My experience as an NIHR SPCR intern with the MODE study

Blog post written by YAEL BERENBLUT, SPCR INTERNSHIP SUMMER / AUTUMN 2025, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Why I applied for this internship:

When I came across the opportunity to intern with NIHR at the Queen Mary University of London Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis, I knew I had to apply. The MODE Study team (NIHR SPCR grant 680) is working to understand when non-cancer diagnoses before a cancer diagnosis (an ‘interim’ diagnosis) represent missed opportunities to diagnose cancer. As a medical student, the role felt like a dream opportunity: what other summer job would enable me to play a small part in improving early cancer detection? I wasn’t alone in my thinking, and the competition for the role was fierce, so I was absolutely delighted when I found out I had been offered the role. I was incredibly lucky to work under the guidance of my supervisor, Dr Mel Ramasawmy and with the support of the wider research team, including the wonderful team lead Professor Georgia Black. 

My project:

As an intern, I supported the MODE team to plan, prepare and run a stakeholder event with a goal to share their findings and work with key stakeholders (from clinicians to patients, cancer charities, policymakers and more) to identify targets for future interventions for reducing delays in cancer diagnosis. 

My main project was working with the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group to create a contribution to the stakeholder event. PPI contributions, while vital, can often be overlooked in research, so it was a real privilege to work on a meaningful project that would give the PPI group a voice and support conversations at the stakeholder event to remain rooted in lived experience. Based on my conversations with the PPI group, and as an artist, I pitched the idea of graphic facilitation, a form of visual communication that combines graphics and writing. The idea being to present the final illustration at the stakeholder event. With the PPI team and wider MODE team on board, Mel helped me find a training course in graphic facilitation, which equipped me with techniques that support clearer, more inclusive science communication. I practised my graphic facilitation by live illustrating meetings at the centre. Once I had honed my skills, I met with the PPI group and illustrated live whilst they discussed three questions:

1. What are the implications of the research? 
2. Why does an interim diagnosis matter? 
3. What should people keep in mind at the stakeholder meeting?

The feedback from this session was really positive, with PPI members feeling I had communicated things that would not have been noticed otherwise. After some refinements, I created an animated version of the illustration, which I edited into a video, along with a voiceover by two PPI group members guiding viewers through the illustration. 

The project culminated in the video being played during the event, which left me with a real sense of pride. The final illustration was printed and shared with attendees as part of the information pack, allowing stakeholders to take a real look at it. Feedback from the stakeholders was wonderful, and the illustration itself helped shape conversations at the event. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/cp_QEUnnD74?si=x036QJCF5xZgGj7M.

Other internship activities: 

Alongside my main project, I contributed to a range of other activities across MODE. This included supporting the compilation of the stakeholder invite list, translating scientific concepts into visual materials for use in presentations, and researching recommendations that could inform the MODE study’s future directions.

Mel also encouraged me to reach out to other researchers at the centre and gain exposure to other research projects. Over the course of my internship, I joined meetings discussing the future of cervical cancer screening, a study looking to predict health conditions based on internet data, the potential to use cytosponge as a cancer screening test and a project addressing inequalities in cancer diagnostic outcomes for learning disabled people.

A particular highlight was meeting Professor Ranjit Manchanda, whose work I have followed for a number of years and whose ground-breaking research led to a three-year trial programme offering population-based BRCA screening to the Jewish community (a topic I am passionate about, and which I presented in my interview and that actually landed me this role). 

I also took part in a number of academic and professional development activities, such as attending seminars, joining journal clubs, participating in weekly reflections with the wider cancer research team and attending intern-specific events such as a careers afternoon. 

Overall, these activities left me with a really rich and varied insight into the world of cancer research. This was such a valuable way to discover the true breadth of cancer research happening now and gain an insight into a range of incredible projects.

Reflections and next steps:

Looking back, I have gained far more than I expected coming into this internship. I have gained practical research experience, learnt to be confident contributing to conversations with researchers and have a far deeper understanding of how complex cancer research is. I also have a new understanding of how important it is to include individuals with lived experience in research as true core members of the research team. 

Being a small part of a team working towards improving early cancer diagnosis was inspiring. In future, I am keen to stay involved in research, whether through future internships or roles that combine my love for clinical medicine with research. I am especially excited to be using my skill in graphic facilitation in another research project in the new year.

Thanks:

I am incredibly grateful to the NIHR for the opportunity to explore research in such a supportive, warm environment.

I also want to thank Mel for her mentorship, guidance and encouragement. Mel was supportive from the start, mapping out the internship timeline with me to ensure I got the most out of my time and organising regular meetings to check in and guide me. 

Finally, thank you to the wider MODE and Centre teams for making me feel valued from day one. They were so warm and welcoming and made it clear that my thoughts were valued and encouraged me to ask questions and contribute throughout.