Katila Cidalia Paulo Vasconcelos George

Profile

I am a Senior Research Nurse at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, leading commercial and global studies (CTIMPs and observational real-world studies) focused on treatment safety and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in pregnancy. Since 2019, I coordinated and supported multiple sites in the OPTIMISE MS pharmacovigilance study, which has enrolled over 5,000 participants.

My career began at the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where I gained extensive experience in multicentre and international investigator-led studies across women’s health, metabolic and liver diseases, hypertension, and HIV. I contributed to the development of the Clinical Trial Practitioner role and oversaw day-to-day study delivery and staff management.

Subsequently, in Cardiac Imaging, I specialized in patient recruitment, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and establishing R&D auditing processes for non-CTIMP trials. I also helped design the first elective placement in research nursing for third-year nursing students at King’s College and London South Bank University.

I have actively engaged in Patient and Public Involvement activities, International Clinical Trials Day, and Native Scientist events. As an expert member of an HRA Research Ethics Committee for three years, I reviewed applications and amendments.

Currently, I am a PhD candidate through a Barts Charity Clinical Research Training Fellowship. My research explores benefit-risk perceptions among women with Multiple Sclerosis planning pregnancy, pregnant, or breastfeeding, focusing on anti-CD20 therapies.

Research

Research Interests:

Pharmacovigilance in underrepresented populations in Multiple Sclerosis, pharmacovigilance in pregnancy and breastfeeding, clinical research nursing.