Professor SHAUN TREWEEK

Professor SHAUN TREWEEK The University of Aberdeen School of Medicine & Dentistry Chair in Health Services Research work +44 (0)1224 438145 pref s.treweek@abdn.ac.uk streweek@mac.com  ..is the best email to use. pref Health Services Research Unit University of Aberdeen Health Sciences Building Foresterhill Aberdeen AB25 2ZD UK

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Biography

Shaun Treweek joined the Unit in January 2013 and has over 18 years experience as a health services researcher specialising in trial methodology.  He is active in the field of pragmatic trial design, the design and pre-trial testing of complex interventions, interventions to improve recruitment to trials, and theory-based methods to assess the implementation potential of interventions.  Before HSRU he was at the University of Dundee and for the last three years there was Assistant Director of the Tayside Clinical Trials Unit, a unit he was instrumental in establishing.  At Dundee Shaun was (and still is in many cases) involved in an EC FP7 trial of treatments for a rare neuromuscular condition, lifestyle interventions for women after pregnancy, a lifestyle change trial run through the Scottish Premier League, exercise for cancer patients and a lung cancer screening trial.   

Prior to Dundee Shaun had for some time considered his consumption of fish to be inadequate so a move to Norway had seemed the obvious thing to do.  He spent six happy years in Oslo working at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, which is where he really got his interest in trial methodology.  He still works with the Norwegians and works on two EC FP7 projects involving his Oslo-based colleagues, one on improving the way research is presented in guidelines, the other aiming to make it easier for health research to find its way into health policy in low and middle-income countries.  Norway also taught him that cod soaked in a material used to strip paint from doors is not as bad as it sounds, paying £10 for a pint of Guinness is possible and that it’s not cold unless it’s below -10C..

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Research Interests

Clinical trial methodology, pragmatic trials, complex intervention development and evaluation, implementation of research into practice, communicating research.

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Current Research

Some of the projects I’m involved with include:

• The DECIDE project (http://www.decide-collaboration.eu)
• Making clinical trials more relevant: improving and validating the PRECIS tool for matching trial design decisions to trial purpose
• OPTIMISTIC - Observational Prolonged Trial In Myotonic dystrophy type 1 to Improve Stamina, a Target Identification Collaboration
• A comparison of the community-based breast cancer patient population in Tayside with eligibility/ineligibility criteria of breast cancer trials which have influenced clinical practice.
• The use of cardiac rehabilitation services to aid the recovery of colorectal cancer patients: A pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) with embedded feasibility study
• Improving the normalisation of complex interventions: Developing quantitative measures for users based on Normalisation Process Theory
• Systematic Techniques for Assessing Recruitment to Trials (START): a programme to test recruitment interventions
• A web-based platform to support the development-evaluation-implementation process of the 2008 MRC framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions(see protocol)
• Supporting the Use of Research Evidence (SURE) for Policy in African Health Systems (http://www.who.int/evidence/sure/en/)
• Football Fans in Training (FFIT): a randomized controlled trial of a gender-sensitive weight loss and healthy living programme delivered to men aged 35-60 by Scottish Premier League (SPL) football clubs (http://www.spl-ffit.co.uk/)

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Publications

Contributions to Journals

Articles

• Treweek, S., Lockhart, P., Pitkethly, M., Cook, JA., Kjeldstrøm, M., Johansen, M., Taskila, TK., Sullivan, FM., Wilson, S., Jackson, C., Jones, R. & Mitchell, ED. (2013). 'Methods to improve recruitment to randomised controlled trials: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis'. BMJ Open, vol 3, no. 2.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002360
  [Online] AURA: Treweek_2013.pdf
• Treweek, S., Barnett, K., Maclennan, G., Bonetti, D., Eccles, MP., Francis, JJ., Jones, C., Pitts, NB., Ricketts, IW., Weal, M. & Sullivan, F. (2012). 'E-mail invitations to general practitioners were as effective as postal invitations and were more efficient'. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol 65, no. 7, pp. 793-797.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2011.11.010
• Grant, A., Dreischulte, T., Treweek, S. & Guthrie, B. (2012). 'Study protocol of a mixed-methods evaluation of a cluster randomized trial to improve the safety of NSAID and antiplatelet prescribing: data-driven quality improvement in primary care'. Trials, vol 13.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-13-154
• Wells, M., Williams, B., Treweek, S., Coyle, J. & Taylor, J. (2012). 'Intervention description is not enough: evidence from an in-depth multiple case study on the untold role and impact of context in randomised controlled trials of seven complex interventions'. Trials, vol 13.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-13-95
• Dreischulte, T., Grant, A., Donnan, P., McCowan, C., Davey, P., Petrie, D., Treweek, S. & Guthrie, B. (2012). 'A cluster randomised stepped wedge trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a multifaceted information technology-based intervention in reducing high-risk prescribing of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antiplatelets in primary medical care: The DQIP study protocol'. Implementation Science, vol 7.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1748-5908-7-24
• McDonald, AM., Treweek, SP., Shakur, H., Free, C., Knight, R., Speed, C. & Campbell, MK. (2011). 'Using a business model approach and marketing techniques for recruitment to clinical trials'. Trials, vol 12, pp. 74.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-12-74
  [Online] AURA: McDonald%202011.pdf
• Treweek, SP., Ricketts, IW., Francis, J., Eccles, M., Bonetti, D., Pitts, NB., Maclennan, G., Sullivan, F., Jones, C., Weal, M. & Barnett, K. (2011). 'Developing and evaluating interventions to reduce inappropriate prescribing by general practitioners of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections: a randomised controlled trial to compare paper-based and web-based modelling experiments'. Implementation Science, vol 6, no. 1, pp. 16.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1748-5908-6-16
  [Online] AURA: Treweek_2011.pdf
• Treweek, S. & Loudon, K. (2011). 'Incomplete reporting of recruitment information in breast cancer trials published between 2003 and 2008'. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol 64, no. 11, pp. 1216-1222.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2011.01.007
• Condie, ME., McFadyen, AK., Treweek, S. & Whitehead, L. (2011). 'The Trans-femoral Fitting Predictor: A Functional Measure to Predict Prosthetic Fitting in Transfemoral Amputees-Validity and Reliability'. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, vol 92, no. 8, pp. 1293-1297.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2011.03.021
• Craigie, AM., Macleod, M., Barton, KL., Treweek, S., Anderson, AS. & WeighWell Team (2011). 'Supporting postpartum weight loss in women living in deprived communities: design implications for a randomised control trial'. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol 65, no. 8, pp. 952-958.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.56
• May, CR., Finch, T., Ballini, L., MacFarlane, A., Mair, F., Murray, E., Treweek, S. & Rapley, T. (2011). 'Evaluating complex interventions and health technologies using normalization process theory: development of a simplified approach and web-enabled toolkit'. BMC Health Services Research, vol 11.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-11-245
• Clarkson, JE., Ramsay, CR., Eccles, MP., Eldridge, S., Grimshaw, JM., Johnston, M., Michie, S., Treweek, SP., Walker, A., Young, L., Black, I., Bonetti, D., Cassie, H., Francis, J., Mackenzie, G., Macpherson, L., McKee, L., Pitts, N., Rennie, J., Stirling, D., Tilley, C., Torgerson, C. & Vale, L. (2010). 'The translation research in a dental setting (TRiaDS) programme protocol'. Implementation Science, vol 5, no. 1, pp. 57.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1748-5908-5-57
  [Online] AURA: Clarkson%202010.pdf
• Treweek, SP., Mitchell, E., Pitkethly, M., Cook, JA., Kjeldstrøm, M., Johansen, M., Taskila, TK., Sullivan, F., Wilson, S., Jackson, C., Jones, R. & Lockhart, P. (2010). 'Strategies to improve recruitment to randomised controlled trials'. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol 10, no. 1.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1002/14651858.MR000013.pub4
• Murray, E., Treweek, S., Pope, C., MacFarlane, A., Ballini, L., Dowrick, C., Finch, T., Kennedy, A., Mair, F., O'Donnell, C., Ong, BN., Rapley, T., Rogers, A. & May, C. (2010). 'Normalisation process theory: a framework for developing, evaluating and implementing complex interventions'. BMC medicine, vol 8.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1741-7015-8-63
• Thorpe, KE., Zwarenstein, M., Oxman, AD., Treweek, S., Furberg, CD., Altman, DG., Tunis, S., Bergel, E., Harvey, I., Magid, DJ. & Chalkidou, K. (2009). 'A pragmatic-explanatory continuum indicator summary (PRECIS): a tool to help trial designers'. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol 62, no. 5, pp. 464-475.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.12.011
• Carling, CLL., Kristoffersen, DT., Montori, VM., Herrin, J., Schuenemann, HJ., Treweek, S., Akl, EA. & Oxman, AD. (2009). 'The Effect of Alternative Summary Statistics for Communicating Risk Reduction on Decisions about Taking Statins: A Randomized Trial'. PLoS Medicine, vol 6, no. 8.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000134
• Zwarenstein, M., Treweek, S., Gagnier, JJ., Altman, DG., Tunis, S., Haynes, B., Oxman, AD., Moher, D., CONSORT Grp & Pragmatic Trials Healthcare Practi (2008). 'Improving the reporting of pragmatic trials: an extension of the CONSORT statement'. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), vol 337.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a2390
• Treweek, SP., McCormack, K., Abalos, E., Campbell, MK., Ramsay, CR., Zwarenstein, M. & PRACTIHC Collaboration (2006). 'The Trial Protocol Tool: the PRACTIHC software tool that supported the writing of protocols for pragmatic randomized controlled trials'. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol 59, no. 11, pp. 1127-1133.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2005.12.019

Scientific Reviews

• Treweek, S. & Zwarenstein, M. (2009). 'Making trials matter: pragmatic and explanatory trials and the problem of applicability'. Trials, vol 10.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-10-37

Editorials

• Dal-Re, R., Moher, D., Gluud, C., Treweek, S., Demotes-Mainard, J. & Carne, X. (2011). 'Disclosure of Investigators' Recruitment Performance in Multicenter Clinical Trials: A Further Step for Research Transparency'. PLoS Medicine, vol 8, no. 12.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001149
• Zwarenstein, M. & Treweek, S. (2009). 'What kind of randomized trials do we need?'. Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol 180, no. 10, pp. 998-1000.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.082007
• Oxman, AD., Lombard, C., Treweek, S., Gagnier, JJ., Maclure, M. & Zwarenstein, M. (2009). 'Why we will remain pragmatists: four problems with the impractical mechanistic framework and a better solution'. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol 62, no. 5, pp. 485-488.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.08.015

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