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Staff Profile

Dr Nehal Hassan

Research Associate

Background

I am a registered pharmacist both in Egypt and the United Kingdom. I practised in Egypt as a specialist Clinical Pharmacist (Cardiology Pharmacotherapy) for nine years before coming to the UK. I have clinical experience in different care settings (primary, secondary and tertiary care) through my clinical practice in Egypt and the UK. Currently, I am a researcher at the Newcastle School of Pharmacy working in the area of using Digital Health Technologies (particularly Artificial Intelligence predictive models) to support clinical decision-making. My PhD was in the area of data science and digital health based at Newcastle School of Pharmacy and the Population Health Science Institute (PHSI), and my Masters was in Clinical Pharmacy from the Faculty of Pharmacy Cairo University with a thesis around conducting a prospective, randomised, controlled study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of nebulised Amikacin as adjunctive therapy in hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated multi-drug resistant bacterial pneumonia in surgical ICUs, which was published in Critical Care Medicine Journal.



Research

My current research focuses on developing AI-predictive models to help predict the risk of a patient developing a particular condition or complication, which in turn can inform the shared decision-making process between clinicians and patients through mixed-method study approaches. I also work with my research group led by Prof.Sarah Slight at the School of Pharmacy on an NIHR-funded project, collaborating with multiple organisations and universities all over the UK. This project addresses the use of AI to tackle urgent environmental threats to health, especially to the most vulnerable populations.


Milestones and Achievements:

  • I was picked as one of the top ten Early Career Researcher projects nationally in STEM for Britain, 2021. I also presented my research virtually at both UK Houses of Parliament.
  • I won best oral presentation at the Annual Conference for The Faculty of Clinical Informatics in 2021 and 2023.
  • I was the winner of the Insights Doctoral Thesis Prize (public vote) held by the Faculty of Medical Sciences,Newcastle University, 2021.


Funding and Grants:

  • 2023: Newcastle School of Pharmacy Fund towards Conference registration and travel fees (£350). 
  • 2023: Co-applicant on an NIHR Programme Development Grant on using AI to tackle the impact of air pollution on health (£150,000). PI: Prof. Sarah Slight, Dr. Robert Slight.                           
  • 2023: Doctoral College Enhancement Fund towards Conference registration fees (£512),02/23.(Awarded).                      
  • 2019: Newcastle University Overseas Research Scholarship (NUORS) for three years (£17,000 to £19,000/year), Newcastle University, UK.        

                                                                                                                                                

Research Profiles:

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=84FQNg0AAAAJ&hl=en&inst=15472968769537443516

Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nehal-Hassan-3

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8302-5769



Teaching

I feel passionate about helping the next generation of pharmacists and researchers. Throughout my career in Egypt, I mentored many undergraduate and post-graduate pharmacy students and taught infectious diseases and Cardiology Pharmacotherapy courses through different programmes over seven years. In the UK, I am an Associate Fellow of the higher education and I contributed to undergraduate teaching at Newcastle School of Pharmacy by co-supervising two final-year Master's students (2022/2023). I’m currently co-supervising four final-year MPharm students’ research projects 2023-2024.


Publications