Research Fellow
- Overview
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Dr Heidi Gardner Contact Details
- Telephone
- work +44 (0)1224 438408
- heidi.gardner1@abdn.ac.uk
- Address
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The University of Aberdeen
Health Services Research Unit,
University of Aberdeen,
3rd Floor, Health Sciences Building,
Foresterhill,
Aberdeen,
AB25 1SN
- Other Profiles
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Twitter
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ResearchGate
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Linkedin
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PURE
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Personal Website
Biography
I joined HSRU in 2015 as a PhD student funded by The Development Trust, and under the supervision of Prof Shaun Treweek and Dr Katie Gillies. My project focussed on improving the efficiency of clinical trials, with particular focus on participant recruitment. Following completion of my PhD, I worked for 6 months as a Research Assistant, supporting work on ImproveHD, PRioRiTy II and various other trial methodology projects.
Throughout my PhD I played an active role in HSRU's Public Engagement Group, co-leading and taking part in events across various Aberdeen Festivals (May Festival, TechFest, Explorathon). In July 2018 I was awarded the runner up prize for the Principal's Prize for Public Engagement in the Early Career Researcher category, and in 2019 I won the prize.
In 2018 I was named as a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow. As part of this Fellowship I designed and led a research project around the use of blogging to creatively communicate scientific ideas and processes. My brief hiatus from HSRU involved 3 months of fully funded travel to the USA, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong.
I returned to HSRU in March 2019 and since then I've worked as a Research Fellow leading the CSO-funded ORINOCO Project, which focusses on optimising the use of trial resources in relation to outcome collection. I've also worked on various Trial Forge related methods projects, including the INCLUDE Ethnicity Framework, The People's Trial, and DataCat. I'm passionate about accessibility and diversity in science, and have been actively working to pull that passion through into my trial methods work, pushing for a culture of inclusivity to increase diversity in trial participant populations.
Qualifications
PhD, Applied Health Sciences University of Aberdeen 2018 MSci, Pharmacology with Industrial Placement University of Aberdeen 2015
Latest Publications
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Non-randomised evaluations of strategies to increase participant retention in randomised controlled trials: A systematic review
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Using systematic data categorisation to quantify the types of data collected in clinical trials: the DataCat project
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Trial Forge Guidance 2: how to decide if a further Study Within A Trial (SWAT) is needed
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A systematic review of non-randomised evaluations of strategies to improve participant recruitment to randomised controlled trials: [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Prizes and Awards
2019 Cochrane's 30 Under 30
2019 University of Aberdeen's Principal's Prize for Public Engagement with Research - Early Career Award
2018 YWCA Scotland's 30 Under 30
2018 University of Aberdeen's Principal's Prize for Public Engagement with Research - Early Career Runner Up
2015 University of Aberdeen's Stewart Bourner Pharmacology Project Prize - Research
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Research Areas
- Applied Health Sciences View Research Area
Specialisms
- Creative Arts and Design
- Health Sciences
- Medical Sciences
- Research Skills
- Work Placement Experience (Personal Learning)
Research Overview
My research spans various facets of trial conduct research, including participant recruitment, retention, outcome collection, communication both within trial teams and with participants and the public, and equity, diversity and inclusivity in both the teams doing the work, and the participants within the trial population. I firmly believe that we can work to improve the efficiency of trials through effective dissemination and implementation of evidence, which will in turn improve participant experience of trials.
My work is multidisciplinary and I tend to use a mixed methods approach to ensure that research questions are tackled thoroughly. My research has included including pragmatic use of qualitative methodologies, concepts such as user-testing and user experience design which originated in design and marketing industries, and systematic reviews of non-randomised studies.
Research Funding and Grants
Dates Award holder(s) Funding body Title Value July 2016-January 2018 Co-Applicant (PI: Prof Shaun Treweek, University of Aberdeen) Chief Scientist Office (Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research) Putting research methodology into practice: producing useful evidence about trial recruitment strategies for trial designers and recruiters £26,322
May 2017 Co-Applicant (Group award, Lead: Dr Heather Morgan, University of Aberdeen) Public Engagement with Research Unit, University of Aberdeen – Enabling Award Funds to support HSRU public engagement activity at May Festival 2017 £424.60
June 2017 Personal award Staff Development Fund. Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen Funds to attend the Evidence Live conference in Oxford (2017) £500
June 2017 Co-Applicant (Group award, Lead: Dr Heather Morgan, University of Aberdeen) Marie Curie Alumni Association, Scotland Chapter Funds to support HSRU public engagement activity in late 2017 £198.80
September 2017 Co-Applicant (PI: Prof Shaun Treweek, University of Aberdeen) Chief Scientist Office (Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research) Travel award (Global Evidence Summit, Cape Town, South Africa) £750
March 2018 PI Winston Churchill Memorial Trust 2018 Fellowship Award for a project titled: Putting pants on the truth: Improving practice of UK sci-bloggers £8,200 April 2018 Lead Applicant British Science Association Funds to support inaugural Soapbox Science Aberdeen event (May Festival 2018) £300 April 2018 Lead Applicant May Festival Funds to support inaugural Soapbox Science Aberdeen event (May Festival 2018) £150 April 2018 Lead Applicant Public Engagement with Research Unit, University of Aberdeen – Enabling Award Funds to support inaugural Soapbox Science Aberdeen event (May Festival 2018) £430 March 2019 - March 2021 Co-Applicant (PI: Prof Shaun Treweek, University of Aberdeen) Chief Scientist Office (Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research) A good use of time and money? Providing evidence for how effort is invested in primary and secondary outcome data collection in trials £224,213 - Teaching
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Courses
- Publications
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Publications
Currently viewing:Page 1 of 2 Results 1 to 10 of 17
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Factors that impact on recruitment to randomised trials in health care: a qualitative evidence synthesis (Review)
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol. 2020, no. 10
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.MR000045.pub2
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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Non-randomised evaluations of strategies to increase participant retention in randomised controlled trials: A systematic review
Systematic reviews , vol. 9, pp. 1-13
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01471-x
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/15182/1/Elfeky_et_al_SR_NonRandomisedEvaluationsOf_VoR.pdf
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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Using systematic data categorisation to quantify the types of data collected in clinical trials: the DataCat project
Trials, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 535
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04388-x
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/14515/1/Crowley_et_al_Trial_UsingSistematicData_VoR.pdf
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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Trial Forge Guidance 2: how to decide if a further Study Within A Trial (SWAT) is needed
Trials, vol. 21, 33
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3980-5
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13499/1/Treweek_Trials_Trial_forge_VOR.pdf
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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A systematic review of non-randomised evaluations of strategies to improve participant recruitment to randomised controlled trials: [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
F1000Research, vol. 9, 86
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.22182.1
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/14141/1/Gardner_etal_F1000Res_Systematic_review_VOR.pdf
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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Using evidence when planning for trial recruitment: An international perspective from time-poor trialists
PloS ONE, vol. 14, no. 12, 0226081
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226081
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13387/1/Gardner_etal_using_evidence_pone.0226081_VOR.pdf
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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What are the most important unanswered research questions in trial retention? A James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership: The PRioRiTy II (Prioritising Retention in Randomised Trials) study
Trials, vol. 20, 593
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3687-7
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13579/1/Brundson_et_al_trials_what_are_vor.pdf
- Additional Links
- View publication in Scopus
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Development of an online resource for recruitment research in clinical trials to organise and map current literature
Clinical Trials, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 533-542
Contributions to Journals: Articles
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Identifying trial recruitment uncertainties using a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership - The PRioRiTy (Prioritising Recruitment in Randomised Trials) Study
Trials, vol. 19, pp. 1-12
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2544-4
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/10123/1/s13063_018_2544_4.pdf
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Trial Forge Guidance 1: What is a Study Within A Trial (SWAT)
Trials, vol. 19, 139
Contributions to Journals: Letters
- Digital Object Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2535-5
- Open Access
- http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/10095/1/s13063_018_2535_5.pdf
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