Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Posted by ma403
8 November 2023I was very fortunate in that I won a Fellowship to do a PhD at the University of Leeds immediately after completing my GP training. This was way before the advent of NIHR and indeed before any sense of structure to clinical academic careers. This then led to a Lecturer post researching attendance patterns, missed appointments and ways of organising appointment systems.
I was then, somewhat surprisingly, but exceptionally fortuitously, appointed to a Senior Lecturer post funded by Macmillan Cancer Relief. This meant I had to start researching cancer in some way. At the time, the field of research in cancer diagnosis in primary care was in its infancy. Working with a small group of like-minded people around the country we began to look at ways of improving the diagnostic process and one grant led to another. The funding climate became very favourable, and as a group from different universities nationally and internationally we all collaborated rather than competed. I moved from Leeds to Wales and built up a research group there, and was promoted to a Personal Chair in 2012. In 2016 I moved back to Leeds and spent a further five happy and productive years there. I moved to Exeter in 2021, having previously collaborated with Willie Hamilton and other Exeter colleagues for many years. I continue to do clinical work at St Leonard’s Practice in Exeter.
In research terms, when asked in a lift what I do, my response used to be ‘I do research to help GPs diagnose cancer better’. This is still true, although I have increasingly also become involved in new technologies and new approaches to cancer screening. One example of this is my role as Co-Chief Investigator for the NHS-Galleri Trial, a very large RCT that is using a multi-cancer early detection test to see if it reduces late stage diagnosis of up to 50 cancers. This is on track to report in 2026.
Since my arrival in Exeter, I have taken on leadership responsibilities as Deputy Head of the Department of Health and Community Sciences, and Co-Director of APEx. I also ‘look after’ the Exeter GP ACFs and ACLs. Hence my focus has shifted somewhat to ensuring the longer term success of APEx as a whole and its contribution to the Department and University wide strategies.
Membership of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research is such a bonus (but hugely deserved) for Exeter and brings money for projects, capacity building, training and huge amounts of kudos. However, we need to ensure that School membership doesn’t detract from securing funding from elsewhere in the NIHR, research councils, and charities. And the one thing that keeps me awake at night is working to ensure that we continue membership into the next iteration of the SCPR from 2026.
