RESEARCH PROFILE

Summary: my research interests relate to how, whether and why health evidence can be used at the policy, organisational, population and individual levels, including attention to:

• the relationship between research evidence and health policy
• optimal population levels of interventions to maximise evidence based care and appropriateness in health care
• getting research evidence into individual clinical decisions including the use of information, guidelines, shared decision making, decision analytic methods and the role of "choice"

BACKGROUND

I studied medicine at the University of Oxford and trained and practised for a short time as a GP. I went on to take my MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine, achieving both a distinction and the prize. I completed my Public Health training and worked in North London in a substantive consultant post at regional level in health strategy and information where I had responsibility for 2.4 million people. I became a senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and ran the MSc in public health at the LSHTM before joining Warwick Medical School in 2007 after two shorter posts at Barts and the London and at Oxford.

My research interests and publications focus on evidence for clinical practice, patient-centred care and policy and on health technology assessment. I have recently been awarded >£4.7 million programme grant funding from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) HTA programme to set up and run Warwick Evidence; one of 9 technology appraisal review teams across the country. The team will provide a strong link to the National Institute for Health Research and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). I am interested in decisions and shared decision-making (e.g. in hysterectomy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and also in analysis of routine dataset for the primary-secondary care interface (e.g readmissions, hospitalisation rates, lengths of stay).

I have written national policy reports on death certification and on health outcomes. I supervised a PhD on quality of care in general practice, producing a BMJ paper which was independently nominated for the RCGP ?Research Paper of the year? award and have recently been awarded a ?highly commended for? a paper on the gap between evidence and practice in health care commissioning.

At Warwick I am responsible for ~30 staff from junior researcher to senior professor level working in the Populations Evidence and Technologies group. The group publishes high quality research and secures substantial research funding e.g. recently a joint Cochrane Programme grant for reviews of primary prevention of coronary heart disease and a grant to investigate safety in ambulance services as well as a Wellcome trust PHATIC fellowship. I have active links with national and international bodies such as the Nuffield Trust, NICE, the NHS Confederation, the Faculty of Public Health Research Policy Committee, the Royal College of GPs, the Society for Medical Decision Making and have served on grant-awarding bodies (e.g. DG Research EUFP7, NIHR HTA and SDO Programmes). I was Honorary Treasurer for the Society for Social Medicine for several years until recently and am an editor for two international journals (Health Technology Assessment and the European Journal of Public Health). In 2008 I was made a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and in 2012 a fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Teaching and education

I have taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level in three higher education institutions. I have designed Public Health and Health Services Research courses, e.g. on needs assessment for commissioning and have enjoyed helping to introduce ?values? in patient care into the Warwick curriculum. We recently received funding from the National Screening Committee to run a course in Health Screening at Warwick. I am a Public health specialty trainer and am a supervisor for Warwick?s PH Integrated Clinical Academic Training. I have been an examiner for the Faculty of Public Health for over 10 years.

TEACHING PROFILE

Courses Taught

• Masters in Public Health
• Health Screening
• URECA

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Warwick Evidence Technology Appraisal Review Team Extension, with - - - - Dr Chris Bridle CPsychol - Health Sciences Research Institute Mrs Samantha A Johnson - Library Dr Paul A Sutcliffe - Health Sciences Research Institute - - - Prof Wiji W Arulampalam - Economics Professor John A Powell - Health Sciences Research Institute Professor Ruth M Davies - WBS - ORMS Dr Simon Gates - Health Sciences Research Institute, Funded by: National Institute for Health Research (DoH), Project Start Date: 01/04/2011 Project End Date: 31/03/2016
• Warwick Preventative Heart Group, Funded by: NIHR/ Cochrane Collaboration, Project Start Date: 01/01/2011 Project End Date: 01/01/2016
• RCT: Mammography screening reader intervention. NIHR Fellowship, Funded by: NIHRTCC, Project Start Date: 01/01/2012 Project End Date: 01/01/2015
• Improving breast cancer detection rates through understanding and modelling the patterns of radiologist performance, with Prof Janet A Dunn, Health Sciences Research Institute, Professor Aileen Clarke - Health Sciences Research Institute Professor Nigel Stallard - Health Sciences Research Institute Dr Sian Taylor-Phillips - Health Sciences Research Institute Dr Melina A Kunar - Psychology Professor Stewart L Robinson - WBS - ORMS, Funded by: Breast Cancer Campaign, Project Start Date: 01/10/2011 Project End Date: 30/09/2014
• Research Grant - Improving breast cancer screening performance through understanding radiologist performance patterns, with Dr Sian Taylor-Phillips, Health Sciences, Professor Aileen Clarke - Health Sciences Research Institute, Funded by: National Institute for Health Research (DoH), Project Start Date: 01/10/2011 Project End Date: 30/09/2014
• West Midlands Research Design Service Unit (RDSU), with Professor Nigel Stallard, Health Sciences Research Institute, Dr Nicholas R Parsons - Clinical Sciences Research Institute Dr Aileen Clarke - Health Sciences Research Institute Dr Tim Friede - Health Sciences Research Institute Dr Frances E Griffiths - Health Sciences Research Institute Mrs Gulnaz Iqbal - Health Sciences Research Institute Prof Sarah L Stewart-Brown - Health Sciences Research Institute, Funded by: National Institute for Health Research (DoH), Project Start Date: 01/10/2008 Project End Date: 30/09/2013
• Evaluation of the Coventry Health Improvment Programme (E-CHIP), Funded by: Coventry City Council, Project Start Date: 01/07/2010 Project End Date: 30/06/2013
• Ambulance Safety - a scoping study and evaluation tool design, Funded by: NIHR SDO Programme, Project Start Date: 01/01/2011 Project End Date: 01/01/2013
• Case Studentship: Developing and critiquing models for cost effectiveness assessment, Funded by: ESRC/ Nuffield Trust, Project Start Date: 01/01/2010 Project End Date: 01/01/2013
  
  

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Gkeredakis, E., Swan,J., Powell,J., Nicolini,D., Scarbrough,H., Roginski,C., Taylor-Phillips,T, & Clarke, A. (2011) 'Mind the gap: Understanding utilisation of evidence and policy in health care management practice ' Journal of Health Organisation and Management 25 (3), 298 - 314 (1477-7266)
• Musila, N., Underwood, M., McCaskie, A.W., Black, N., Clarke, A., van de Meulen, J.H.(2011) 'Referral recommendations for osteoarthritis of the knee incorporating patients? preferences ' Family Process 28 68 - 74
• Clarke, A.,Rees, K., Hartley, L., Thorogood, M., Stranges, S,, (2012) 'Mediterranean' dietary pattern for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.' Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1469-493X)
• Blundell, N., et al.(2011) 'Elective surgical referral guidelines : background educational material or essential shared decision making tool? : a survey of GPs' in England' BMC Family Practice 12 (1), 92 (1471-2296) [article]
• Clarke, A., Friede, T., Putz, R., Ashdown, J., Martin, S., Blake, A., Adi, Y., Parkingson, J., Flynn, P., Platt, S., Stewart-Brown, S.(2011) 'Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) : validated for teenage school students in England and Scotland : a mixed methods assessment' Biomed Central Public Health 118 (1), (1471-2458) [article]

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Conferences