Southampton researchers awarded MBEs at Windsor Castle

Dr Katrina Cathie and Dr Nisreen Alwan received their MBEs at ceremonies held at Windsor Castle.

Dr Nisreen Alwan, Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant at University Hospital Southampton, was presented with her medal for services to medicine and public health during the pandemic by Prince Charles.

It comes after they were included in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for 2021 in January.

Caring for children during the pandemic

Dr Cathie works in general paediatrics, caring for children and families, supporting 24/7 cover on wards and covering outpatient clinics.

She developed a specialist interest in children with secondary epilepsy, and now works as part of a multi-disciplinary team which has dramatically improved the service.

In the first months of the COVID-19 crisis, she volunteered to be redeployed from research to cover clinical shifts in paediatric and short-stay units, as well as covering colleague sickness and organising new shifts and rotas for the paediatric team.

COVID-19 vaccine research

During the pandemic, Dr Cathie was quick to apply her knowledge and expertise from vaccine studies in children to help lead research into COVID-19 vaccines.

Since the COVID-19 vaccine study was introduced at the University of Southampton (in collaboration with Oxford) she has shared oversight of it. She supports the large team involved from a medical perspective, working with research staff, nurses and fellows from around the region to recruit hundreds of participants to the trials. She helped to spearhead the vaccine project.

Since November 2019, she has been the lead principal investigator locally for the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine trial. She is also a member of the paediatric steering group for the national RECOVERY trial, testing non-vaccine treatments for the virus, and part of recruiting children to this study.

Dr Cathie said: “It was a wonderful occasion, and I couldn't have achieved it without the support of family, friends and colleagues.”

COVID19 testing and long COVID

Dr Nisreen Alwan’s persistent scientific and public advocacy has been instrumental in the recognition of Long COVID on a national and international level.

Her frequent calls for further resources and investigations into the effects of long COVID have been a prevalent theme of her engagements on social media, mainstream media, webinars and journal articles.

Throughout the pandemic, she has also highlighted the role of social factors like ethnicity, gender and deprivation in the pandemic’s impact on individuals and different groups, and the importance of addressing ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities.

In Spring 2020, Dr Alwan co-led a proposal of COVID-19 universal weekly testing published in the Lancet which was the critical spark for the saliva testing pilot in Southampton. She was part of the core team developing a partnership between the University of Southampton, Southampton City Council and the NHS to deliver this pilot which has later developed into the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Saliva Testing Programme.

Dr Alwan said: “I really enjoyed the day at Windsor Castle, which was made extra special by having my mother there with me. I am honoured to be recognised as a helper and I want to thank all the wonderful people I worked with along the way.”

Image credits: Dr Cathie and Dr Alwan from @katrinacathie and @ClarenceHouse on Twitter.