In June this year, we welcomed KTP Visiting Fellow Dr Tracey Farragher (opens an external site) from the University of Leeds (opens an external site). A statistician by background, Farragher is a Lecturer in Public Health Epidemiology at the University of Leeds.
Farragher's research area of interest is in data modelling and how routine data can be applied to explore the inequalities of health and wellbeing in individuals and communities.
Farragher met her host academic, Professor Charlie Benrimoj, Head of the Graduate School of Health at UTS, and another researcher a few years ago at a European-wide conference for pharmacists in Portugal.
“They asked me for advice on projects they were going to be doing in Spain”, said Farragher.
“That’s a rare thing; it’s usually the statistician who’s brought in at the end. But I was involved from the start, asking them how they were going to collect their data, how much data they were going to collect, and how often.”
Farragher's four-week stay at UTS was both productive and eventful, with various meetings with UTS academics, industry and continued collaboration on a research project titled “ConSIGUE” with Professor Benrimoj. The ConSIGUE project is centred on poly-pharmacy and the issues that can arise for individuals consuming multiple medications, particularly the elderly. While the study explores how drugs interact with each other and cause possible side effects, Farragher emphasises the importance of exploring ways to ease the burden on the individual taking multiple medications simultaneously.
“A lot of the time, it’s not just about reducing someone’s meds; it’s about putting them on the most appropriate ones for them”, said Farragher.
“Our research project is looking at how well that’s happening and whether it’s better than just normal practice. It’s already had an impact in the pilot that was done across about four provinces in Spain, and is currently being implemented across Spain.”
Farragher’s recent visit to UTS was an opportunity for her and Benrimoj to work together on the initial analysis for the project funders as well as completing and writing three high-impact papers. Another three-year project on community pharmacy and the role that pharmacies play in treating patients was also explored. Farragher also met with representatives from Cincotta Pharmacy Group and has secured a $250,000 grant for the three-year project.
A very exciting development in the form of an international project was initiated during the visit, focusing on analysing techniques that will assist in the management of people with long-term conditions through pharmacists utilising routine data. This project will include UTS, Leeds and possibly the Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Canada.