EXSEL at Leeds

EXSEL – Excellence in Scholarship, Enterprise and Leadership was devised by Professor Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam and Dr Karen Lee in 2006 with a vision to nurture undergraduate medical students with research ambitions to become future academic clinicians. Their vision has produced more than 60 EXSEL graduates since 2006, who have gone onto work as Doctors and academics in the NHS and beyond. 

EXSEL provides scholars with the opportunity to undertake research during the summer break, disseminate experimental findings, attend conferences in the UK and abroad, produce posters and submit articles for publications. It enables them to become part of a wider academic community and be mentored to unlock their research potential. EXSEL encourages scholars to network in the University and beyond, form international links whilst developing mentoring, leadership and enterprise skills.  

EXSEL Scholars are awarded a bursary from their appointment in year 2 and each subsequent year until graduation (up to a total of 4 years) to support them throughout their undergraduate studies.  Additional funding is available to support research opportunities, travel and humanitarian work during summer vacations.  

Excellent scholars 

This is an innovative scheme which highlights a key principle of the School of Medicine - nurturing medical students to harness academic excellence. I am very proud of the achievements of the scholars to date and look forward to supporting more remarkable scholars in the years to come. 

EXSEL Directors 

The EXSEL directors Dr Simon Howell, Professor Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam, Dr Ryckie Wade and Dr Stephen Chapman aim to develop links with universities and other medical institutions throughout the world to provide EXSEL scholars with exciting new opportunities.  

Dr Simon Howell MA(Cantab) MRCP FRCA MSc MD is a Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia at the University of Leeds.  His current research interests include perioperative myocardial injury, perioperative exercise testing and training, and the role of the perioperative physician in the multi-disciplinary team meeting.  He was Chief Investigator of the international OBTAIN study of the perioperative management of patients with intracoronary stents. He was awarded a Macintosh Professorship by the UK Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2016 for his research and clinical contributions in the field of vascular anaesthesia. 

Professor Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam, BSc, MBBS, MD, FRCSEd, FRCS, Founding Director of EXSEL. Professor Homer-Vanniasinkam is an internationally renowned clinician-scientist who is a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the Founding Professor of Surgery at the University of Warwick Medical School & University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, and Professor of Engineering & Surgery at University College London. She has published over 180 papers and book chapters, delivered more than 300 presentations, and has a significant research grant portfolio with an outstanding track record of national and international collaborations. She is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, the Yeoh Ghim Seng Visiting Professor of Surgery at the National University of Singapore and the Brahm Prakash Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Science. 

 

A strategic and intuitive thinker, Professor Homer-Vanniasinkam has actively engaged in clinical/translational research for over two decades. She has played key roles in taking bio- and med-tech products from concept through to clinic, gaining regulatory approval, and actively participating in industry funding rounds. She has also contributed significantly to educating generations of doctors, scientists and engineers, and maintains a keen interest in embracing and applying educational technologies in relevant spheres. Professor Homer-Vanniasinkam has led the way in assembling and leading diverse teams, with a gift to inspire, recruit and retain, talent.

Dr Ryckie Wade MBBS, MClinEd,  MSc, PhD, FRCS(Plast), FHEA, GradStat, is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Leeds. He is also Associate Specialty Lead for Plastic Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Associate Editor for Scientific Reports. His research interests include improving the care of surgical nerve disorders, optimising advanced methods for diffusion-weighted MRI, the use of topical skin antiseptics for the prevention of infection after clean surgery, common elective and emergency hand operations, and the management of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Dr Stephen Chapman BSc (Hons.), MBChB, PGCert (Clinical Trials), PhD, MRCS (Eng) is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the University of Leeds and a General Surgery Registrar in Yorkshire with a clinical interest in Colorectal and Emergency Surgery. His academic and research interests include surgical recovery, bowel disease, surgical technology, and creative innovation, with expertise in trials, mixed-method, consensus, and qualitative research. He works closely with industry and cross-campus collaborators, developing and evaluating novel solutions for unmet surgical challenges. He chairs the White Rose Surgical Collaborative in Yorkshire and promotes enthusiasm in bowel research through his national role as RCS England (BRUK/ACPGBI) Associate Surgical Speciality Lead in Colorectal Surgery. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal Trials and a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of Colorectal Disease and British Journal of Surgery. 

Academic mentors and research supervisors 

Day-to-day supervision of the research conducted by an EXSEL scholar is normally provided by members of a research team, led by an eminent research leader. Previous Scholars have worked with supervisors including Professor Robert Ariëns, Professor David Jayne, Professor Ann Morgan and Dr Marc Bailey. 

Mentoring is a key component of the EXSEL scheme. EXSEL scholars have an academic mentor to provide advice on the direction of their research and publications. In addition to being a mentee, each scholar also mentors a more junior EXSEL scholar supporting them in entering the EXSEL community.  

Our sponsors 

EXSEL would not have been possible without the support and generous donations from Heart Research UK, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the alumni and friends of the University of Leeds. 

Heart Research UK 

Heart Research UK has sponsored our scholars for a number of years and continues to do so today. This visionary charity was founded in 1967 by Leeds heart surgeon Mr David Watson MBE, who realised that patients were dying unnecessarily because of the lack of research into heart disease, especially surgical techniques. 

Having funded six of the first eight successful UK heart transplants, Heart Research UK funds ground-breaking medical research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease. 

It has been helping hearts by supporting clinical and surgical projects and young researchers with their first steps into research. In the last 10 years the charity has funded over £10.6m on research projects in hospitals and universities across the UK as well as £1.2m on community-based lifestyle projects that aim to prevent or reduce the risks of heart disease. 

Heart Research UK Scholars conduct research into cardiovascular health. 

Further information 

Please email us for more information about the scheme.