APEx Seminar - Mel Barlow and Stella Kozmer, members of the APEx team present their current work and findings.

Mel Barlow - The diagnostic value and cellular communication of pre-diagnostic thrombocytosis in lung cancer patients

Mel Barlow is a multi-disciplinary PhD student and Graduate Research Assistant, working across both the Department of Health and Community Sciences and the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Research at the University of Exeter. Her research interests are focused around improving early diagnosis of cancer, particularly diagnostic testing in primary care and addressing ethnic inequalities in the cancer diagnosis journey.

Stella Kozmér - Identification and management of Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia Nervosa in primary care in the UK

Stella is a final-year PhD student at the University of Exeter Medical School in the Primary Care Research Group. Stella has a background in psychology and works in the local inpatient eating disorder unit as a Healthcare Assistant. Stella has a wide range of interests in eating disorders, from prevention to recovery, and is passionate about improving current practices in primary care and increasing access to diagnosis and treatment, with a particular interest in binge eating disorder.

Mel Barlow

Mel will be presenting her PhD progress so far, which explores the relationship between lung cancer and pre-diagnostic thrombocytosis (a raised platelet count). This works on novel findings by her primary supervisors: Associate Professor Sarah Bailey and Professor Willie Hamilton, who discovered that pre-diagnostic thrombocytosis had a high positive predictive value for cancer detection in primary care, particularly for lung cancer. Mel’s PhD delves further into this relationship using routinely-collected electronic primary care data. The second phase of her PhD is taking place in the lab where she is investigating the molecular mechanisms and cellular communication of the lung cancer : platelet relationship, supervised by Associate Professor Chris Scotton and Dr Giordano Pula.

Stella Kozmér

Stella will be presenting her PhD progress so far, which aims to improve the identification and management of binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa in primary care in the UK. This PhD involves three work packages to address the overarching aim: A systematic review of qualitative literature, a national online survey, and a qualitative package including interviews, focus groups, and an interactive workshop. All work packages examine patients and healthcare professionals in primary care and involve stakeholders, patients, and the public. This PhD highlights significant gaps in the field of eating disorders and primary care regarding the most common specific eating disorders. This PhD makes recommendations to address the highlighted gaps in clinical practice and research.