Team

Dr Simon Rule

Dr Rule is currently a consultant in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth where he is head of the lymphoma service and runs all clinical trial work.

Dr Rule is a member of the National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) lymphoma working party, medical director of the Peninsula cancer network.

His major interests are lymphoma and new drug development. His specific area of interest is in mantle cell lymphoma and he has a research team looking at various aspects of this disease.

In addition he chairs the NCRN Mantle Cell Lymphoma trial group and he is currently the principal investigator for a number of phase 2 and phase 3 lymphoma studies being conducted at local, network and national level.

Dr Heather Eve - Research Registrar

Heather Eve qualified as a doctor in 2000 and started specialising in haematology in 2004.

She is interested in all aspects of malignant haematology and has therefore taken time out from her registrar training to do lymphoma research with Dr Rule over the next 2-3 years.

She is involved in a number of projects related to mantle cell lymphoma and, in particular, is performing the laboratory work for the lenalidomide trial to try and ascertain exactly how this drug works.

She is keen to remain involved with clinical trials throughout her career and is gaining a huge amount of experience to achieve this through her work with the research team at Derriford Hospital.

Sheila Bullard

Sheila is currently the Manager of the Trials Unit. She is responsible for the day to day running of the Unit.

Sheila has a nursing background; qualifying in 1973. She mainly dealt with oncology patients and moved into oncology research in 1997.

She has been a Registered Member of The Institute of Clinical Research (RICR) since 2005 and successfully obtained an MSc in Clinical Research (with distinction) in 2006. She is author and co-author of a number of articles and has several presentations under her belt.

In 2007 she became the Trial Co-ordinator for the Bortezomib trial. Developing the protocol, seeking approvals and getting sites up and running. She continues in this role, but the role has now expanded to include the Lenalidomide trial and development of the unit.

She is a professional member of the local Research Ethics Committee.

Maria Robinson

Maria Robinson is a Clinical Trials Facilitator. Her current role involves providing comprehensive administrative support to the Unit.

Maria has worked within the NHS for over 25 years. With a background in HR, she has always had a keen interest in research. She moved into clinical trials 12 years ago, initially working in oncology and moving over to non-solid cancer trials in 2007. She offers vast experience in all elements of trial administration and data management.