Shaun Treweek PhD, BSc

Shaun is a professor and joined the Unit in 2013 via a meandering path to health services research. He trained as a physicist and then did a bioengineering Ph.D. involving lasers, blood, and bits of skin. Then came health informatics, amputee rehabilitation and a move to Oslo, followed by eight years at the University of Dundee, three of which as Assistant Director of the Tayside Clinical Trials Unit.

Shaun is active in the field of efficient trial design, particularly pragmatic trial design, improved recruitment and retention interventions for trials, the design of complex interventions and the effective presentation of research evidence. He is leading an initiative called Trial Forge that aims to be more systematic about how we generate and use research evidence in making the trial design, conduct, analysis, and reporting decisions.

He is, or has been, involved in a range of trials, including an EC FP7 trial of treatments for a rare neuromuscular condition, a trial of a lifestyle intervention for women after pregnancy, a lifestyle change trial run through football clubs and the Scottish Premier League, a trial of nerve stimulation to improve continence among residents in care homes, a lifestyle change trial run through the Scottish breast screening program and a lung cancer screening trial. Finally, he coordinated DECIDE, a 5-year, EC-funded project that aimed to improve the way guideline information is communicated to health professionals, patients and the public, policymakers and others.