Home Page

Gary Minto

Director of R&D 

Gary Minto trained as an anaesthetist in London, the South West, South Africa and Australia & is a consultant in Plymouth, Devon as well as the Director of R&D.

Corinna Mossop
R&D Operations Director

Corinna was instrumental in the early days of R&D in the Trust in developing and setting up the service, pathways and visibility of research at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.  R&D now has an average of 500 studies running at any one time.  As the R&D Manager Corinna is responsible for the well organised and efficient running of the R&D Department, ensuring that all research is set up promptly, approvals and diagnostic support services are in place and appropriate resources available to support the smooth running of all studies. Corinna was integral in developing the one cost process to further support the smooth setup of research projects across the Trust and the South West Peninsula.  She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the department as well as being passionate about clinical research in the NHS environment and the benefits it brings for our patients.

Nicola Parsons
Clinical Trials Finance Co-ordinator 

Dr. Chris Rollinson
Research Governance Manager

Elinor Pegg

Research Operations Manager

With a focus on clinical databases Elinor currently oversees the one-stop-shop that University Hospitals Plymouth can offer researchers:  direct placement of enquiries for study feasibility to the appropriate interested researcher, a single point of contact for study set-up and centralised amendment review and acknowledgment.

Dr. Helen Neilens

Senior Research Advisor & Trust Innovation Lead

Helen provides support and advice in all aspects of clinical and healthcare research for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust including funding, protocol development and approvals. She collaborates with the University of Plymouth on projects involving both organisations. Helen is also responsible for the Trust Innovation Pathway and any innovative ideas staff may have can be directed to her.

Victoria Yates
Senior Research Facilitator 

Vic is currently a Senior Research Support Facilitator supporting the work of the Research Governance team, ensuring that governance requirements are fulfilled. She works closely with Chief Investigators within the Trust, supporting them to develop and submit their research documents and forms to the relevant regulatory bodies.  She manages all Trust sponsored studies throughout their lifetime, including set up,  processing amendments, and close out.  She frequently represents the Trust at Trial Management and Trial Steering Committee meetings. Vic is also  deputy research archivist for the Trust.

Hannah Allende

Deputy Research Governance Manager

To support the Research Governance Manager to provide specialist advice and guidance on all matters relating to achieving and maintaining compliance with regulations and guidance relevant to the facilitation and delivery of clinical research.

Nicki Allott

Research Support Facilitator

Nicki has spent over 12 years working in Primary and Secondary care settings, with the last 2 years working in Primary Care Clinical Research. Having a depth of knowledge in the patient care pathways helps Nicki to understand the importance of clinical research and keep patients best interests at the heart of all our activities. Nicki oversees the study set up team within Research & Development at University Hospitals Plymouth.

Amber Lord

Research Advisor

Amber supports the Senior Research Advisor with providing advice to researchers on all aspects of the research process, from study design and feasibility through to the development of protocols and accompanying study documents, prior to Trust sponsorship and submission to the relevant regulatory bodies. 

Hellen Baker

Trainee Junior Research Support Facilitator

After experiencing first-hand the amazing work the NHS do, I wanted to join the Research department. I am passionate about assisting with studies and working with others in and out of work to make a better tomorrow for everyone.

Karen Dodd & Cody Coulton

R&D Finance Administrator

Karen and Cody are responsible for administering financial processes to support research studies from the set-up of new studies to the close down of completed studies.  Ensuring studies are financially up to date by liaising with sponsor Clinical Research Associates (CRA) and site nurse co-ordinators to facilitate regular invoicing.  Karen and Cody update the R&D financial systems for reporting purposes as well as a number of other financial tasks within the department.

Becky Dempster

Research Receptionist & Admin Assistant

I have supported Research and development for 2 years as a receptionist/administrator. I look after two receptions, one in our main R&D office and one on The James Lind Research Centre, working opposite to the other receptionist, Rebecca Taylor. I predominantly support the wider teams and assist wherever I am needed.

Rebecca Taylor

Research Receptionist & Admin Assistant

My background is in Advertising and Estate Agency and in recent years I have been a receptionist and Assistant Host Manager. I work opposite Becky covering the reception on both the James Lind Research Centre and the R&D office. In addition to working as a receptionist for research, I also support our admin team with any tasks they need help with.

Catherine Pitman

Lead Research Nurse

Catherine has worked in clinical research since 2003. Initially in the commercial sector in a Phase 1 unit as a nurse collecting data working her way up to senior management as the Recruitment & Screening Manager.  In 2011 she joined the trust as a Research Nurse working across many different areas such as Renal, Surgery, Anaesthetics, Neurology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology and Rheumatology. More recently, she has been the R&D Business Manager working on QI & workforce projects and how R&D can work internally and with the wider trust. She commenced in her current role as Lead Research Nurse in January 2022.

Helen Smith

Specialist Research Nurse

Helen heads the Oncology Research Team

Kate Stephens

Specialist Research Nurse

Kate heads the Hepatology Research Team

Julie Alderton

Specialist Research Nurse

Julie is team leader for Cardiac, Stroke and Respiratory research delivery at UHPNT. Before commencing this role she specialised in Cardiothoracic nursing in London and Oxford.

Nicola Crosbie

Specialist Research Nurse

Nicky heads the Haematology Research Team.

Abi Patrick

Specialist Research Practitioner

I manage a team of research nurses and practitioners to deliver both commercial and non-commercial research, mainly within neurology but more recently within urgent public health.

I have been in the trust since 1998 and prior to joining the research team I worked as an anaesthetic practitioner covering all surgical specialties, specialising in neurosurgery.

Elaine Freeman

Specialist Research Nurse

Elaine is currently Team Lead for the DREAM GROUP managing a range of portfolios including Diabetes, Renal, Endocrine, Assorted (Dermatology, ENT, ICU, ED) and Maternity (DREAM) together with Gynaecology, Rheumatology, Orthopaedics, Urology and Paediatrics (GROUP). Elaine has also worked across neurology, cardiology, respiratory and Covid-19 research within the department.