King's Clinical Academic Training Office (KCATO)

King’s College London hosts a thriving community of research-active health professionals. Across King’s Health partners, we employ and train almost every kind of health profession, representing a unique multidisciplinary environment in which to forge a clinical academic career.

The King’s Clinical Academic Training Office (KCATO) offers advice, best practice and information on navigating a clinical academic career. It is open toall health professionals who are based at any of the organisations of King’s Health Partners – KCL, Guy’s and St Thomas’s, King’s College Hospital or South London and Maudsley NHS Trusts.

Our strategic priorities are:

• To champion clinical academic careers, recognising the unique value that clinical academics bring to innovation and improving outcomes for patients
• Clinical Academic capacity building, including delivery of strategic funding programmes at pre-doctoral, doctoral and postdoctoral level
• To design and deliver bespoke career development opportunities, recognising the challenges in navigating the career paths, particularly across transition points
• To be a central, visible contact point, signposting to opportunities or services and to help avoid silos or barriers to progression.

The KCATO Brochure outlines the various training and resources open to health professionals across King's and our NHS Trust partners via the KCATO.

• View ourKCATO Brochure for 2023-24 (pdf)

Further information and resources on training, development, funding and careers are available on the newly launched KCATO Hub. For colleagues in any of the King's Health Partners who wish to access the KCATO Hub,please request access via this form.

• Access ourKCATO Sharepoint Hub (King's log in credentials required).

Contact details

You can contact the KCATO Team atkcato@kcl.ac.uk.

KCATO also administers theNIHR Integrated Academic Training Programme at King's College London. If you have any queries on the IAT Programme, please contactIATadmin@kcl.ac.uk.

Join our newsletter

Health professional researchers will receive monthly newsletters from the King's Clinical Academic Training Office. If you have not received the newsletters and would like to be added to our mailing lists, please sign up to our newslettervia our online form.

All doctoral research students in the Health Faculties at King’s enrolled on a DClinPsy, MPhil, MRes, PhD, or other PGR degree, automatically receive monthly email updates from KCATO.

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Apply for One:One Feedback on your Funding Presentation Pitch

Apply for an incredible opportunity: one on one support with your funding presentation pitch.

Simon Cain, of Westbourne Consulting, has great success with supporting clinical academics onto Fellowships. We have secured up to 8 spots for the 2025-26 academic year for healthcare professional researchers to receive individual coaching from Simon.

Apply throughthis form. Applications are received on a rolling basis. Forthcoming review dates: 4 December 2025 and 14 January 2026.

KCATO Winter Shorts

This winter, KCATO is partnering with colleagues from across King’s to provide you with short, accessible introductions to topics relevant to a clinical academic career. Click on the Topic link to find out what you’ll learn, and to register for the session.

KCATO/INSIGHT Developing your clinical academic career: research and education opportunities in Genomics

Time:12:30-13:30, Wednesday 10 December 2025

Location:Online via Teams

Registration:Register here

The UK is a world leader in the application of genomics in healthcare and in the NHS 10-year plan, it was mentioned almost 100 times in the context of policy, practice, education and research!

Join Dr Tootie Bueser and Reeshu Varma for a webinar, hosted by the NIHR INSIGHT Programme South London, on the exciting topic of genomics. This webinar aims to provide you with an overview of the opportunities for education and research in genomics and how, by engaging at this early stage in your career, you can be part of the genomics revolution to ensure a personalised approach to healthcare.

Speakers:

Dr Tootie Bueser is Director for Nursing & Midwifery, South East Genomic Medicine Service Alliance (Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust) and NIHR Senior Clinical Practitioner Researcher, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care (King’s College London.

Reeshu Varma is an NIHR INSIGHT scholar and current MSc Genomic Medicine student at City St George’s, University of London.

Pitching for Funding

Time:09:30-11:30, Tuesday 6 January 2026

Location:Online via Teams

Registration:Register here

Join Simon Cain, Westbourne Consulting, for this interactive online workshop on making a fellowship application, specifically designed for clinical academics across King's Health Partners.

Who should attend:

• Healthcare professional researchers who already have an interview date (or are hoping to be called to a panel interview. 
• Researchers who are looking for highly detailed feedback on their interview presentations
• Those looking for examples of presentations that have been successful in attracting funding

What you will get out of attending this session:

• Understand the components of a successful pitch.
• Design high-impact pitches. 
• Deliver successful pitches to funding panels / interviews. 
• Prepare for, and manage, the Q&A session effectively.  

The session will rely heavily on using real examples of successful pitches from researchers we have worked with in the past.  These range from PhD students to Professors and cover a broad variety of clinical disciplines.   

Once you sign up, we will invite you to be a live ‘guinea pig’ to have the opportunity to present the current version of your presentation to the trainer and your peers: an incredible opportunity for personal feedback!

Note: numbers are limited and we request that once you sign up, you commit fully to being available to the workshop in fairness to your peers. 

Applying for an NIHR Pre-doctoral Fellowship

Time:13:00-14:00, Thursday 5 February 2026

Location:Online via Teams

Registration:Register here

The NIHR's PCAF scheme offers salaried time to develop a doctoral fellowship application and to undertake funded academic training. The scheme is open to early career researchers from the health and care professions (excluding doctors and dentists) who are committed to a clinical academic or practitioner academic career.

Learning Objectives

• Understand more about what the NIHR PCAF scheme is, by hearing from existing or past PCAF holders
• Gain insights into making a strong application, from senior academics who help screen these applications
• Hear about the research training offered at King’s which will help inform your application
• Learn more about clinical academic career paths across diverse health professional backgrounds

Who should attend

This event is for health professionals across King’s Health Partner Trusts and King’s College London, who are interested in finding out more about making applications for the NIHR PCAF and DCAF schemes.

Speakers

• Professor Catherine Evans, Deputy Director, KCATO; Interim Head of the Cicely Saunders Institute, KCL; Professor of Palliative Care Nursing
• Dr Sam Irving, Associate Director, KCATO; programme lead for the NIHR South London Internships scheme; respiratory physiologist, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
• Dr Maria Duaso, Senior Lecturer, Care in Long Term Conditions, Programme Lead MSc Clinical Research Delivery, KCL
• Christopher Remmington, previous PCAF and now current DCAF holder, honorary Senior Lecturer, KCL; Pharmacist, GSTT

Discover Research

Time:16:00-20:00, Thursday 19 March 2026

Location:H0.1 Teaching room and Curve Lecture Theatre,St George's Hospital Hunter Wing(Ground floor), Blackshaw Road, Tooting, London, SW17 0QT

Registration: Register here

Join us on 19 March at St George's Hospital for Discover Research! Keynotes, posters & networking on South London healthcare research.

This engaging event will showcase the breadth of research priorities across South London and provide a platform to connect with research support and professionals.

There will be the opportunity to present a poster showcasing your research - more details to follow once you've signed up.

Past Events

Research Careers for Health Professionals: Introducing the NIHR

Prof Lucy Chappell join KCATO and Grand Rounds on Wed 2 October 2024 to talk aboutclinical academic careers and specifically the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR),the government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research.

Prof Chappell is the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Chief Executive of NIHR as well as Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London, Honorary Consultant Obstetrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Recording of the lecture is available onthe KCATO Hub(internal link). Colleagues in our Trust partners, please sign up to accesshere.

Engaging in Research Series

The recordings of the past sessions are available onthe KCATO Hub(internal link). Colleagues in our Trust partners, please sign up to accesshere.

1) Demystifying Research– A webinar for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) interested in pursuing research

Have you ever wanted to know more about research? Have you wondered how to engage in research yourself? The session will provide you with the opportunity to have your questions about research answered by a panel of clinical academics across different health professions within King's Health Partners. We will cover areas such as benefits of research for clinical practice, how to get started in research and different ways of gaining research experience, and planning your career in research.

2)Research questions and finding a supervisor – A webinar for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) interested in pursuing research

It can be difficult to know where to get started once you have developed interest in research. Many programmes and fellowships require the applicants to design a research project and to independently find supervisors to support their project. This session will provide you with clear guidance on how to best approach these tasks and submit a project to a pre-doctoral or doctoral fellowship competition.

The speakers include supervisors who are currently supporting health professional researchers as well as current students who have been successful in obtaining fellowships.

3) Top Tips on writing fellowship applications

This short session will provide insights and tips on how to put together a competitive fellowship application, aimed particularly at health professionals who are making their first applications (e.g. for pre-doctoral or doctoral fellowship schemes).

This webinar offers broad guidance that can fit to many different funded fellowship applications, including NIHR, MRC, Wellcome and KHP CTM Pre-doctoral Clinical Research Excellence Fellowships and NIHR Maudsley BRC Preparatory Clinical Research Training Fellowships.

The speakers include colleagues who have recently secured competitive doctoral fellowships and academic colleagues who sit on funding decision panels.

NIHR INSIGHT Programme South London Webinar

This webinar will introduce the NIHR INSIGHT Programme South London aiming to inspire students and professionals from registered healthcare, social work or public health disciplines (not doctors and dentists) to pursue research careers. This year there are 30 masters scholarships available and the webinar will cover eligibility, applying and the courses offered across the four university partners King's College London, London South Bank University, Kingston University and St George's University of London.

Watch the webinar recording here.

Predoctoral Award Webinar

The HEE/NIHR Predoctoral Award offers nurses, midwifes and other allied health professionals a fully funded fellowship during which they can gain the research skills and undertake preliminary work needed to apply for a funded PhD.

The next round for applications will open in February 2025.

Nurses, midwives, other allied health professionals, clinical leaders, managers and education and training leads from King’s Health Partners and elsewhere are welcome to find out more at our workshop. We'll explain about the Award and how we can support potential fellows through the application process and beyond.

During the workshop you will:

• Learn about the process of submitting a predoctoral award application
• Find out what are the ingredients for a successful application
• Hear from previous predoctoral fellows
• Find out about the Faculty research themes and interests of our research active staff

Watch the webinar recording here.

Aiming for Independence

This session will aim to demystify fellowship funding opportunities for postdoctoral clinical researchers aiming to transition to independent investigators. There will be insight from panel members for key funders including NIHR, MRC and Wellcome. We will also be joined by recent recipients’ sharing their experience in applying for relevant funding (Clinician Scientist, Advanced Fellowships).

This is an in person session with networking/ refreshments following the event. This session is open to Centre for Translational Medicine (CTM) Postdoctoral Fellows and NIHR IAT Clinical Lecturers, and other clinical researchers across KCL who are at this career stage.

Writing and Publishing for Health Professionals

This one-day course is for health professionals across King's Health Partners (King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust, King's College Hospital NHS Trust) who are conducting individual research or working in a research team.

The morning session consists of a workshop with Stefy Vaga (CoFactor Science) about the publishing process in the health sciences. In the afternoon, participants participate in a pomodoro writing workshop with tailored support from Dr Verna Lavender (GSTT Head of Nursing for Research and Education in Cancer and Surgery).

NIHR INSIGHT Discover Research

NIHR Insight Discover Research event will showcase the breadth of research priorities across South London and provide a platform to connect with research support and professionals.

You can expect:

• Posters highlighting research from across South London.
• Stalls from academic institutions includingKingston University,King’s College London (KCL), andSouthbank University.
• Stalls from research-supporting organisations and networks across South London.

This event is designed for early career allied healthcare professionals interested in starting or advancing their research journey, and researchers from local NHS Trusts looking to share ideas, build collaborations, and explore innovative projects.

Whether you are new to research or an experienced professional, this event offers a unique chance to inspire and be inspired. Mark your calendar and don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity!

Mentoring for Health Professional Researchers

KCATO is hosting an in-person workshop on mentoring for clinical academics followed by a networking event.

We know from clinical academics that mentoring can be a really powerful support for your career; join us to understand more about the practicalities of mentoring as well as planning your own personal learning. This will give you also a chance to share experience and learning with other clinical academics from a range of health professions.

The session will be led by Alexis Hutson who has been coaching and mentoring people for over 15 years and has been running her own independent coaching & mentoring practice since 2009. Some of the organisations she is supporting currently include Academy of Medical Sciences, The Francis Crick Institute, The Wellcome Trust, Oxford University and University College London.

NIHR INSIGHTPublic and Community Engagement in Research Workshop

We are excited to invite students and professionals in health and care to a workshop onpublic and community engagement in Health and Social Care research. This interactive session will delve into the significance of involving the public in research, offering valuable insights and practical strategies for effective engagement.

Whether you're new to this area or looking to deepen your knowledge, this workshop provides a unique opportunity to enhance your approach to engaging the public and communities in research.

Pitching for Funding

The half-day online workshop is designed for clinical academics who already have an interview date (or are hoping to be called to a panel interview).  This session will help you to: 

• understand the components of a successful pitch
• design and deliver successful pitches to funding panels / interviews
• prepare for, and manage, the Q&A session effectively

The session will rely heavily on using real examples of successful pitches from researchers we have worked with in the past.  These range from PhD students to Professors and cover a broad variety of clinical disciplines. 

King's Clinical Academic Research Symposium

Join us for the inaugural King's Clinical Academic Research Symposium. Hear fromProfessor Annette Boaz (Director, NIHR Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit and Professor of Health and Social Care at King's College London);Simon Denigri (Executive Director of the Academy of Medical Sciences);Dr Marietta Stadler (NIHR Clinician Scientist at King's College London) and more!

You'll have the chance topresent your research either in a poster or short talk; meet other clinical academics from a range of disciplines across King’s Health Partners; and learn more about what it takes to progress as a health professional researcher. There will be prizes for the best posters, the chance to nominate your supervisor for their work in supporting you, as well as opportunities to highlight the best practices for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE).

Whether you’re a student or health professional thinking about embarking on a short piece of research or a PhD; someone already enrolled on a PhD and looking to understand postdoc funding; or a postdoc approaching consultant level, this is a fantastic opportunity to understand how your career can evolve, see your research valued, and be inspired to take your next steps.

Meet the Funders

KCATO and CRSD are delighted to host this event designed to help you find and apply for appropriate research fellowship funding opportunities. You will hear from key funders across health to introduce their fellowship schemes, explore the application process and share some top tips – and will include the NIHR, MRC, AMS, Wellcome and CRUK!

You can also hear from current fellowship holders about their experiences, from application to managing their award and take the opportunity to ask questions in a panel setting, and network with other health professional researchers.

KCATO x Partners Summer Shorts

Get thinking about future research funding applications! KCATO is partnering with a range of colleagues across King’s College London to help you dip into the wealth of support and information available to you as you embark on your funding journey.

 Watch the webinar recordings here.

Return to Research

Are you a postdoc from a nursing, midwifery or professions allied to healthcare background who has had a break from research but wants to return to academia?

Return to Research is a new initiative from King's Clinical Academic Training Office. It is aimed at postdocs from a nursing, midwifery or professions allied to healthcare background who have had a break from research but want to return to academia.

The group aims to:

• grow your confidence
• update your academic skills
• get you back into research

The first Return to Research meeting was held on Wednesday 3 September 2025. Attendees heard fromDr Tootie Bueser,Dr Arietta Spinouand Dr Penny Williamsabout their work and career development post-PhD.

Get in touch with the KCATO team if you're interested in joining the Return to Research group. 

KCATO/INSIGHT Demystifying Research

Time:13:00-14:00, Wednesday 15 October 2025

Location:Online via Teams

Have you ever wanted to know more about research? Have you wondered how to engage in research yourself? Join Prof Catherine Evans, Dr Sam Irving, Queen Anoma and Louise Lawlee to have your questions about research answered by a panel. We will cover areas such as the benefits of research for clinical practice, how to get started in research and different ways of gaining research experience, and planning your career in research.

By the end of this course, you will understand:

• the benefits of research
• how to find opportunities and different ways to engage in research
• the clinical academic career pathways for NMAHPs

Speakers:

Prof Catherine Evans is Interim Director, Cicely Saunders Institute and Deputy Director, KCATO. Catherine is a palliative care nurse.

Dr Sam Irving is a paediatric respiratory physiologist based at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, and Associate Director, KCATO. Sam holds a SCPRA award.

Queen Anoma is a current PhD student at King's College London researching weight management techniques for people of Black heritage, and a nurse specialising in neurorehabilitative care.

Louise Lawlee is a Specialist Young Parents Health Visitor and currently studying a Masters on the INSIGHTs programme.

Writing Fellowship Applications

Time:12:30-13:30, Tuesday 4 November 2025

Location:Online via Teams

This short session will provide insights and tips on how to put together a competitive fellowship application, and broad guidance that can fit to many different funded fellowship applications, including NIHR, MRC, Wellcome and KHP CTM Pre-doctoral Clinical Research Excellence Fellowships and NIHR Maudsley BRC Preparatory Clinical Research Training Fellowships.

By the end of this webinar, you will understand

• What Fellowship panel members are looking for when awarding funding
• What the experience is like, going through writing a Fellowship application
• What help and support there is available at King's

Speakers:

Prof Irene Higginson is Professor of Palliative Care and Policy. She is Professor of Palliative Care & Policy, Founding Professor of the Cicely Saunders Institute, Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine, NIHR Emeritus Senior Investigator and Fellow of the Academy of Sciences.

Nuria is Research Development Manager particularly focussed on IoPPN researchers, supporting fellowship applications and understanding grants. She has a background as a microbiology researcher and experience working for a scientific journal

Marium Naqvi is an interstitial lung disease (ILD) specialist pharmacist and King’s Health Partners Centre for Translational Medicine pre-doctoral clinical research excellence fellow exploring the use of artificial intelligence to enhance the remote monitoring of patients with ILD. She is part of the King's MedTech Accelerator 2025 cohort, member of the British Thoracic Society Lung Disease Registry Steering Group and emeritus board member of the ILD interdisciplinary network (ILD-IN).

Rob McCutcheon (MRCPsych, PhD) is a consultant psychiatrist and Wellcome fellow at the University of Oxford and works closely with colleagues at King’s. Following a Chemistry BSc he studied medicine, and subsequently undertook combined clinical academic training at King’s College London and South London and Maudsley.

Publishing a Research Paper

Time:09:30-16:30, Friday 7 November 2025

Location:Online via Teams

Building a successful career in academia heavily relies on publishing research papers in peer-reviewed journals. However, navigating the journal publishing system can be daunting.

The first part of this online course will guide you through the entire publication process, equipping you with practical strategies and the confidence you need to publish your papers efficiently. The second half, in the afternoon, will give you time for writing and peer review, moving you faster towards being publication-ready.

Key learning outcomes

• the journal submission process (including a live demo)
• understanding open science
• navigating peer review
• having time to work on your own journal article

Course Format

Morning is 9:30-13:00, with plenty of time for comfort breaks. The afternoon runs from 13:30-16:30, again with breaks.

The online session is highly interactive, and you are encouraged to ask questions and participate in group discussions, hands-on exercises, and demonstrations. You are asked to watch a few videos before attending the course, which cover content that will be discussed during the online session. The afternoon is time for you: space and guidance for you to work on your own writing.

King's Clinical Academic Training Office Team

At King’s we train the future generation of Health Professional research leaders across many disciplines.

Here, we introduce you to some of our Health Professional Researchers at King’s. We interviewed them to get an insight into their journey into a PhD and how they manage dual careers.

• Captain Lawen Karim - Vascular Surgeon
• Dr Sheila McSweeney - Dermatologist
• Professor Bijan Modarai - Consultant Vascular Surgeon
• Tootie Bueser - British Heart Foundation Cardiac Genetic Nurse
• Dr Graham Blackman - Training in General Adult Psychiatry
• Peter Chessum - Consultant Advanced Clinical Practitioner
• Freya Brown - Paediatric Diabetes Specialist Nurse