Profile of Dr Catherine Swales

Full name

Dr Catherine Swales MB BCh PhD MRCP

Job title

Honorary Consultant in Rheumatology Senior Research Fellow, NIHR Clinical Trials Unit

Special interests

Early inflammatory arthritis, Clinical trials of new treatments in rheumatoid arthritis, Medical education

Dr Swales started her medical training at University College London in 1991. Following an intercalated BSc and PhD in Neurosciences, she moved to pursue her clinical training in Oxford, and qualified in 2000. She completed her postgraduate training in Nottingham before returning to Oxford to take up a Clinical Lectureship in Rheumatology in 2003. During this period of specialist training she developed a research interest in inflammatory arthritis, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, and medical education. She was appointed as Senior Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in 2012, and divides her time between clinical work, research on the NIHR Clinical Trials Unit and student teaching/supervision.

Dr Swales's clinical work is based in the Early Arthritis Service at the NOC, which offers rapid assessment and treatment of patients with suspected inflammatory arthritis.

The service is supported by specialist nurses who provide patient education, and also has provision for same-day ultrasound examination. Patients also have the opportunity to become involved in research investigating new treatments of inflammatory arthritis; this is delivered within the dedicated Clinical Trials Unit on the NOC site. Dr Swales is also Fellow in Medicine at St Hilda's College, Associate Director for the Clinical Medical School and an Education Associate for the General Medical Council.