Claire Nadaf

Dr. Claire Nadaf serves as Head of Academic Enterprise and Engagement at Health Sciences University (formerly AECC University College), where she leads initiatives connecting academic work with practical healthcare applications. Her position sits within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, focusing on translating research into practice for improved patient outcomes.

Dr. Nadaf's research specialization centers on recognizing deteriorating patients, with particular expertise in clinical assessment methodologies. She has identified concerning trends in healthcare professionals' over-reliance on the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) tool at the expense of broader clinical judgment. Her work emphasizes the importance of comprehensive patient assessment through the ABCDE approach (Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure), which has traditionally been used by emergency services but needs wider adoption across acute and primary care settings.

Dr. Nadaf has made significant contributions to healthcare education through resources developed for the NHS e-learning platform. Originally commissioned in 2020 during the pandemic when patient deterioration recognition became critical, she recently updated these materials in 2024. The resources exist at two levels - foundational for basic knowledge and advanced for registered healthcare professionals - with the goal of improving early recognition of patient deterioration to prevent unnecessary deaths.

Her philosophy emphasizes that "Humans don't operate like machines, so we're all very different. How one human presents with deterioration will not be the same as someone else." This human-centered approach drives her work to complement standardized tools with skilled clinical assessment.