Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog

Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog

In category: SPCR Fellowships


GLP-1s agonists: The good, the bad and the ‘what are we still doing wrong’ by Tomazo Kallis – Clinical Research Fellow

When Prof Rupert Payne and I got our heads together to start writing our latest BJGP Editorial GLP-1 receptor agonists: panacea or affirmation of societal failure? It was difficult to know where to start. GLP-1 receptor agonists under the various brand names of Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have sky rocketed in use over recent years. […]


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Seminar titled Developing a policy evaluation model for lung cancer early detection, by Dr Tristan Snowsill

Lung cancer kills more people in the UK each year than any other cancer, accounting for 1 in 5 cancer deaths. Fewer than half the people diagnosed with lung cancer survive for a year after diagnosis, and only 1 in 5 survive for more than 5 years. These are pretty dismal statistics. One of the […]


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Should we be more relaxed about high blood pressure?

Associate Professor Christopher Clark We know how to lower blood pressure with drugs,  and quite a lot about how health professionals can help people to treat their hypertension. (1) Evidence to support these interventions is well summarised in various international hypertension guidelines, which also reinforce lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risk. […]


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South-West SAPC by Professor Rupert Payne

I’ve always enjoyed the regional SAPC conferences. Being very much at the smaller end of the conference spectrum, they are a great way to find out what’s going on in the local region, and offer an opportunity for early career researchers in particular to present work in a friendly and relaxed environment. The 2025 meeting […]


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What motivated my wanting to do research? by Dr Gianni Dongo

The answer to this question can often times seem scripted. There is usually a reference to a desire to stimulate lasting change in society, an altruistic aim to break frontiers of knowledge or a personal experience of a challenge that motivated quest for discovery. For me, I rather stumbled onto research during my primary medical […]


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The role of community pharmacies in early cancer detection with a focus on deprivation – by Dr Judit Konya

We know that the earlier cancer is diagnosed, the better the clinical outcomes are. Patients generally first present to General Practice with symptoms of undiagnosed cancer. However, in recent years there has been an expansion of clinical responsibility in other healthcare settings, and there has been a focus shift towards providing care to people closer […]


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Understanding inequalities in cancer diagnostic outcomes for people with Learning Disabilities: The CancerLearn project

Written by Dr Luke Mounce From the 1st of November last year, my first big research project began with me as Chief Investigator, and I’d like to tell you all about it and my journey to get here! It’s called “CancerLearn” and aims to improve cancer diagnosis in people with learning difficulties. There are around […]


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Dead trees: living research – by Professor Willie Hamilton

They say a tree falling in a forest, but with no-one to hear it, makes no sound. Well maybe, though I’ve always doubted it. What’s clear is that medical research, if it doesn’t change practice, makes no sound. In this spirit was a conference in London last month. I co-led a successful HTA research bid […]


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Exeter in £10 million partnership to use data and AI to detect individual cancer risk – Professor Gary Abel

Doctors could soon be able to predict your individual chances of getting cancer and offer personalised detection and prevention, thanks to a new research project involving the University of Exeter. Today, Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are announcing £10 […]


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APEx End of Year Report by Professor Richard Neal – Director of APEx (Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care).

Wow, it has been an amazing year, and my first full year as Director of APEx (Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care). I wanted to take this opportunity to give an overview of the year in some numbers. And there have been so many achievements over the past 12 months, that I am not going […]


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