Professor Clare Wilkinson - Research Fellow

Professor Clare Wilkinson holds a Chair in General Practice and is also a practicing GP. Her research team is based in the North Wales Clinical School, where she is also Director of Research. Her academic career has been devoted to areas of direct relevance to patients in primary care settings. For example, she led a series of randomised controlled trials of national guideline implementation in breast disorders and risk communication and informed consent in cervical screening. More recently, she leads research teams in cancer and musculoskeletal fields.

Recent membership of the MRC Advisory Board, senior status within the MRC HSRC, applicant status on two MRC trials and Chairmanship of an MRC Trial Steering Group demonstrate increasing recognition. She has won research grants totalling 1.7M over the past 5 years. She also makes a substantial contribution to both NHS and university evironments in Wales by developing policy and practice. A key achievement was leadership of the successful bid to Wales Assembly Government to establish the North Wales Clinical School (12M capital, 4M revenue). This will improve recruitment and retention of NHS doctors. She previously served on the UWCM Research Strategy Sub-Committee, leading the HSR Focus and a successful SRIF bid for Health Sciences Research.

Qualifications
Welsh National School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff
June 1977 - 2nd MB, BCh
July 1980 - Final MB, BCh (Honours in Anatomy - 2nd MB, BCh Distinction in Pharmacology)
Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - May 1984
Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners - July 1985
MD Thesis ‘A Risk Scoring System for the Prediction of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia’ UWCM, October 1996

Current Post
2001 to date: Professor of General Practice, Cardiff University
2004 to date: Director of Research, North Wales Clinical School

Selection of peer reviewed publications
Jacobsen L, Wilkinson C, Pill R, Hackett P. Communication between teenagers and British general practitioners: a preliminary study of the teenage perspective. Ambulatory Child Health:1: 291-301;1996.

Wilkinson C. MD Thesis ‘A Risk Scoring System for the Prediction of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia’ UWCM, October 1996.

Wilkinson C. Cancer prevention in primary care. Family Practice 1996; 12: 112.

The BRIDGE Study Group. Womens’ perception of breast cancer risk. Family Practice 1996; 13: 340.

BRIDGE Study Group (Wilkinson C principal investigator). Communication about risk - dilemmas for general practitioners. BJGP 1997; 47: 739-742.

Edwards A, Barker J, Bloor M, Burnard P, Covey J, Hood K, Matthews E, Pill R, Russell D, Russell I, Stott N, Wilkinson C. The effects of personalised methods of communicating risks in screening programs. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - Consumers and Communication Review Group 1997.

Jackson A, Wilkinson C, Pill R, Ranger M. Malignant melanoma - can primary prevention be more precisely targeted in general practice? BMJ 1998; 7124: 34-39.

Lloyd-Williams M, Wilkinson C, Lloyd Williams FF. Do bereaved children consult the primary care team more frequently? European Journal of Cancer Care, 1998, 7, 120-4.

The ODIN Study Group. The background and methodology of the ODIN project. Br J Psych 1998; 172: 359-363.

Somerset M, Baxter K, Wilkinson C, Peters TJ. Mildly dyskaryotic smear results: does it matter what women know? Family Practice 1999; 15: 537-542.

Jackson A, Wilkinson C, Pill R. Moles and melanomas - who’s at risk, who knows and who cares?: A strategy to inform those at high risk. BJGP 1999; 49: 199-203.

Peters TJ, Somerset ME, Baxter K, Wilkinson CE. Can anxiety amongst women under surveillance for mild dyskaryosis be reduced?: A randomised controlled trial of an educational intervention. BJGP 1999 (May edition)

Baxter K, Peters TJ, Somerset ME, Wilkinson CE. Can anxiety amongst women under surveillance for mild dyskaryosis be reduced? Economic evaluation. Family Practice 1999; 16: 353-359. March 1999.

Dowrick C, Vazquez-Barquero JL, Wilkinson G, Wilkinson C, Lehtinen V, Dalgard O, Casey P. Organising ODIN: A case-study in European academic co-operation. European Psychiatry 1999; 14: 177-81.

The BRIDGE Study Group (Wilkinson C, principal investigator) The presentation and management of breast symptoms in general practice in South Wales. BJGP 1999; 49: 811-12.

Williams N, Wilkinson C, Russell IT. A new outcome measure for spinal pain: the Extended Aberdeen Back Pain Scales. Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine: 21(3) 1999: 87-91.

Lloyd-Williams M, Wilkinson C, Lloyd-Williams F. General practitioners in North Wales: current experiences of cancer care. European Journal of Cancer Care 2000; 9: 138-143.

Dowrick C, Dunn G, Ayuso-Mateos JL, Dalgard O, Page H, Vasquez B, Lehtinen V, Casey P, Wilkinson C, Vazquez-Barquero JL, Wilkinson G. Problem-solving Treatment and Group Psycho-Education for depression: multi-centre randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2000; 321: 1450-4.

Jackson A, Wilkinson C, Hood K, Pill R. Does experience predict knowledge and behaviour with respect to cutaneous melanoma, moles and sun exposure? Possible Outcome measures. Behavioural Medicine 2000; 26: 74-80.

Edwards A, Hood K, Matthews E, Russell D, Russell I, Barker J,Bloor M, Burnard P, Covey J, Pill R, Wilkinson C, Stott NCH. A systematic review of one to one risk communication interventions. Medical Decision Making 2000; November issue.

Elwyn G, Edwards A, Mowle S, Entwistle V, Wensing M, Wilkinson C, Kinnersely P, Grol R. Measuring the involvement of patients in shared decision making: a systematic review of instruments. Patient Education and Counseling 2000; 1406: 1-19.

Dowrick C, Dunn G, Ayuso-Mateos JL, Dalgard O, Page H, Vasquez B, Lehtinen V, Casey P, Wilkinson C, Vazquez-Barquero JL, Wilkinson G. Problem-solving Treatment and Group Psycho-Education for people with Depressive Disorders in Urban and Rural Communities: A multi-centre randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2000; 321: 1450-1454.

Michalak E, Wilkinson C, Dowrick C, Wilkinson G. Seasonal Affective Disorder: Prevalence, Diagnosis and Current Treatment. BJ Psych 2001; 179: 31-4.

McCaddon A, Hudson P, Davies G, Hughes A, Williams JHH, Wilkinson C. Homocystene and cognitive decline in healthy elderly. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, August 2001.

Elwyn GJ, Edwards AGK, Wilkinson C, Wensing M, Grol R. Shared decision-making observed in clinical practice: visual displays of communication sequence and patterns. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2001;7:211-221.

Williams N, Wilkinson C, Russell IT. Extending the Aberdeen Spine Pain Scale to include the whole spine: – a set of outcome measures for neck, thoracic and low back pain: Pain 2001 Dec; 94(3): 261-74.

Ayuso-Mateos J.L, Vasquez-Barquero J.L, Dowrick C, Lehtinen V, Dalgard O.S, Casey P, Wilkinson C, Lasa L, Page H, Dunn G, Wilkinson G. Depressive Disorders in Europe: prevalence figures from the ODIN study. British Journal of Psychiatry 2001; 179: 308-361.

Evans H, Robling MR, Maggs Rapport F, Houston H, Kinnersley P,
Wilkinson C. It doesn't cost anything just to ask, does it? The
ethics of questionnaire-based research. Journal of Medical Ethics 2002, 28; 41-44.

Michalak EE, Hayes S, Wilkinson C, Hood K, Dowrick C. Treatment compliance in light therapy: do patients do as they say they do? Journal of Affective Disorders 2002; 68 (2-3): 341-342.

Michalak EE, Wilkinson C, Hood K, Dowrick C. Seasonal and non-seasonal depression: how do they differ? Symptom profile, clinical and family history in a general population sample. Journal Affective Disorders 2002; 69 (1-3): 185-192.

The Bridge Study Group. The views of primary health care professionals about the management of breast problems in clinical practice. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2002; 8(3): 313-319.

The Bridge Study Group. Responses of primary health care professionals to the UK national guidelines on management and referral of women with breast conditions. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2002; 8(3): 319-327.

The Bridge Study Group. The development of a new site-specific measure of quality of life for breast problems: the Cardiff breast scales. Quality of Life Research 2002; 11: 339-348.

Edwards RT, Boland A, Cohen D, Wilkinson C, Williams J. Clinical and Lay Preferences for the Explicit Prioritisation of elective waiting lists: survey evidence from Wales. Health Policy 2003; 63: 229-237.

Glyn Elwyn, Stuart Todd, Richard Hibbs, Ajay Thapar, Peter Edwards, Amanda Webb, Clare Wilkinson and Mike Kerr
BMC Family Practice 2003, 4:4 (22 Apr 2003)

Holloway R, Wilkinson C, Peters TJ, Russell I, Cohen D, Hale J, Rogers C,
Lewis H. Cluster randomised trial of risk communication to enhance informed
uptake of cervical screening. British Journal of General Practice
2003;53:620-625.

Wiliams NH, Wilkinson C, Russell I, Edwards Rhiannon T, Hibbs R et al. Randomised osteopathic manipulation study (ROMANS): pragmatic trial for spinal pain in primary care. Family Practice 2003; 20: 662-669.

Lehtinen V, Michalak E, Wilkinson C, Dowrick C, Ayuso-Mateos JL et al. Urban-rural differences in the occurrence of female depressive disorder in Europe. Evidence from the ODIN Study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2003; 38: 283-289.

Michalak EE, Wilkinson C, Hood K, Dowrick C. Seasonality, negative life events and social support in a community sample. Br J Psychiatry 2003; 182: 434-8.

Pill R, Wood FC, Renold E, Robling M, Edwards A, Wilkinson C. Welsh women’s comments about breast problems and the care given: a qualitative study in the community. European Journal of Cancer Care 2003; 12(3): 240-8.

Dunn G, Maracy M, Dowrick C, Ayoso-Mateos JL, Dalgard OS, Lehtinen V, Casey P, Wilkinson C et al. Estimating psychological treatment effects from a randomised controlled trial with both non-compliance and loss to follow up. Br J Psychiatry 2003; 183: 323-31.

Griffith GL, Edwards RT, Gray J, Wilkinson C, Turner J, France B, Bennett P. Estimating the survival benefits gained from providing national cancer genetic services to women with a family history of breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer 2004; 90: 1912-1919.

Williams NH, Edwards RT, Linck P, Muntz R, Hibbs R, Wilkinson C, Russell I, Russell D, Hounsome B. Cost-utility analysis of osteopathy in primary care: results from pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Family Practice 2004; 21(6); 643-50.

Michalak EE, Murray G, Wilkinson C, Dowrick C, Lasa L et al. Estimating depression from the Beck Depression Inventory: is season of administration a moderator? Psychiatric Research 2004; 129(1): 99-106.

Griffith GL, Tudor Edwards R, Gray J, Bulter C, Wilkinson C et al. A Microcosting of the NHS Cancer Genetic Service (CW PI). British Journal of Cancer 2005; 92; 60-71.

Wilkinson C, Farquharson R. Chapter: Cervical Screening in When to Screen in Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2006 Elsevier eds Peters T et al.

Neal R, Wilkinson C, Stuart N. Chapter: Testicular Cancer. BMJ 2005 Clinical Evidence Series 14 (concise).

Grants Won
1994 - 89,425 NHS Wales Research and Development: Evaluation of a risk scoring system and educational package to redress current maldistribution of cervical screening. (lead applicant)

1994 - 10,737 NHS Wales Research and Development: A randomised controlled trial of a personalised general practitioner approach to non-attenders for mammography screening. 1994.

1996 - 50,000 NHS Wales Research and Development: ODIN: Outcome of Depression International Network. Already funded by Biomed II, sister funding obtained for Welsh arm. with Dowrick C, Wilkinson G.

1996 - 105,000 NHS Wales Research and Development: An Evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a high dependency unit in the post-operative management of fractured neck of femur.( with E. Edwards and others).

1996 - 50,000 NHS Executive R&D Implementation Programme. Management of uncertainty and communication of risk by clinicians: a Systematic Review. (with Edwards A, Pill R, Russell I, Bloor M).

1996 - 79,780 NHS Wales R&D Health Economics Analysis of Options for Prioritising Waiting lists in Wales. (with R Tudor Edwards, Cohen D, Williams J).

1996 - 74,034 extension grant (new total grant 247,910) Department of Health Primary/Secondary Care Interface Initiative. BRIDGE: Evaluation of guidelines for the referral and management of breast disorders: a pragmatic practice-based randomised trial. (Wilkinson principal investigator).

1997 - (Open Access) Endoscopy for H. Pylori positive patients - is it necessary? 133,000 from NHS Wales R&D (with Myres P and others).

1997 - A population based intervention for psychological problems in young children: A controlled trial. 176,399 from NHS Wales R&D (with Appleton P and others).

1997 - Delivering Health and Social Care. 196,567 from NHS Wales R&D (with Pat Lynes and others) funding for year 1 approved, remainder to follow if successful pilot results.

1997 - CAPRICORN (Cymru: Alliance of Primary Care Oriented Research Networks) bid to NHS Wales R&D for Culyer funding: 445,000 over 4 years. (Wilkinson C, lead)

1999-2004 - Wilkinson C, Elwyn GJ. All Wales Primary Care R&D Support Centre. 320,000 over 3 years.

1999 - 49,540 WORD: Edwards R, Appleton PL, Wilkinson C. (et al) A Cost-effectiveness analysis of a multi-agency community based intervention for psychological problems in young children of school age.

1999 - Cobalz II: Alzheimers Disease and Vitamin B12 Deficiency: Welsh Scheme Health and Social Research January 1999 60,013 with McCadden A and others.

1999 - Parsons E, Clarke A, Bradley D, Lyne E, Wilkinson C. Effective Service Delivery of Genetic information in primary and community care. Awarded by Wellcome, April 1999.

1999 - Michalak E, Wilkinson C. North Wales R&D Committee 5,000.

1999 - 84K Holloway R, Wilkinson C. Risk communication in cervical cancer screening: evaluation of a patient centred approach. MRC HSRC Studentship.

1999 - Wilkinson C, Tudor Edwards R et al. Evaluation of the all-Wales Cancer Genetics Service (97K).

1999 - Michalak E, Wilkinson C. MRC HSRC Small grant for SAD research.(5K)

1999 - Elwyn G et al including Wilkinson C. Epilepsy project (£9,900)

2000 - Wilkinson C. A Literature Review of the Emerging Purposes of Primary Care. National Assembly of Wales Commissioned project. (17K).

2000 - Parsons T et al including Wilkinson C. Women at intermediate levels of risk for familial breast cancer: a study of long-term cancer worries, post-counselling pathways, and resource implications for delivery of care.

2001-4: DoH / MRC: Russell I, Wilkinson C, Gilbert F and others. DAMASK Trial. Pragmatic randomised trial of open access to MRI vs direct referral to orthopaedic surgeons for GP patients with continuing knee problems. (553K)

2001-4: WORD: Edwards RT, Edwards-Jones G, Williams JMG, Wilkinson C. The Economics of Farming in Wales as a Predictor of Farm Family Physical and Mental Health and use of health services. (120K)

2002-5: DoH / MRC: Russell I, Veale D, Adebajo A, Dickson D, Helliwell P, Wilkinson C. SAPPHIRE Trial. Shoulder acute pain in primary health care: injection re-training effective? (446K)

2002-7: Wales Assembly Gov’t: Wilkinson C. Studentship grant from Inequalities in Health Fund Research Fund (£210K)

2003-5: CRUK; Neal R, Wilkinson C and others. Systematic review of primary / secondary care follow-up of cancer (79K)

2003-4: Stone Forum: Williams N, Wilkinson C and others. Systematic review of psychological effect of physical treatments for back pain. (10K)

2004: North Wales Health and Social Care Collaboration. Turner J, et al including Wilkinson C. Five year F-U study of patients with fractured neck of femur. (2K)

2004-9: WORD AWARD: All Wales Alliance for Research and Development (£3,000,000)

2005: Wilkinson C, Williams N, Hendry MA. Wales Assembly Government AWARD Commission. Literature review and survey of health promotion initiatives for older people ‘HIP HOP’. (31K)

2006: Williams N, Hendry MA, Wilkinson C. Wales Assembly Government AWARD Commission. Survey Focussing on Exercise Referral Schemes (SurFERS) (13K)

2006: Williams N, Wilkinson C. Wales Assembly Government AWARD Commission. A systematic review of exercise referral schemes. ‘STROLLERS’ (23K)