Profile of Kenny Clarke, Business Manager at Lakeside Research

Kenny Clarke oversees the smooth running of Lakeside's Research Team in his role as Business Research Manager.

They were awarded the Outstanding Achievement by a Team title in the Clinical Research Network's East Midlands region, as well as being shortlisted in the Excellent Example of Collaborative Working award.

Kenny, who has been in post since November, said: 'My remit is to reorganise the current team set up, to monitor the KPIs and budgets and make sure the team runs smoothly and we have enough resource to manage the current studies. I am not scared of a challenge and am well experienced in high pressure environments.'

He has previously worked in commercial and retail sectors and is used to balancing the needs of teamwork with the pressures of a fast-moving business environment. Two three-year projects are now coming to an end with further studies set to launch soon. The team earmarks patients who are suitable trial subjects and tracks them throughout, offering advice and collating relevant data to fixed timescales.

Kenny said: 'Our main job is to collate the accurate and reliable data for the sponsor so then they can safely make a submission to the regulatory bodies (eg MHRA) in order to approve a new drug, vaccine or type of equipment. It is at the forefront of being able to help people and it is extremely interesting. We are coming to the end of the Novavax and Valneva Covid-19 studies with more trials about to get the green light. The thing I like about my role is that it is a smooth operation, making sure that the team is happy and has capacity to deliver with the tools they need. I want to give it my all.'