A day in the life of...
a CORE Data Anaylst
If you had asked me where I thought I’d be in 5 years’ time in my first year of University, I would not have predicted either that I’d still be studying at the University of Southampton, nor working for them at CIRU too. Research has long been an ambition of mine and was only fueled by my time at a CTU on a placement during my Biomedical Sciences degree. It is mostly assumed that post-degree research in this area involves a laboratory, lots of test tubes and a few mice. But there is a whole realm of positions that assist alongside this work and beyond; one of these being the role I work as: eCRF Data Analyst as part of the CORE team. CORE stands for Clinical On-demand Research and is focused on designing, building, and maintaining electronic patient forms for clinical trials, both in academia and industry.
Taking you through an average working day will also include the pockets of time I spend at university as a part-time MSc Public Health & Nutrition student – almost like a Hannah Montana style gig. Because of this, my day starts early, going through emails and making notes of any amendments requested to current trial databases. Any data management tasks scheduled must also be completed, to make sure that any serious adverse events patients have experienced have been reported and all queries on patient data answered in a timely manner.
This semester I have then been scurrying off to campus to often be lectured by influential people in the field that I am also privileged to work with. I have found that a lot of the content I have been taught already has been directly applicable to my work and allowed me to understand further the methodology in studies for instance, or their real-world context, or even how working collaboratively with international clients requires different working culture approaches. Similarly, I have found my working experience in the research sector has given me an amazing foundation to understand how research progresses.
Typically, my afternoons are reserved by meetings with the team I work alongside (usually for a lot of problem-solving!) or trial teams, either for understanding and designing up-and-coming studies or more change requests to existing ones. Equally, if there is nothing in the calendar, I can put the kettle on and power through the lists that come out of these meetings!
Working at CIRU and studying at Southampton is accelerating my professional development and opening many more doors and opportunities. My day-to-day routine allows me to combine my enthusiasm for my studies in nutrition and public health, with my drive to be a part of research. There is nothing more rewarding than assisting on a trial at CIRU and helping to build a crucial part of the process, whilst also having a keen interest and understanding as to just how much of a difference this trial could make.