By Health Reporter Chris Ord

Overseeing a multi-million-pound research institute, hundreds of scientists (many of them leaders in their field), conducting her own research, running her own clinics and spending time with her family is all in a day’s work for the new director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) in Oxford.

Professor Helen McShane, a professor of vaccinology in the Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, based at the Jenner Institute, and an honorary consultant physician in HIV and genito-urinary medicine at the Oxford University Hospitals, became the first female director of the BRC after former director Keith Channon stepped down at the end of August.

However, she still runs weekly clinics, and has spent the last 20 years working on her own research to develop tuberculosis vaccines.

And considering the number of roles and research and job titles she has, it is probably a good thing that she describes herself as ‘fiercely good’ at organising workloads.

She said: “I’m good at juggling tasks, but I really see this role as complementary to what I’ve trained to do.

“It’s a fantastic organisation – we have some amazing people who are world leaders in their field.

“Keith has been an outstanding director and he’s a hard act to follow.

“It really is a great privilege to take over from him and work closely with the scientists and clinicians working in the BRC.”

After studying medicine at Guys Hospital in London, she started her career as a junior doctor in Brighton during the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s which, over the years, has allowed her to witness first hand the life-saving benefits of translating lab work to patient treatments.

She said: “Working down there during that time, that’s what sparked my interest in infectious diseases.

“Back then I had a ward full of patients who were dying of AIDS.

“In contrast we now have highly active treatment for HIV infection which means most people have a normal life expectancy.

“This illustrates the power of translation –in my professional lifetime HIV has gone from a terminal disease to one that is completely treatable.

“Twenty-five years ago we had no treatment for HIV, now at my out-patient clinic in Oxford we have a lot of treatments so I have seen first-hand in my care the power of translation and innovation.”

Oxford has been at the forefront of medical research for many years, leading advancements in neuroscience and clinical studies in cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many others.

And pivotal to that scientific success is the close working relationship between Oxford University and the local hospitals – a relationship facilitated by the BRC.

The centre, based at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is one of the largest Biomedical Research Centres in the country, and was last year awarded further funding to the tune of £113.7m to support its work in moving groundbreaking research from the labs into patient care.

Prof McShane said: “What’s exciting about this post for me it allows me to become much more involved, to get closer to much more medical research than just vaccines.

“What the BRC does it bridges between basic science and patient care so that we can really improve the outlook of many medical conditions.

“There’s a fantastic working relationship between the university and the NHS in Oxford and that is critical to the success of the BRC.

“We are doing great work in radiology such as cardiac imaging, and in microbiology in Anti-Microbial Resistance which is a big issue worldwide.

Oxford has big strengths in big data and using existing data to understand more about many common medical conditions.”

While holding the reins of the BRC, Prof McShane, however, is determined to continue working where her passion lies – patient care and TB research.

She said: “I see my role as more strategic and to facilitate the translational science happening as part of the BRC.

“I think I’m very fortunate. I have had a wonderful career. Those early clinics, seeing patients with AIDS in Brighton.

“Doing my PhD in Oxford, developing the first TB vaccine to move into clinical trials.

“What’s been wonderful about my career is the different things that I’ve managed to do and the progress I’ve seen.”

She added: “I think seeing patients is an important thing to do. It keeps me very grounded.

“It’s life at the coal face, I would very much want to continue to do that and it’s obviously what my core training is, and I absolutely want to continue my research programme.

“TB kills more people than any other infectious disease so the need for a vaccine is huge.

And the mother-of-three admits she hasn’t given much thought to becoming the first BRC’s first female director, instead choosing to focus on her work and that of the BRC.

However, she add: “I sincerely hope I have been appointed because of my ability not because of my gender. Science is a meritocracy.

“It’s important to have role models and to show men and women it’s possible to have a career as a clinician, and a scientist and also have a family.”