Dr Christopher Millward PhD MBBS MSC BSC MRCS

What I can offer

As an experienced healthcare professional, clinical academic, and clinical trials specialist, I possess a unique skill set that ensures I can deliver the professional services required for your healthcare-based project or patient engagement activities. I aim to understand your project's goals, offer guidance and support in the planning and execution of project activities, and importantly moderate or facilitate your healthcare-based meetings or patient engagement activities with confidence, clarity, purpose, and respect.

My work experience

For the past two years, I have worked as an accredited medical assessor within the clinical investigations and trials team at the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Along with 6 other doctors, I am responsible for the risk-benefit assessment of clinical trial applications submitted to the MHRA requesting regulatory permission to proceed in the UK. In addition, I am also responsible for the assessment of clinical trial substantial amendment applications and management of clinical trial urgent safety measures instigated by sponsors. I also provide clinical trial scientific advice to stakeholders intending to apply for and conduct clinical trials in the UK.

Before my role in the senior civil service, I enjoyed 10 years as an NHS doctor, with much of this spent as a specialty trainee in neurosurgery at The Walton Center NHS Foundation Trust, a specialist neurology and neurosurgery hospital in the North West of England, and Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust. During this time I not only developed surgical skills, but the ability to communicate clearly and honestly with colleagues, patients, and their families. This often involved explaining complex scenarios and operations to patients and their relatives to ensure that they understood their options.

My academic background

I obtained a BSc in Biological Sciences with Honours (Neuroscience) and an MSc in Genomics and Pathway Biology (by research) both from the University of Edinburgh in 2008 and 2009 respectively. I then received my Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London in 2014. Subsequently, I completed a 2-year academic foundation programme in the Mersey deanery, which provided protected time for clinical research alongside the development of clinical experience in general surgery, emergency medicine, general medicine, and critical care.

During my time as a specialist registrar in neurosurgery, I took three years out of clinical training to complete a PhD in Surgery and Oncology at the University of Liverpool. I developed two Core Outcome Sets for Intracranial Meningioma, supervised by Prof Michael Jenkinson (Chair of Surgical Trials and Professor of Neurosurgery), Prof Paula Williamson (Professor of Biostatistics and Co-founder of COMET), and Prof Tony Marson (Prof of Neurology).

I have obtained extensive academic experience across a range of study types including case reports, case series, systematic reviews, qualitative studies, study protocols, collaborative observational cohort studies, basic science papers, audits, service evaluations, and methodological reviews. To date, I have published over 90 articles in peer-reviewed journals and obtained nearly 2000 citations for my work. I am a confident and experienced public speaker and have successfully mentored and supervised academic projects undertaken by medical students and postgraduate doctors.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher-Millward

What motivates me

I enjoy working across the full breadth of the healthcare landscape. I am always excited to work with new research groups, understand project objectives, and offer advice, guidance, support, and professional services to enhance a project's likelihood of success.