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Academic geriatric medicine

We are specialist doctors trained in diagnosing and managing conditions relating to older people. We work to translate innovative research findings into improving health and healthcare for people in later life. We're based within the faculty of medicine at the University of Southampton.

Research staff

Associate professor in geriatric medicine

Professor Helen Roberts

Honorary senior lecturer

Dr Harnish Patel

NIHR clinical lecturer

Dr Richard Dodds

Specialist registrar and clinical research fellows

Dr Alicja Baczynska and Dr Stephen Lim

Specialist registrar and academic clinical fellows

Dr Natalie Cox and Dr Charlotte Owen

Post-doctoral research fellows

Dr Lynn Lansbury and Dr Kinda Ibrahim

Research administrator

Angela Dumbleton

What we do

Research

We conduct high quality ageing research and intervention studies in a range of settings. We work closely with colleagues in medicine for older people as well as colleagues working in other local healthcare and research organisations. We have strong collaborations with researchers both nationally and internationally.  

Examples of studies to understand why and how people age 

  • Epidemiological studies to investigate the lifecourse determinants of ageing
  • Research into biological mechanisms of sarcopenia and frailty

Examples of clinical intervention studies 

  • Evaluation of the impact of trained volunteers on the dietary intake and mobility of older people in hospital
  • The use of comprehensive geriatric assessment across healthcare settings
  • Introducing routine grip strength measurement to improve muscle strength of older people

Education and training

We coordinate undergraduate medical student education in the specialist care of older people for the University of Southampton. This mainly takes place as a four week attachment in the third year but students have the opportunity to experience more in-depth education during their final year as part of a student selected unit. We also offer student projects as part of the BMedSci research study in the third year. 

We have a strong track record in post graduate academic training. We have been awarded one of the largest numbers of academic clinical fellows in the country, with a high proportion subsequently gaining prestigious Wellcome and NIHR research fellowships.

How to get involved

Researchers 

We are always interested in collaborating with clinical and basic science researchers in studies of ageing. Please contact Angela Dumbleton, research administrator, on 023 8120 6128 or angela.dumbleton@uhs.nhs.uk

Patients

We are keen to involve older people in our research studies. This might include helping researchers design studies to make them as relevant and straightforward as possible for participants, reading documents to see if they are clear and discussing what the results might mean for older people. 

If you are interested please contact our research administrator Angela Dumbleton on 023 8120 6128 or angela.dumbleton@uhs.nhs.uk

Fair processing notice - Hospital-wide comprehensive geriatric assessment information sharing protocol

The Universities of Nottingham, Southampton and Newcastle have agreed to share some basic information about individuals in order to identify how best we can help older people who are most at risk of emergency admission to hospital. We hope that through studying your records and those of others we can make this service better for others in future. To allow us to do this work we would like to share some basic information about you with NHS Digital.

The first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998 requires that personal data is processed fairly. To meet this requirement these organisations are under a duty to supply you with a Fair Processing Notice which you can read in full below.

CGA fair processing notice
Size: 291KBType: pdf

Contact us

For more information please contact Angela Dumbleton, research administrator, on 023 8120 6128 or by emailing angela.dumbleton@uhs.nhs.uk.