Today, we’re speaking to Tracy Langan, from the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow about her experiences as a DMD Hub Trial Coordinator.
Glasgow joined the DMD Hub in 2020, with £183,760 to fund three posts – Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Trial Coordinator and Research Physiotherapist.
We would like to thank Project Go, a Duchenne UK Family Fund, and all their supporters, for contributing funds towards the Research Physiotherapist role.
The funding has enabled the neuromuscular team in Glasgow to expand their current portfolio of clinical trials available to boys at this hospital and in Scotland.
Tracy Langan spoke to us about her role:
My name is Tracy Langan and I am the Clinical Trial Coordinator for the Paediatric Neuromuscular Service at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
What did you do before starting in this role?
I started my new post in January 2020, having previously been the PA to Doctor Iain Horrocks, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, and Sister Jen Dunne, Clinical Nurse Specialist, for the previous 10 years. I had previously assisted in a minor role with organising trial appointments and some of the trial documents. As a result, I found the idea of clinical trials, and improving the treatment and care of boys with Duchenne, ground-breaking and exciting, and I wanted to develop this aspect of my role more.
How has the DMD Clinical Trial Coordinator Network helped you in your role?
As the post was completely new, there was a lot to learn and I had the support of Sister Jen Dunne, the Clinical Nurse Specialist, in implementing the tasks required to set up my post. At this time, the Clinical Trial Coordinator Network was set up by the DMD Hub.
The Network of Clinical Trial Coordinators is a forum for support and advice for every member. Being new to the post, I found this invaluable, as I could get support from other trial coordinators who had been in post a lot longer than myself. They could give me advice on how they do aspects of their jobs that could help me in my day-to-day tasks.
The future plans for the Network around training days and shadowing opportunities to see how the different centres work, will be a massive support to all Clinical Trial Coordinators. Once we are through COVID-19, I look forward to meeting my colleagues in the CTC Network at face to face meetings.
We would like to thank Tracy and all the team at Glasgow for their involvement in the DMD Hub.
About the DMD Hub
Duchenne UK’s mission through the DMD Hub is to give everyone diagnosed with DMD access to research opportunities. In just four years, Duchenne UK has invested £2.7 million, this has funded 32 posts, brought more companies and income to the NHS through pharmaceutical studies, and helped recruit more than 250 boys to take part in DMD trials who otherwise may not have had that opportunity.
Our priorities for 2020 are:
To find out more about the DMD Hub visit www.dmdhub.org or read our DMD Hub Impact Report 2019: http://bit.ly/dmdhub2019