Funding Development Team

Karen Asher

Funding Development Manager

Karen started her career in Research and Innovation at Nottingham City Hospital in 2000.  She worked as Clinical Trials Manager at Royal Derby Hospital prior to undertaking her Masters.  Karen joined NUH R&I in 2009 as a Research Facilitator and subsequently moved to work with the Clinical Network East Midlands working on the set up of research projects for NUH.  Following the Health Research Authority changes in 2017, Karen re-joined R&I.  Karen has been Funding Development Manager since 2019.

Irfan Aslam

Funding Development Officer

Irfan Aslam was appointed Funding Development Officer in March 2021, to support Nottingham researchers in submitting and successfully delivering research grant proposals with the aim to contribute to patient benefit within NUH and beyond.   

Irfan has worked in the NHS since 2016, beginning as a Medical Laboratory Assistant in Macclesfield DGH before joining Research & Innovation at Nottingham in September 2018. Starting as a Research Practitioner, Irfan was responsible for the successful recruitment of participants to a range of research trials (CTIMP, RCT, qualitative, UPH COVID studies etc.) and ensuring these were delivered on time and targeted across multiple divisions. He has also worked as a Research Facilitator in the Family Health & Medicine division to assess, review and performance manage research studies before they began recruitment of patients within NUH.

Natalie Wheat

Funding Development Officer

Natalie started her NHS career in 2014 as a phlebotomist. Following the completion of a Masters, Natalie started her first research role at Haywood Hospital, Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust in 2016 as a Research Assistant. This Research Delivery role involved studies in rheumatology, MSK, falls and neurology. In 2018, Natalie joined NUH R&I as a Research Facilitator, setting up commercial and non-commercial research studies for CAS. Natalie started as a Funding Development Officer in 2021, where she now supports clinical researchers in Nottingham through the research grant application process.

Francesca Barnett

Funding Development Co-ordinator

After graduating from the University of Nottingham in 2020 with a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Francesca went on to gain experience working with Innovate UK and European Commission funded projects. Francesca started her role as Funding Development Coordinator in August 2021. She is responsible for providing day-to-day administrative support for the Funding Development Team, which is important for the timely submission and successful delivery of grants within NUH. 

Louise Maddison

Funding Development Co-ordinator

Louise started in R&I as Nottingham Health Science Partners Office Manager In February 2020 just as the COVID lockdown started. She then supported the R&I Management Team with administration tasks until she was placed on secondment to support the Funding Development Manager in August 2020. Her role of Funding Development Co-ordinator became permanent in April 2021 working in the Funding Development Team supporting them with the administration and coordination of the research grant application process across the NUH Clinical Divisions.