Breast academy – Dr Megan Bydder, Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Megan Bydder is a consultant breast radiologist at the Nightingale Centre in Manchester. Her main interests are education and technology. She is part of the National Breast Imaging Academy project team and is Clinical Lead for the new NBIA e-Learning for Healthcare programme in breast imaging.

Undertaking a PhD – Dr Claire Mercer, Head of Radiography, University of Salford

This talk will enable delegates to:
• Gain an understanding of the PhD by publication ‘journey’.
• Develop a knowledge of the Society of Radiographers Research Strategy.
• Understand the importance of undertaking research to support the patient pathway.

Claire Mercer qualified as a Radiographer in 1995 from S. Martin’s College, Lancaster. She worked in as a Radiographer for 5 years and then progressed into the field of Mammography. She developed into an advanced practitioner, followed by Superintendent and completed her MSc with distinction in Advanced Medical Imaging in 2011. The following year Claire completed her PhD at the University of Salford. Her research work is centred on practitioner variation in breast compression and Claire has published several papers in this area. She is currently Head of Radiography at the University of Salford.

Tools for getting research approval – Dr Lyn Jones, Consultant Radiologist, North Bristol NHS Trust

Dr Lyn Jones is a Consultant Radiologist at the Bristol Breast Care Centre, North Bristol NHS Trust. Her main research interest is Breast MRI and she is currently funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to determine the feasibility of training mammogram readers to interpret FAST MRI (a type of abbreviated breast MRI) in the context of breast cancer screening. The intention is to develop a cost-effective imaging tool to save lives by finding aggressive cancers earlier. Lyn was the first radiologist in the West of England NIHR region in 10 years to be awarded an NIHR grant.

The Breast Screening Research Advisory Committee (RAC) – Mr Mark Sibbering, Consultant Breast Surgeon, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton

This talk will help delegates to gain an understanding of:
• The role of the Research Advisory Committee in Breast Cancer Screening.
• The workload of the Committee.
• The processes required to carry out research in the breast screening programme.

Mr Mark Sibbering has worked as a Consultant Breast Surgeon at Derby since 1997. He is the immediate Past President of the Association of Breast Surgery. He has held numerous roles in breast screening including Regional QA Surgeon and Regional QA Director and is a previous chair of the NHSBSP / ABS Audit of screen-detected breast cancers. He is currently a National Advisor to Public Health England on Breast Screening and Chair of the Breast Screening Research Advisory Committee.