“Research is for everyone” – Shruti shares her advice on getting started in research
Shruti Sharma, Team Lead for the Planned Therapies South Sefton Team was recently awarded a place on the prestigious NIHR Developing Leaders in Research Fellowship. In her blog she shares her journey into research and her goals for the fellowship.
My background
I’m a neurological physiotherapist by training. I completed my undergraduate degree in Physiotherapy at Punjabi University, India, which is where I discovered a passion for neurology and research.
As a subject, I found research very dry but in practice the opportunities were endless. During the final year of my undergraduate course, I presented my first research poster at a conference, and I was enchanted by the presentations around me, there were so many ideas and opportunities to improve practice.
I wanted to continue learning so while I was doing my master’s degree in neurology, I applied for research funding. I worked closely with the research department at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre for my dissertation on spinal stimulation for patients with spinal cord injuries.
Undertaking an extensive research project helped me understand all the moving parts in research, such as grants and applications. By the time I completed my master’s in 2012, I had taken my preliminary work to international conferences and planned my next steps with the support of my supervisors.
This led to my first job as a Clinical Research Associate at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre. Over the next few years, I expanded my research skills, critical thinking and leadership.
Life is unpredictable and often provides helpful challenges. In 2017, I moved to the UK. My plan was to put together a PhD application and go back to India to apply, but things changed, and I am still here!
Research in the NHS
Getting back to research in the UK was a maze. I didn’t know how or where to apply. A researcher needs a functioning network, and I had left mine behind.
I started peer reviewing and medical editing to stay in involved in research while looking for jobs. In 2019, I was successful in securing a clinical physiotherapist role in Mersey Care and the first question I asked my supervisor was: “how can I get involved in research?”.
In 2022, I joined the NHS R&D North West’s Early Career Researcher Programme. This showed me that not many Allied Health Professionals (AHPS) were involved in research, especially in the clinical space.
In my experience of hospital settings in India, I never thought of research as something reserved for academics. Instead, I thought it was something that happened on the frontline. However, that wasn’t the case within NHS community work, where pressures around service delivery make research harder to prioritise. Although research was being promoted, it wasn’t trickling down to AHPs like me. The Early Career Researcher pathway helped me think about my current landscape and reflect on how things could change.
The network I made during the programme reminded me of the joys of research. I started looking for research opportunities within the Trust and realised there was so much happening. Yet I would not have found it without actively looking for it, and with my daily responsibilities it was hard to find capacity to get involved.
The NIHR Developing Leaders in Research Fellowship
I was lucky to find the Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Research for Innovation forum in Mersey Care. This led me to apply for the NIHR Developing Leaders in Research Fellowship. It was a long, gruelling application, but it helped me remember what I loved about research and what I could achieve if I was successful.
I started the fellowship in September 2025, and I am using it to explore how to shape and embed a research culture within Mersey Care by supporting AHPs to get involved in research.
This programme helps practitioners like me share research experience and develop the leadership, relational and strategic skills needed to create sustainable and inclusive research cultures. My goal is to increase AHP research ability within Mersey Care by supporting more colleagues to publish and apply for funding.
My advice
If you are interested in research start by finding “someone” to help navigate the way. This could be a mentor or someone who might be a little ahead of you in their research journey.
I would recommend everyone to keep going back to Mersey Care’s Nursing and AHP Research for Innovation forum to find out about opportunities.
Our research department and library services are also key assets. And some helpful external resources are NHS Research and Development North West and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations.
Research is everyone’s business, but it is understandable that with current pressures on our systems, priorities are often elsewhere, and development becomes harder to achieve. I want to change that by making support more accessible, offering practical guidance and acting as a bridge between thought and action. I strongly believe that there is a way to achieve clinical excellence alongside research readiness and involvement.
