Q and A with David Chandler – Public collaborator within the APEx PPI group

Posted by ma403

8 August 2023

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and research and/or career to this point?

I have worked for 2 large insurance companies, Aviva being one. After 5 years, I decided to go back to university and graduated from the University of the West of England. I then fell into being a carer to both parents who had multiple co-morbidities. Prostate and bowel cancer, cardiac, vascular dementia, frailty and experienced radiotherapy with father. I had multiple experiences of community, primary and secondary care. In, relation to mother, experience of diabetes, stroke, surgery on the carotid artery, cardiac, psoriasis and eczema and lastly cardiac, renal and vascular failures linked back to diabetes. Had to make a clinical decision for her on the amputation of a lower limb, but asked the surgeon to try and catch her on a cognitive moment so she could make the decision for herself which they did but the result was the answer I had given.

What are you aiming to do through your fellowship/new post, or what is your current research focus?

Research and innovation is vital to improve treatments, to learn, to improve patient outcomes, to modernise services, to create vaccines, new treatments, treatments that can be tailored to patients needs and to treat diabetes, to overcome cancers and improve cardiology treatments. An aim would be to work with researchers to innovate and develop programmes that can improve outcomes for patients and listen to the widest population in terms of sex, age and diversity so there are no prejudicies.

What are you looking forward to most in starting your fellowship/new post, or the next year of your research?

To work with researchers and innovators and to learn from them but to bring the patient voice to deliberations and research projects. To be open minded, to work within a team, to develop strategies and projects to really modernise the healthcare system for the next century. I have experiences of seeing the impact of diabetes, obesity, cancers and would like to see better programmes improved to improve outcomes for patients, working with charities in research, and helping researchers/immovators work with charities in terms of funding to fight the biggest diseases in the UK and to modernise the health service.

Tell us something about yourself that may be less well known.

80% of the remaining family live in Australia so I get the usual stick when they beat the British Lions or England at any sport. I have done 5 Bristol Half Marathons and one 10K all within the last 5 years. I enjoy putting back into the NHS for the care given to both parents so if I can help in anyway and having met members of the PPI at Exeter University it is great to be working with like minded people and we all have so much to learn from each other and it is great hearing their stories.