Our Research and Innovation

Raising the profile of research and innovation in Lincolnshire is important. There is limited research conducted in rural and coastal places both in the UK and internationally and as a large rural and coastal county we have a great opportunity to help fill this gap. We are very keen to grow and use research and innovation to improve the services that are delivered in our county.

As part of the progress to grow research and innovation, Lincolnshire has launched a Research & Innovation Hub.

The hub is a virtual place to bring together the Lincolnshire public, our health and care staff, our colleagues at our universities and other partners to grow research and innovation in our county for everyone’s benefit.

Research takes place across our health and care system.

The launch of the Research and Innovation Hub
Our Research and Innovation Leaders
Dr Sunil Hindocha

Medical Director, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board

Bio

Dr Sunil Hindocha

I qualified in 1986 at Manchester University and worked in the North West before completing my vocational training for general practice and moving to Lincoln in 1991 as a GP principal. I am still a partner at the same practice in Lincoln city centre have a close connection to this area (and Lincolnshire as a county) having lived and worked here for more than 30 years.

I have board level experience at the highest level, as Chief Executive Officer of the local commissioning group. This has given me over 15 year’s board level experience including roles as an Executive Board Member for the Out of Hours co-operative and Chair of the Practice Based Commissioning group. Alongside this, I was an integral founder member and subsequently Chair of a federation of GP practices in Lincolnshire called Optimus, and more latterly the Primary Care Network Alliance in the county.

Between 2013 and 2019, I was the Accountable Officer for Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group, whilst maintaining my position as general practitioner at Portland medical Practice in Lincoln. Other senior management positions have included Executive Member of the Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan with Senior Responsible Officer roles in the Integrated Community Care and General Practice Forward View programs.

My current executive role is as the ICB Medical Director, and I clinically led the re design of the colorectal pathway. I am chair of the Clinical and Care Directorate, a body I help establish for our system. This is a forum where clinicians from all professions meet to look at evidence based; data driven clinically led re design of pathways.

Kirsten Guy

Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (ICS) Research Lead

Bio

Kirsten Guy

Kirsten is a physiotherapist by profession and has specialised in stroke rehabilitation for over 15 years. Kirsten has a passion for research, and specifically for providing colleagues and members of the public with opportunities to get involved in, and benefit from research. Kirsten initially moved into a role as Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Research Lead for Lincolnshire in October 2022 and subsequently took up the position of Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (ICS) Research Lead in November 2023. Kirsten has facilitated the development of Lincolnshire’s first Research and Innovation Research Strategy and has helped launch the Research and Innovation Hub.

Professor Ciro Rinaldi

Deputy Medical Director, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board

Bio

Professor Ciro Rinaldi

Also, Consultant Haematologist, United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust. Professor Ciro Rinaldi trained in Italy at University Federico II Naples, where he gained his MD, followed by Haematology specialist training and a PhD in Biotechnology.

During his PhD, he moved to Chicago where he worked in Giuseppina Nucifora’s Lab at University of Illinois (UIC), and he published several articles on alternative pathways in MPN and MDS.

He is Consultant Haematologist at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust specialised in myeloid malignancies including MPN, MDS and AML and he is also Deputy Medical Director and Director of Research and Innovation.

He became Honorary Professor in Haematology at University of Lincoln in 2015 where He leads the MPN/MDS molecular biology lab focusing on Philadelphia-negative MPN and abnormal pathways in MDS.

He is former Chair for the Haematology Expert Clinical Advisory Group (ECAG) Lead for the East Midland.

Professor Jaspreet S Phull

Deputy Medical Director, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board

Bio

Professor Jaspreet S Phull

Dr Jaspreet Phull is Consultant in Forensic & General Adult Psychiatry and Deputy Medical Director of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. He is also an honorary professor at the University of Lincoln.

He is currently working as a Responsible Clinician for a low secure 15 bedded male forensic unit.

Jaspreet is experienced in all aspects of General Adult and Forensic Psychiatry having worked extensively within the NHS.  His roles have included positions in high and medium secure units, rehabilitation units, and community forensic services as well as serving as a visiting psychiatrist in prisons.

Jaspreet holds the qualifications of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and is a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is a Section 12 approved doctor under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Access Assessor for Lincolnshire Low Secure Adult Services.

Jaspreet first studied medicine at Bristol University and undertook his higher and core postgraduate training in the East Midlands. Alongside postgraduate membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Jaspreet has additional qualifications in clinical psychiatry, psychotherapy and mental health law.

Jaspreet has authored a book on psychiatric diagnoses, in 2012, co-authored national standards for community forensic services in 2013 and has over 14 peer reviewed journals.  His interests are service improvement, clinically relevant research and teaching.

Jaspreet has 2 children. Outside of work he is actively involved in family life and when time allows enjoys watching and playing sports.

Dr. Majid Akram

Deputy Medical Director, NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board

Bio

Dr. Majid Akram

Deputy Medical Director and Chief Clinical Informatics Officer for primary care.

Interests include innovation and digital health. Clinical interest includes cardiovascular disease, and prevention, especially in terms of lifestyle and therapeutics that can influence ‘health-span’.

Always keen to collaborate on meaningful pathway redesign and discussions around disruptive transformation that removes wasteful touch points for patients and improves health outcomes.

Completed membership exam for the Royal College of physicians (MRCP) and then progressed to completing the MRCGP.

Working as a GP principle in Lincolnshire for 14 years. Involved in medical student and GP registrar training.

Paul Holmes

Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (ICS) Innovation Lead

Bio

Paul Holmes

I joined the team in April 2024 as Innovation Lead in collaborative partnership with Health Innovation East Midlands (HEIM).   My journey in the NHS began back in 2007 in the days of the Primary Care Trusts with a variety roles involving Governance, Data Analytics and Project Management before finding my real passion of service improvement, which I was fortunate enough to develop as Quality Improvement Academy Lead at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust prior to making the short journey south to Lincolnshire.

My role is primarily about seeing how we can help bring innovation into our systems, if we don’t try something different, we’ll always end up with the same results.  But innovation doesn’t have to be huge and transformational,

it can be as simple as seeing something that is working elsewhere and seeing how we can adopt it here.  The end product and focus is making things better for everyone, the journey to get there should flex to suit the problem at hand.  One thing you’ll always hear me ask is ‘So what problem are we trying to solve?’.

I’m a seaside boy at heart although I live just outside Lincoln these days, longing for the feel of a sea-breeze on my face.  I’ve yet to master the art of sitting still with Triathlons previously taking up a lot of my energy, happily my young family dictate a lot of my spare time these days, so the bike especially is gathering a lot of dust.  I’d describe myself as curious and incredibly sociable, I’ll always welcome a conversation!

Prof Kate Mansfield

Bio

Prof Kate Mansfield

Michelle Webb

Bio

Michelle Webb

Prof Nikki Adams

Bio

Prof Nikki Adams

Paul Gutherson

Bio

Paul Gutherson

Tracy McCranor

Bio

Tracy McCranor

Prof Derek Ward

Bio

Prof Derek Ward

Gemma Squires

Bio

Gemma Squires

Robert Spaight

Bio

Robert Spaight

Dr Lucy Gavens

Bio

Dr Lucy Gavens

Prof Andrew Jackson

Bio

Prof Andrew Jackson

Prof Caroline Horton

Bio

Prof Caroline Horton

Dr Alex Carlin

Bio

Dr Alex Carlin

David Stacey

Bio

David Stacey

Eddie Alder

Bio

Eddie Alder

Emma Adams

Bio

Emma Adams

Hannah Finch

Bio

Hannah Finch

Harriet Savage

Bio

Harriet Savage

Jake Bontoft

Bio

Jake Bontoft

Prof Jeanette Rotchell

Bio

Prof Jeanette Rotchell

Jess Boot-Marshall

Bio

Jess Boot-Marshall

Dr Jo Blackwell

Bio

Dr Jo Blackwell

Research study and Innovation examples

Lincolnshire Research & Innovation Conference 2025

On 14th May 2025, the ICB R&I Hub held its first ever Lincolnshire Research & Innovation Conference.

The aim of the day was to celebrate Lincolnshire’s successes as well as outlining our ambition for the future. By 2029 we want to be a leading health and care system for rural and coastal Research & Innovation in the UK.

The day featured local and national keynote speakers, a Q&A panel and presentations from poster contest winners on their findings. Please see the agenda.

Poster Competition

The competition invited Researchers & Innovators from across Lincolnshire to submit posters on their contributions to the field.

The winners from each category were:

  • Early-Career Researcher – Victoria Fallow-Green
  • Mid-Career Researcher – Niloofar Amirian
  • Advanced Researcher – Dr Muhammad Usman Shah
  • Innovation – Meredith Donaldson

To explore the diverse range of Research & Innovation being carried out in Lincolnshire, please visit Lincolnshire Research & Innovation Poster Competition page, where all poster submissions have been uploaded.

With thanks to our local and national partners who helped make the event a success.

Feedback:

  • Lincolnshire Research & Innovation Conference 2025 Feedback
    • Conference rating: 4.38/5
    • Likelihood of recommending to others: 8.59/10

    Comments/What attendees said about the event:

    Q: What did you like the most about the event?

    “You have a great knack of attracting some incredible keynote speakers. I enjoyed the range of talks - from the great and glorious to the newly emerging early career.”

    “The very knowledgeable and passionate speakers”

    “The presenters - collectively they provided a real insight into what is happening locally and blew me away with the variety of research that is being undertaken to improve lives and communities.”

    “The exposure to what is happening around the county and in other disciplines that I wouldn't ordinarily cross paths with.”

    “The learning I gained from attending on different aspects of research.”

    “That there was a very good mix of audience; ICB, clinical and academic. This has not been common in the event's I've been too with the same aim/title.”

    Attendees takeaway message from the conference:

    “Never too late to start getting into research.”

    “Great research can be done with collaboration between different healthcare providers in a region.”

    “So much research and innovation is occurring in Lincolnshire. Research is for everyone. Always have a curious mind.”

    “Research is key to improvement.”

    “Lincolnshire is extremely research active but more than that, we have a breadth as well as depth of research interests that we should shout loudly about and encourage more national funders to think of us as a hotbed of research when they are looking to recruit study sites or offering research funding opportunities.”

    “Research is for everybody - the variety of posters and presentations showed this isn't just for the academics!”

    “There is a lot of research happening at Lincolnshire with aims to become a leader on coastal and rural health by 2029. Excellent to see the amount of collaboration between researchers and practitioners and charities and Lincoln as a whole. Everyone is working together to make Lincoln better.”

More information can be found on our organisations dedicated research pages:

LBU – Research at Lincoln Bishop | Lincoln Bishop University

ULHT – Research and innovation – United Lincolnshire Hospitals (ulh.nhs.uk)

LCHS – Research and Development :: Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust

LPFT – Research (lpft.nhs.uk)

EMAS – Research and innovation :: East Midlands Ambulance Service (emas.nhs.uk)

UoL – Research at Lincoln | University of Lincoln

The first Research and Innovation strategy for Lincolnshire

The Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (ICS) has published its first draft research and innovation strategy and sets out our collective vision for the next five years.

The strategy was developed through a series of collaborative workshops which brought members of the Lincolnshire public together with organisations from across the Lincolnshire system. During these workshops four principles were agreed on. These state that by 2029 research and innovation in Lincolnshire will:

• Reflect the needs of our communities.
• Be built on collaborative, co-ordinated and trusted partnerships.
• Have research, innovation and evidence embedded in everything we do.
• Be delivered by a sustainable, capable and confident workforce

These principles provide a collective focus for our system organisations, partners and our public, and outlines the way we will work together to drive research and innovation within our county.

Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (ICS) Research and Innovation Strategy (icb.nhs.uk).