Research team
On this page:
Team members
Prof William Dixon
Will is the Co-Lead for the REMORA2 study together with Sabine. He is a consultant rheumatologist at Salford Royal Hospital and a Professor of Digital Epidemiology at The University of Manchester.
REMORA2 brings together these two worlds, studying how daily tracked symptoms can be used to support both clinical care and population health research.
Dr Sabine Van Der Veer
Sabine is the co-lead for the REMORA2 study together with Will. She trained as a health informatician at the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and is now a Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester.
She is interested in how we can use patient-generated health data, such as information on symptoms and quality of life, to improve the care and outcomes of people who live with long-term conditions. REMORA2 is an excellent example of this.
Dr Deb Griffiths-Jones
Deb is the Programme Manager for the REMORA2 study. Her background is in clinical trials management, most recently having run a large multi-centre drugs trial.
Deb joined the REMORA2 team in January 2022 and is responsible for managing the overall delivery of the project. She is involved in a number of different aspects of the programme from contracts, working with technical teams to allow REMORA to integrate with the NHS and collaborating with research sites in secondary care in the Greater Manchester and north-west London regions.
Prof John McBeth
John is an epidemiologist with lots of experience in setting up, running, and reporting the results of clinical trials in people living with musculoskeletal disease. In REMORA2, John led the feasibility trial.
Prof Dawn Dowding
Dawn is Professor of Clinical Decision Making in the School of Health Sciences, and a nurse and health services researcher. She is leading the work package evaluating how REMORA impacts on clinical decision making, and the factors that help its implementation in practice.
Dr Matthew Parkes
Matt is a statistician with a background in clinical trials methodology in both early and late-phase musculoskeletal and oncology trials, and experience in musculoskeletal epidemiology.
He has research interests in using and promoting uptake of novel clinical trial designs to better address challenging clinical questions, improving transparency in clinical research, and using novel technology to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical trials.
Matt is a co-investigator in REMORA2, with a focus on the methodological and statistical aspects of the project.
Dr Katie Druce
Katie is a Research Fellow working on the quantitative aspects of the REMORA2 study, including things like influencing and monitoring the recruitment process, checking data completion and interim analysis.
Katie also mans the REMORA2 email helpdesk, and provides support and guidance to participants as needed.
Dr Charlotte Sharp
Charlotte is co-lead of WP 1.2, which aims to evaluate the feasibility study and to refine the supporting materials for REMORA2.
She applies her knowledge of rheumatology clinical practice, and expertise in qualitative research and knowledge mobilisation, to the whole programme.
Prof Caroline Sanders
Caroline is Professor of Medical Sociology at The University of Manchester, and leads research focusing on patient and carer experiences, including experience of digital interventions and associated inequalities.
Caroline is leading research focused on digital inclusion within REMORA2, and is the academic lead for public and patient involvement and engagement.
Prof Peter Bower
Peter is a Professor of Health Services Research at the NIHR School for Primary Care Research at The University of Manchester, where he works on mental health, multimorbidity, and service delivery.
His main role on REMORA is advising on the design and delivery of the trial.
Dr Paul Wilson
Paul is a Senior Lecturer in Implementation Science at the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research at The University of Manchester.
He is co-leading the process evaluation work package that is evaluating the factors that help or hinder the implementation of REMORA in practice.
Prof Nick Bansback
Nick is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
He is a health economist with an interest in providing value from the public investment in health care. He will be working on the health economic component of the REMORA2 study. In this, he will determine the costs of implementing the REMORA application and the consequent impact on cost it might have such as changes in treatments.
He will compare these costs to the benefits to patients and the healthcare system to determine how REMORA can be used as part of a sustainable healthcare system.
Dr Sean Gavan
Dr Sean Gavan is a research fellow in health economics at the Manchester Centre for Health Economics, The University of Manchester.
Sean works alongside Dr Nick Bansback to design and deliver the health economic workstream for REMORA2. He has extensive experience of trial-based and model-based economic evaluations in rheumatoid arthritis and digital health technologies.
Dr Elaine Mackey
Elaine has worked in the field of data confidentiality, privacy and anonymisation for 20 years, since undertaking a doctorate in statistical disclosure processes at The University of Manchester.
She is currently the Information Governance Manager at the Centre for Epidemiology. She has published on anonymisation and data privacy and is part of the leadership team for the UK Anonymisation Network.
Dr Ramiro Bravo
Ramiro is the data manager for the REMORA2 programme.
He joined the REMORA2 team in March 2021 and provides support to the team for the management of the research data. He is responsible for the design and development of the digital health data collection applications and instruments that we use.
So far, he has been involved in the streamlining of the data collection process. During the programme, he will monitor the engagement activity of our research participants and will be responsible for checking the quality of the data collected from our research centres.
Alexandra Prodan
Alex is a Research Project Officer for the REMORA2 project. This is her first foray into research project planning, having previously worked as a PA and administrator in the Division of Psychology and Mental Health at Manchester. She was also the Environmental Sustainability Champions Network Lead in the School of Health Sciences.
Alex graduated from The University of Manchester, having studied Japanese and Screen Studies and continuing to achieve a distinction graded master’s degree in Film Studies. Outside work she enjoys cycling and tending to her allotment.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- Gender equality
- Sustainable cities and communities
- Climate action
Contact Us
Email: remora2@manchester.ac.uk
