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Heather Fitzke: FTMA Candidate to Post-Doctoral Research Associate!

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In October 2020, LIDo Alumni Heather Fitzke was appointed as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the UCL Centre for Medical Imaging, working on a project funded by Innovate UK in collaboration with Motilent Ltd, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, Nottingham University and IBDrelief.  

Heather previously completed a 5-month (part-time) placement as Scientific Lead for Motilent Ltd, funded by the FTMA Internship scheme following submission of her thesis. During this internship she conducted the technical performance assessment of Motilent's first clinical product - GIQuant® - in preparation for the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) premarket notification.  

Heather oversaw the development and testing of prototype imaging analysis tools to address unmet needs in the field of Neurogastroenterology & Motility. During the placement, she also represented Motilent at the world's largest radiology meeting - hosted by the Radiological Society of North America - gaining insight into costing and reimbursement of radiology procedures and clinical decision support tools in the USA. 

Heather says undergoing the FTMA Internship at UCL was instrumental to helping her secure her role at Motilent.

"I received my PhD award at the end of November 2020. Coronavirus delayed things somewhat but I was delighted to accept a 2-year fixed term position at UCL in October. The skills and experience I gained during my placement of medical device product development in a regulated environment undoubtedly helped to secure my present role.'

'I find it incredibly rewarding working at the interface between academic research, clinical medicine and commercial enterprise and seeing my research translate into software tools that clinicians and researchers really need."

You can find out more about the project Heather is working on here: https://www.motilent.co.uk/ukri-integrated-diagnostics-for-crohns-disease/