{"id":979,"date":"2023-11-08T11:53:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T11:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/?p=979"},"modified":"2025-07-03T08:17:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T08:17:24","slug":"q-and-a-with-professor-richard-neal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/2023\/11\/08\/q-and-a-with-professor-richard-neal\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A with Professor Richard Neal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li>Can you tell us a bit about yourself and research and\/or career to this point?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s Practice in Exeter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>What are you aiming to do through your new post, or what is your current research focus?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In research terms, when asked in a lift what I do, my response used to be \u2018I do research to help GPs diagnose cancer better\u2019. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u2018look after\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>What are you looking forward to most in starting your fellowship\/new post, or the next year of your research?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [I think I have covered this above]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Tell us something about yourself that may be less well known?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>I once applied for a job as a TV doctor (I didn\u2019t get an audition)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I went to school with Fat Boy Slim and Keir Starmer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I do voluntary medical work at Glastonbury and Reading festivals \u2013 exceptionally interesting work, and great fun when not on shift<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I can now use a paddleboard without falling off<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>My only regret about moving to Exeter from Leeds is that I no longer live within walking distance of Headingley cricket stadium<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"703\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-703x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-703x1024.jpg 703w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-768x1119.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-1055x1536.jpg 1055w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-1406x2048.jpg 1406w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2023\/09\/R-Neal-scaled.jpg 1758w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 703px) 100vw, 703px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":989,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Q and A with Professor Richard Neal - Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/apex\/2023\/11\/08\/q-and-a-with-professor-richard-neal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q and A with Professor Richard Neal - Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was very fortunate in that I won a Fellowship to do a PhD at the University of Leeds immediately after completing my GP training. 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