David Gillespie
Deputy Director of Infection, Inflammation & Immunity Trials and Senior Research Fellow
- Email:
- gillespied1@cardiff.ac.uk
- Telephone:
- +44 (0)29 2068 7610
- Location:
- 410, 4th Floor, Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park
- Available for postgraduate supervision
I am the Deputy Director of Infection, Inflammation & Immunity Trials and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Trials Research.
I have recently been awarded a five-year post-doctoral research fellowship by Health and Care Research Wales to investigate the use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in individuals at-risk of HIV-acquisition living in Wales.
My background is in Medical Statistics, and I have been working on the design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of randomised trials and other well designed studies since 2007. I completed my PhD at the end of 2016, with my thesis titled “Medication Adherence in Clinical Research and Associated Methodological Challenges”. As Deputy Director, I provide leadership to the Infection, Inflammation & Immunity division within the Centre for Trials Research.
Clinically, my research interests focus on prudent medication use in the field of infectious diseases, and my work can be broadly split into two key areas:
- Medication adherence – specifically, ways in which adherence to medication is conceptualised, measured, and modelled
- The development and evaluation of antimicrobial stewardship interventions
I am also actively involved in a large programme of research in the field of intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
My areas of methodological interest include:
- Trials and general research methodology (improving the ways in which we do randomised trials and other well designed studies)
- Causal modelling (modelling approaches that aim to answer causal questions, rather than purely associational)
- Missing data (prevention of, and fitting models when there are missing data).
Education and qualifications:
- 2013 - 2016: PhD "Medication Adherence in Clinical Research and Associated Methodological Challenges" (School of Medicine) Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- 2005 - 2009: BSc in Mathematics, Operational Research and Statistics (School of Mathematics) Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK (with placement year)
Career overview:
- May 2018 onwards: Deputy Director of Infection, Inflammation & Immunity Trials and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University
- December 2016 - May 2018: Research Fellow in Statistics, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University
- October 2015 - March 2016: Methodological Consultant, Research Design and Conduct Service, Cardiff University (part-time secondment)
- August 2015 - November 2016: Research Associate in Statistics, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University
- March 2012 - November 2016: Research Associate in Statistics, South East Wales Trials Unit, Cardiff University
- June 2009 - March 2012: Junior Statistician, South East Wales Trials Unit, Cardiff University
- July 2007 - September 2008: Trainee Statistician, South East Wales Trials Unit, Cardiff University
Honours and awards
- Nominated for a Cardiff University Celebrating Excellence Award in the category of "Rising Star" (2016)
- Received an Outstanding Contribution Award from Cardiff University (2016)
- Received a prize at graduation for achieving the highest grade across the School of Mathematics for my BSc dissertation (2009)
Professional memberships
I am a member of the Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC).
Speaking engagements
Invited speaker:
- December 2016: Infections Group Meeting within the Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol
- July 2016: School of Healthcare Sciences away day, School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University
- June 2016: Royal Statistical Society Primary Healthcare Special Interest Group, RSS Headquarters, London
- March 2015: National Parenting Coordinators' Network, Llandridnod Wells
- May 2014: Royal Statistical Society Primary Healthcare Special Interest Group, University of Leeds
Conference presentations:
Given presentations at regional, national, and international conferences, including:
- Regional:
- South West Society for Academic Primary Care (2008, 2014)
- National:
- Young Statisticians' Meeting (2010, 2011, 2013)
- UK CRC Registered CTU Statisticians' Meeting (2012)
- Society for Academic Primary Care (2015)
- International:
- International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference (2011, 2015)
- General Practitioners' Research in Infections Network (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- Society for Clinical Trials (2015)
- European Society for Patient Adherence, Compliance and Persistence (2015)
- European Association for Mental Health in Intellectual Disabilities (2017)
Committees and reviewing
- I am a consultant for the twice-weekly data clinic set-up by the College of Biomedical & Life Sciences in Cardiff University
- I am a member of the Medicines Optimisation and Healthcare Outcomes research group led by the School of Pharmacy in Cardiff University
External committees
- 2011 - 2014: Royal Statistical Society Primary Healthcare Special Interest Group
- Previously independent Trial Steering Committee member for one study (BEAT-IT)
- Independent Trial Steering Committee member for three studies (STASH, CONTRACT, FLIGHT, SUPPORT2BACK)
- Independent Data Monitoring and Ethics Committee member for two studies (HATRIC, TEST)
- Board member for the Health and Care Research Wales Research for Patient and Public Benefit (RfPPB) panel
- Associate board member for NIHR HTA
Peer reviewer
I peer-review submissions to The Lancet (and associated journals), BMJ Open, Journal of Infection Prevention Research, Research in Developmental Disabilities, Trials, and Patient Preference and Adherence. I also review funding applications and final reports for the NIHR, MRC, and HCRW.
2019
- Flynn, S.et al. 2019. Who’s challenging who?: A co-produced approach for training staff in learning disability services about challenging behaviour. Tizard Learning Disability Review (10.1108/TLDR-03-2019-0013)
- Courtenay, M.et al. 2019. A theory-based electronic learning intervention to support appropriate antibiotic prescribing by nurses and pharmacists: intervention development and feasibility study protocol. BMJ Open 9(8), article number: e028326. (10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028326)
- Butler, C. C.et al. 2019. C-reactive protein guided antibiotic prescribing for COPD exacerbations. New England Journal of Medicine 381, pp. 111-120. (10.1056/NEJMoa1803185)
- Drew, C. J. G.et al. 2019. A protocol for a randomised controlled, double-blind feasibility trial investigating fluoxetine treatment in improving memory and learning impairments in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: Fluoxetine, Learning and Memory in Epilepsy (FLAME trial). Pilot and Feasibility Studies 5(1), pp. -., article number: 87. (10.1186/s40814-019-0474-x)
- Drew, C. J. G.et al. 2019. A protocol for a randomised controlled, double-blind feasibility trial investigating fluoxetine treatment in improving memory and learning impairments in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: Fluoxetine, Learning and Memory in Epilepsy (FLAME trial). Pilot and Feasibility Studies (10.1186/s40814-019-0474-x)
- Owen-Jones, E.et al. 2019. Protocol for a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of probiotics in reducing antibiotics for infection in care home residents: the Probiotics to Reduce Infections iN CarE home reSidentS (PRINCESS) trial. BMJ Open 9(6), article number: e027513. (10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027513)
- Randell, E.et al. 2019. Sensory integration therapy versus usual care for sensory processing difficulties in autism spectrum disorder in children: study protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.. Trials 20, article number: 113. (10.1186/s13063-019-3205-y)
- Stuart, B.et al. 2019. Delayed antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections: protocol of an individual patient data meta-analysis. BMJ Open 9(1), pp. -., article number: e026925. (10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026925)
- Nollett, C.et al. 2019. Depressive symptoms in people with a vision impairment: A cross-sectional study to identify who is most at risk. BMJ Open 9(1), article number: e026163. (10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026163)
2018
- Flynn, S.et al. 2018. Is the amount of exposure to aggressive challenging behaviour related to staff work-related 14 well-being in intellectual disability services? Evidence from a clustered research design.. Research in Developmental Disabilities 81, pp. 155-161. (10.1016/j.ridd.2018.04.006)
- Hastings, R.et al. 2018. Who’s challenging who training for staff empathy towards adults with challenging behaviour: cluster randomised controlled trial. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 62(9), pp. 798-813. (10.1111/jir.12536)
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2018. Use of co-primary outcomes for trials of antimicrobial stewardship interventions. Lancet Infectious Diseases 18(6), pp. 595-597. (10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30289-5)
- Butler, C. C.et al. 2018. Point-of-care urine culture for managing urinary tract infection in primary care: a randomised controlled trial of clinical and cost-effectiveness. British Journal of General Practice 68(669), pp. e268-e278. (10.3399/bjgp18X695285)
2017
- Francis, N.et al. 2017. Variations in presentation, management, and patient outcomes of urinary tract infection: a prospective four-country primary care observational cohort study. British Journal of General Practice 67(665), pp. e830-e841., article number: 10.3399/bjgp17X693641. (10.3399/bjgp17X693641)
- Segrott, J.et al. 2017. An application of Extended Normalisation Process Theory in a randomised controlled trial of a complex social intervention: Process evaluation of the Strengthening Families Programme (10-14) in Wales, UK. SSM - Population Health 3, pp. 255-265. (10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.01.002)
- Courtenay, M., Gillespie, D. and Lim, R. 2017. Patterns of dispensed non-medical prescriber prescriptions for antibiotics in primary care across England: a retrospective analysis. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 72(10), pp. 2915-2920. (10.1093/jac/dkx230)
- Bates, J.et al. 2017. General practitioner use of a C-reactive protein point-of-care test to help target antibiotic prescribing in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (the PACE study): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 18, article number: 422. (10.1186/s13063-017-2144-8)
- McNamara, R.et al. 2017. A pilot randomised controlled trial of community-led ANtipsychotic Drug REduction for Adults with Learning Disabilities. Project Report. [Online]. Health Technology Assessment. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21470
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2017. Determinants of initiation, implementation, and discontinuation of amoxicillin by adults with acute cough in primary care. Patient Preference and Adherence 2017(11), pp. 561-569. (10.2147/PPA.S119256)
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2017. The use of randomisation-based efficacy estimators in non-inferiority trials. Trials 18(1), article number: 117. (10.1186/s13063-017-1837-3)
2015
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2015. The use of randomisation-based efficacy estimators in non-inferiority trials. Trials 16(Suppl), pp. P129. (10.1186/1745-6215-16-S2-P129)
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2015. Antibiotic prescribing and associated diarrhoea: a prospective cohort study of care home residents. Age and Ageing 44(5), pp. 853-860. (10.1093/ageing/afv072)
- Simpson, S. A.et al. 2015. A feasibility randomised controlled trial of a motivational interviewing-based intervention for weight loss maintenance in adults. Health Technology Assessment 19(50) (10.3310/hta19500)
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2015. Adherence-adjusted estimates of benefits and harms from treatment with amoxicillin for LRTI: secondary analysis of a 12-country randomised placebo- controlled trial using randomisation- based efficacy estimators. BMJ Open 5(3), article number: e006160. (10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006160)
2014
- Gillespie, D.et al. 2014. Electronic monitoring of medication adherence in a 1-year clinical study of 2 dosing regimens of mesalazine for adults in remission with ulcerative colitis. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 20(1), pp. 82-91. (10.1097/01.MIB.0000437500.60546.2a)
- Segrott, J.et al. 2014. Fidelity of implementation of the Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 UK in Wales UK: a mixed-method process evaluation within a randomised controlled trial. Presented at: 7th European Public Health Conference, Glasgow, Scotland,, 19-22 November 2014.
- Moore, L. A. R.et al. 2014. Strengthening Families Programme (10-14UK) substance misuse prevention programme: findings from NPRI randomised trial of a proportionate universalism adaptation of an intervention for families with children aged 10-14. Presented at: 10th UKSBM Annual Scientific Meeting, Nottingham, 3-4 December 2014. pp. 1642-1647.
- Segrott, J.et al. 2014. Preventing substance misuse: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of the Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 UK (SFP 10-14 UK). BMC Public Health 14(1), article number: 49. (10.1186/1471-2458-14-49)
- Hood, K.et al. 2014. Probiotics for Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhoea (PAAD): a prospective observational study of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (including Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea) in care homes. Health Technology Assessment 18(63), pp. 1. (10.3310/hta18630)
2013
- Rose, J.et al. 2013. Different factors influence self-reports and third-party reports of anger by adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities 26(5), pp. 410-419. (10.1111/jar.12037)
- Mustafa, M.et al. 2013. Psychological interventions for women with metastatic breast cancer. Cochrane Library 2013(6), article number: CD004253. (10.1002/14651858.CD004253.pub4)
- Willner, P.et al. 2013. Group-based cognitive-behavioural anger management for people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities: cluster randomised controlled trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry 203, pp. 288-296. (10.1192/bjp.bp.112.124529)
2012
- Hawthorne, A. B.et al. 2012. One-year investigator-blind randomized multicenter trial comparing asacol 2.4 g once daily with 800 mg three times daily for maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 18(10), pp. 1885-1893. (10.1002/ibd.21938)
- Francis, N. A.et al. 2012. Delayed antibiotic prescribing and associated antibiotic consumption in adults with acute cough. British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 62(602), pp. e639-e646. (10.3399/bjgp12X654614)
- Allen, D. A.et al. 2012. Continuity of care in the transition from child to adult diabetes services: A realistic evaluation study. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy 17(3), pp. 140-148. (10.1258/jhsrp.2011.011044)
- Francis, N. A.et al. 2012. Antibiotics for acute cough: an international observational study of patient adherence in primary care. British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 62(599), pp. e429-e437. (10.3399/bjgp12X649124)
- Butler, C. C.et al. 2012. Effectiveness of multifaceted educational programme to reduce antibiotic dispensing in primary care: practice based randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal (BMJ) 344, article number: d8173. (10.1136/bmj.d8173)
- Hood, K.et al. 2012. Mode of data elicitation, acquisition and response to surveys: a systematic review. Health Technology Assessment 16(27) (10.3310/hta16270)
2011
- Willner, P.et al. 2011. Anger management for people with mild to moderate learning disabilities: study protocol for a multi-centre cluster randomized controlled trial of a manualized intervention delivered by day-service staff. Trials 12, pp. 36-47. (10.1186/1745-6215-12-36)
2010
- Allen, D. A.et al. 2010. The transition from paediatric to adult diabetes services: what works, for whom and in what circumstances? [Final report. NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation programme]. Project Report. [Online]. HMSO. Available at: http://www.netscc.ac.uk/hsdr/files/project/SDO_FR_08-1504-107_V01.pdf
- Stanton, N.et al. 2010. Are smokers with acute cough in primary care prescribed antibiotics more often, and to what benefit? An observational study in 13 European countries. European Respiratory Journal 35(4), pp. 761-767. (10.1183/09031936.00168409)
2009
- Butler, C. C.et al. 2009. Variation in antibiotic prescribing and its impact on recovery in patients with acute cough in primary care: prospective study in 13 countries. BMJ 338, article number: b2242. (10.1136/bmj.b2242)
Teaching
- From the 2017/2018 academic year, I am lecturing on "Randomised Controlled Trials" as part of the ME 3092 Research Methods 1 module for Medical Intercalated BSc students
- In June 2016, I co-developed and delivered a three-day course on basic data analysis using the statistical programming language R (titled "learnR") to staff at the University of Namibia as part of the Phoenix Project (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/phoenix-project)
- Previously, I have taught small and medium group sizes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level on topics including quantitative research methods, statistics, and critical appraisal
Supervision
- I am currently submitting proposals to supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of medication adherence and infectious diseases
- I have supervised three undergraduate dissertations (2 x Medical Intercalated BSc and BSc Mathematics, Operational Research and Statistics) and two MSc dissertations (MSc Operational Research and Applied Statistics, MSc Bioinformatics and Biostatistics)
Since 2013, I have been awarded approximately £8m in grant funding, including approx. £400k as lead applicant.
Research grants:
2018
- HCRW HRF: "Development of an intervention to Optimise use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV-acquisition in at-risk individuals living in Wales (DO-PrEP)" £393,792
2017
- NIHR PHR: "Early positive approaches to support (E-PAtS) for families of young children with intellectual disability:
feasibility study" £508,474 - HCRW RfPPB: "Trial designs for delivery of novel therapies for neurodegeneration (TRIDENT)" £223,176
- HCRW RfPPB: "Feasibility and acceptability of a new clinical pathway for the identification of non-responders to glaucoma eye drops (the TRIAGE study)" £225,255
- The Baily Thomas charitable fund: "Behavioural activation (BeatIt) for depression in adults with severe intellectual disabilities. A feasibility randomised controlled study of BeatIt versus treatment as usual" £97,829
- ESRC IAA: "An intervention for primary care prescribers to support the choice and use of antibiotics" £19,865
2016
- NIHR HTA: "A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of sensory integration therapy versus usual care for sensory processing difficulties in autism spectrum disorder in children, and its impact on behavioural difficulties, adaptive skills and socialisation (SenITA)" £1,477,233
2015
- NIHR/MRC EME: "Probiotics to reduce infections in care home residents (PRINCESS)" £1,872,938
- NIHR SSCR: "Who's Challenging Who? A cluster randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a staff training intervention to improve support staff attitudes and empathy towards adults with learning disability and challenging behaviours" £303,392
2014
- NIHR HTA: "General Practitioner (GP) use of a C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Point of Care Test (POCT) to help target antibiotic prescribing to patients with Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD) who are most likely to benefit (PACE)" £1,375,543
2013
- NIHR HTA: "Community-led anti-psychotic drug reduction for adults with learning disabilities: a randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial (ANDREA-LD)" £1,489,779
