Consultants

Qualifications

BSc, MBChB (Hons), PG Certificates in Clinical Rheumatology; Leadership and Service Development; Work-based medical education, MRCP(UK), PhD (Business and Management)

Special Interests:

Early inflammatory arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, general rheumatology.

Biography

Dr Sharp graduated with an honours undergraduate degree in Medicine (2007), and first-class Healthcare Ethics & Law (2006) from the University of Manchester. She undertook post-graduate medical training in the North-West, during which she was a National Clinical Leadership Fellow (2011-2012).

Her PhD in Business & Management (Alliance Manchester Business School) was awarded in 2020, following which she was a National Institute for Health Research Academic Clinical Lecturer (2020 – 2022). She took up the post of consultant rheumatologist at the Kellgren Centre in 2022, where she spends three days / week in clinical practice and 1.5 days / week on research.

Dr Sharp holds a number of leadership positions within the rheumatology community, including membership of the British Society for Rheumatology Clinical Affairs Committee and National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Project Working Group. She is also associate editor for the Rheumatology journal.

She is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences and works closely with the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research, both at the University of Manchester. She is a health services researcher with research and practice interests in communicating with patients, implementation, digital innovation and quality improvement, with expertise in qualitative methodology and collaboration with patients.

Ongoing research includes a British Society for Rheumatology Advanced Research Fellowship, which aims to support the rheumatology multi-disciplinary team to write outpatient clinic letters to patients, and several co-investigator roles on programme grants relating to remote monitoring in rheumatoid arthritis, data integration, and mobile health data research. She supports the Applied Research Collaboration-Greater Manchester’s Digital Health Theme.

Dr Sharp teaches actively at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She designed and delivers the British Society for Rheumatology Quality Improvement Practical Methodology Course.