White makes the case for why we need to think outside the box when it comes to innovation in healthcare.

Have you ever looked at something and thought, “how on earth did no-one invent that before?” You know the feeling. It’s the one you get while staring numbly at a copy of Harry Potter – all the while wondering how the idea of a boy who goes to school went unwritten for so long. It’s the one people probably had when the first guy rolled by with casters on the bottom of his chair. Even Facebook seems like such a simple idea in hindsight.

Forget happiness or sadness or the feeling of ‘it’s coming home’. It’s this constant ‘so close yet so far’ that’s the prevailing emotion in my life right now. A perpetual reminder that, yes, I’ll never be Mark Zuckerburg, or even a Google elf for that matter. All this is compounded by the fact that, according to my shiny laminated ID card, I’m supposed to be a healthcare design masters student at St Mary’s hospital in London, a building so old it seems to look down enviously at the geriatric ward within. (more…)