INTERVIEW
James Lee
James Lee is a Senior Clinical Trials Manager at the University of Oxford and works within the Epidemic Research Group Oxford (ERGO). He works on multiple infectious disease programmes such as the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) and Rapid European COVID-19 Emergency Response (RECOVER), where his focus is on management and operational support. His previous role was in a Research Governance capacity for University of Oxford Sponsored studies, which included monitoring of Clinical Trials and supporting high quality research within the University. James is also a qualified exercise therapist and has undertaken research on the effects of exercise on the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. In this interview, James speaks about his connection to Ecraid and why he’s excited about our pan-European purpose-driven, people-centred network.
Why is being part of Ecraid important to you?
Since starting in Professor Sir Peter Horby’s team five years ago, I have seen the infectious disease research landscape evolve significantly. To me, Ecraid feels like a natural next step towards achieving better pandemic preparedness and response in Europe.
What can be achieved by being affiliated with Ecraid?
There has been an impressive global research response to COVID-19, however there are still elements of fragmentation and a lack of international coordination. Being involved with Ecraid presents an opportunity to contribute to a more efficient use of research resources and expertise through collaboration, which ultimately will result in better patient care.
How will Ecraid make a difference?
Ecraid is a cross-institutional clinical research network that will utilise a central financial and infrastructural base. I’m excited to see how this model can make a difference for delivering research sustainability and delivery of world class evidence.
ISARIC reached an impressive milestone recently, tell us more about that
Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than half-a-million records, the ISARIC clinical data platform has grown to become the largest international individual patient dataset of COVID-19 hospitalised cases. The ISARIC Clinical Data Platform is a great example of research collaboration, and shows what can be achieved through research-ready clinical networks and pre-prepared research tools.
What do you hope to achieve as a result of reaching this milestone?
These data have informed a publicly available, regularly updated, clinical data report and dashboard, with the aim of accelerating a collective understanding of COVID-19 globally. The data series have been published frequently on a preprint server (medrxiv.org), to help inform the development of policies and clinical management guidelines. Through the collaborative platform, analyses are underway for over 20 studies and is expected to grow through 2021 and 2022.
Any next steps and how does this relate to Ecraid?
The ISARIC example highlights the fundamental importance of investment in research preparedness by healthcare systems, funders, and government organisations. ISARIC will continue to work with international partners by supporting collaborative inter-epidemic research studies, pre-positioning of ‘epidemic’ research protocols, responsive research during outbreaks, career development fellowships and training. Our group’s involvement with ISARIC, Ecraid and other networks, ensures that efforts are aligned; expertise is shared; and research tools are harmonised.
What other projects are you involved with?
The University of Oxford has recently announced the launch of a new centre of global research collaboration and excellence, the Pandemic Sciences Centre. This centre will harness the strong global research collaborations that the University of Oxford has developed over more than forty years. Presently, our department has an expansive network of academic partners and projects. See the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health Website to find out more.
Before we go, tell us something surprising about you.
I once had budgerigar called ‘Rambo’, which may actually be unsurprising to some.
You can follow James on LinkedIn or visit his University of Oxford profile for more information about his work.
Also see: SPRINT-SARI and MERMAIDS (part of PREPARE).