Our Team – GASTROS

Below you will find information about our study teams and their specific roles. The GASTROS team is made up of clinicians from a variety of backgrounds, nurses and patients.

Study Management Group

The Study Management Group is responsible for the day-to-day running of the study.

Mr Bilal Alkhaffaf
Chief Investigator
Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon

Mr Alkhaffaf is consultant surgeon at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester. He is leading the GASTROS study in his role as a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) doctoral research fellow. He is the NIHR sub-speciality lead for upper gastrointestinal surgical research in Greater Manchester.

Professor Iain Bruce
Study Primary Supervisor
Consultant Paediatric Otolaryngologist

Professor Bruce is a consultant paediatric ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Clinical Professor at the University of Manchester. He has extensive knowledge in the field of core outcome set (COS) development with an emphasis on patient involvement.

Professor Paula Williamson
Study Co-supervisor
Professor of Biostatistics

Paula Williamson is Professor of Medical Statistics, Director of the Clinical Trials Research Centre, and Director of the MRC North West Hub for Trials Methodology Research. She has a long-standing interest in reducing the waste in health research, particularly through better study design. She co-founded the COMET Initiative in 2010 to try to improve the consistency and relevance, to decision-makers including patients, of the outcomes measured in clinical research and audit. Her current research programme in this area includes studies looking at methods for the development of core outcome sets, including patient engagement, and the identification of efficient methods to assess the uptake of core outcome sets. Prof. Williamson leads the Trials Theme within the MRC Health eResearch Centre (HeRC) North, and is involved with the evaluation of health informatics approaches to aspects of trial design and conduct.

Professor Anne-Marie Glenny
Study Co-Supervisor
Professor of Health Sciences Research

Anne-Marie is Director of Research within the School of Dentistry, University of Manchester. She has worked within the field of evidence based practice since 1993 and has extensive experience of conducting systematic reviews in a variety of disciplines, using a range of methods. She is an Editor with the Cochrane oral Health Group and a member of three additional Cochrane review groups (Effective Practice and Organisation of Care; Wounds; Colorectal Cancer). In addition to her systematic review work, Professor Glenny has experience of developing evidence based guidelines and recommendations and has recently been PI on a two year project, funded by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States, to inform national recommendations on issues related oral health.

Professor Jane Blazeby
External Advisor
Professor of Surgery and Honorary Consultant Surgeon University of Bristol

Professor Blazeby is Director of the MRC ConDuCT-II Hub for Trials methodology Research and the Royal College of Surgeons of England Surgical Trials Centre. She is a chief investigator of two surgical RCTs and has led a programme of research over the past 20 years establishing methods for the assessment of patient reported outcomes and the inclusion of these measures into clinical trials. Professor Blazeby is on the COMET (Core Outcomes Measures in Effectiveness Trials) management group and has developed four core outcome sets (oesophageal and colorectal cancer, breast reconstruction and obesity surgery).

Ms Aleksandra (Ola) Metryka
Study Coordinator

Ola is a Senior Trials Manager based at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Study Advisory Group

The Study Advisory Group’s role is to ensure that the study’s overall aims and objectives are being met and that the work continues to represent the views of all stakeholders. In addition to the Study Management Group, the membership is made up of surgeons, specialist cancer nurses and patient representatives.

Karen Hayes
Patient

Karen was diagnosed with gastric cancer in May 2014. She underwent a partial oesophagostomy and total gastrectomy in August 2014. Karen completed a MacMillan mentoring course in July 2015 in order to provide buddying support to other oesophageal and gastric cancer patients before and after treatment. Karen lives with her two sons, and works full time as a senior social work practitioner in Stockport, UK.

Mr Bill Allum
Consultant Upper GI Surgeon

Mr Allum has an extensive experience within the field of gastric cancer surgery. He has held several national and international leadership positions including President of AUGIS. He is a council member of the International Gastric Cancer Association (IGCA) and was one of the founding members of the European Chapter of the IGCA.

Mr Asif Chaudry
Consultant Upper GI Surgeon

Mr Chaudry is an upper GI surgeon at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London. He is a founding member of the European Gastric Cancer Association and has an active interest in minimally invasive cancer surgery and translational research.

Mr Ewen Griffiths
Consultant Upper GI Surgeon

Mr Griffiths is a consultant surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK. He has a specialist interest the treatment of gastric cancer and academic research.

Mrs Naheed Farooq
Consultant Upper GI Surgeon

Mrs Farooq is a consultant surgeon at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, UK. She has a specialist interest the treatment of gastric cancer using minimally invasive surgery.

Miss Katie Roberts
Cancer Nurse Specialist

Miss Roberts is a Cancer Nurse Specialist at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

International Working Group

The International Working Group is made up of representatives from countries which have adopted the GASTROS study and will recruit to the multi-language versions. Each representative leads a local team of collaborators who will support recruitment and translation of the surveys.