Contact
Biography
Tim studied Medicine at Leeds University, qualifying in 1988. He then trained as a GP in Bradford, finishing in 1992 and began working as a primary care researcher in 1993. Initially he worked as a half-time lecturer at the University of Leicester and in 2001 joined the University of Nottingham as a full-time senior lecturer, becoming a Professor in 2011. He works one day each week as a GP in Mapperley, Nottingham.
Tim is interested in behaviour change and most of his research is on the topic of smoking cessation. He has investigated the management of smoking by primary care clinicians, the organisation and effectiveness of smoking cessation services and currently, is strongly focussed on finding ways to reduce the harm caused by smoking in pregnancy.
Expertise Summary
Tim has broad experience of methodologies used in applied health services research including: randomised controlled trials, systematic review, surveys, qualitative research, economic analyses, systematic reviews, use of large routine datasets in health services research and quasi-experimental studies. Most of his work has been conducted in NHS settings used for the delivery of routine healthcare.
Teaching Summary
Supervises PhD and Masters' students and teaches on Tobacco Control for the Masters in Public Health run by the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health. Enjoys supervising PhD students who study… read more
Research Summary
Tim's first research work was small in scale and involved observational and qualitative investigations of how GPs engage with smokers to encourage smoking cessation. Over the last decade he has… read more
Supervises PhD and Masters' students and teaches on Tobacco Control for the Masters in Public Health run by the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health. Enjoys supervising PhD students who study topics subjects related to his research interests; if you want undertake a PhD on any aspect of smoking in pregnancy, Tim would like to hear from you.
Current Research
Tim's first research work was small in scale and involved observational and qualitative investigations of how GPs engage with smokers to encourage smoking cessation. Over the last decade he has become more involved in systematic review and interventional studies, clinical trials and applied health research using a broad range of complementary research methods and involving substantial local and national collaborations.
Tim leads a £2 million NIHR Programme for Applied Research which is investigating new methods for the NHS to use to engage with and support pregnant smokers. There is a special focus on finding ways that the NHS can use 'self-help' support to more effectively help pregnant women to stop smoking. Colleagues from the Universities of Cambridge, London, York and Stirling collaborate and a key part of this work is the development and evaluation of a new text message-based, self-help smoking cessation intervention for pregnant women.
Read more about this research programme at http://www.nihr.ac.uk/funded-research/improving-the-effectiveness-and-reach-of-nhs-support-for-smoking-cessation-in-pregnancy/2109
These are two of the trials for which Tim has been Chief Investigator:
- Smoking, Nicotine and Pregnancy (SNAP) trial - the world's largest trial of nicotine replacement therapy in pregnancy which recruited 1050 women and achieved 95% follow up rates.
Read more about SNAP in NEJM http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1109582 or in Lancet Respiratory Medicine http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600%2814%2970157-2/abstract
- Proactive or Reactive Support for Smoking Cessation (PORTSSS) trial: a study of 2591 participants testing offers of proactive support or NRT made via the NHS smoking helpline
Read more about the PORTSSS trial in the BMJ http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e1696.long