Academic research which could help transform the lives of people with cancer will be shared across Europe thanks to specialist head and neck charity Get A-Head.
Abdul Nassimizadeh, a locum rhinology consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, has spent a decade studying the effects of new skull base surgical techniques on the lives of patients with cancer.
He successfully defended his PhD research at the University of Groiningen in the Netherlands, and copies of his thesis will now be shared across the UK and Europe.
Mr Nassimizadeh received a grant from Get A-Head of £7,450 towards the cost of defending his research, which included printing and distributing the finished thesis.
Danni Heath, director of Birmingham-founded Get A-Head, said: “Defending a PhD thesis is a vital stage in making the research available to the wider profession, and I’m delighted that Get A-Head was able to help Abdul successfully achieve this.
“Surgery at the base of the skull is very risky and can have devastating consequences for patients, so the more we know about how new surgical techniques can reduce those risks, the better.”
Mr Nassimizadeh said: “Implementation of new technology is dependent on quality research. The successful defence of this PhD thesis allows information dissemination locally, nationally and internationally.
“It also adds weight to the incorporation of newer technologies to assist outcomes of patients. This would result in fewer complications of sinonasal tumour patients, improving both clinical and trust outcomes, with fewer patients requiring inpatient admissions, outpatient clinic appointments, and management for complications.
“Ultimately, the hope is that with the research and work included, patients will have fewer complications, reduced hospital stays and improved lifelong outcomes.”
As well as supporting education and training for healthcare professionals, Get A-Head provides life changing equipment which isn’t available on the NHS, funds research into the causes and treatments of head and neck conditions, particularly cancer, and provides complementary therapies to help soften the effects of treatments on patients.
The charity has raised more than £10 million since it was founded in 1984, and celebrated its milestone 30th anniversary in November, raising a further £84,000 for its work.
