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Dr John Dennis
Independent Research Fellow in Medical Statistics
07734 940921
RILD Building
University of Exeter Medical School, RILD Building, RD&E Hospital Wonford, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK
Overview
John is an Independent Research Fellow in Medical Statistics, funded by an UKRI E3 Independent Reesearch Fellowship (2019-2023). He completed his PhD in Medical Statistics under Professor William Henley, Dr Beverley Shields and Professor Andrew Hattersley.
John’s research focuses on developing a personalised or ‘precision’ approach to drug therapy in type 2 diabetes, a condition for which there are many different drug options but little guidance to help clinicians and patients choose between them. John is applying Data Science and advanced statistical methods to better understand the benefits and risks of each drug option, and to develop a decision aid to help health professionals choose the best drug for their individual patients. He was awarded runner-up in the Diabetes UK Type 2 Diabetes Research Prize in 2017 and won the Diabetes UK Lily Clinical Science Poster Award in 2015.
John is also developing a more general methodological framework for precision medicine research combining data from UK routine primary care (CPRD) and randomised clinical trials (accessed via Clinical Study Data Request and the YODA Project).
Prior to moving to Exeter, John trained at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and has 5 years’ experience as a health researcher in the financial services industry, where he specialised in longevity modelling. He has also worked a research analyst for the Cancer Council in Australia and for the NHS in the UK. Across these roles he developed his interest in applied statistical research and chronic disease epidemiology that led him to Professor Hattersley’s team at the University of Exeter.
Qualifications
- PhD Medical Statistics (University of Exeter)
- MSc Control of Infectious Diseases (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
- BSc (Hons) Psychology (University of Nottingham)
Funding
UKRI E3 Independent Research Fellowship (2019-2023)
Grants
- BHF-Turing Cardiovascular Data Science Award. £110,000 awarded Sept 2019. Co-PI with S. Vollmer (Turing Institute), plus 5 other co-applicants: 'Precision medicine in type 2 diabetes: developing and testing a decision support tool for primary care to optimise the selection of glucose-lowering therapy.'
- NIHR Development Funding Scheme (DFS). £50,000 awarded February 2018. Co-applicant with A Hattersley (PI), plus 10 other co-applicants: "Developing a working platform for a treatment selection algorithm for glucose lowering in Type 2 diabetes”
Links
Research group links
Research
Research interests
- Precision medicine: Personalised treatment in type 2 diabetes
- Joint longitudinal-survival modelling
- Clinical prediction models
- Synthesis of evidence from observational and trial datasets
- Methods to strengthen inference from routine clinical practice databases
Research projects
MRC-funded APBI Stratification and Extreme Response Mechanism IN Diabetes (MASTERMIND) consortium.
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Key publications
Dennis J, Shields B, Henley W, Jones A, Hattersley A (In Press). Disease progression and treatment response in data-driven subgroups of type 2 diabetes compared to models based on simple clinical features: an evaluation using clinical trial data. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Full text.
Dennis J, Shields B, Jones A, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Henley W (In Press). Evaluating associations between the benefits and risks of drug therapy in type 2 diabetes: a joint modelling approach. Clinical Epidemiology Full text.
Dennis J, Henley W, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Rodgers L, Jones A, Hamilton W, Sattar N, Janmohamed S, Holman R, et al (In Press). Sex and BMI alter the benefits and risks of sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones in type 2 diabetes: a framework for evaluating stratification using routine clinical and individual trial data. Diabetes Care Full text.
Dennis J, Henley W, McGovern A, Farmer A, Sattar N, Holman R, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Shields B, Jones AG, et al (In Press). Time trends in prescribing of type 2 diabetes drugs, glycemic response and risk factors: a retrospective analysis of primary care data, 2010-2017 Running title: Prescribing and patient outcomes in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Full text.
McGovern A, Shields B, Hattersley A, Pearson E, Jones AG (In Press). What to do with diabetes therapies when HbA1c lowering is inadequate: add, switch, or continue? a MASTERMIND study. BMC Medicine Full text.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2019). Clusters provide a better holistic view of type 2 diabetes than simple clinical features - Authors' reply. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 7(9). Author URL. Full text.
Publications by category
Journal articles
Lynam A, McDonald T, Hill A, Dennis J, Oram R, Pearson E, Weedon M, Hattersley A, Owen K, Shields B, et al (In Press). Development and validation of multivariable clinical diagnostic models to identify type 1 diabetes requiring rapid insulin therapy in adults aged 18 to 50. BMJ Open Full text.
Dennis J, Shields B, Henley W, Jones A, Hattersley A (In Press). Disease progression and treatment response in data-driven subgroups of type 2 diabetes compared to models based on simple clinical features: an evaluation using clinical trial data. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Full text.
Dennis J, Shields B, Jones A, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Henley W (In Press). Evaluating associations between the benefits and risks of drug therapy in type 2 diabetes: a joint modelling approach. Clinical Epidemiology Full text.
Dennis J, Henley W, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Rodgers L, Jones A, Hamilton W, Sattar N, Janmohamed S, Holman R, et al (In Press). Sex and BMI alter the benefits and risks of sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones in type 2 diabetes: a framework for evaluating stratification using routine clinical and individual trial data. Diabetes Care Full text.
Dennis J, Henley W, McGovern A, Farmer A, Sattar N, Holman R, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Shields B, Jones AG, et al (In Press). Time trends in prescribing of type 2 diabetes drugs, glycemic response and risk factors: a retrospective analysis of primary care data, 2010-2017 Running title: Prescribing and patient outcomes in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Full text.
McGovern A, Shields B, Hattersley A, Pearson E, Jones AG (In Press). What to do with diabetes therapies when HbA1c lowering is inadequate: add, switch, or continue? a MASTERMIND study. BMC Medicine Full text.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2019). Clusters provide a better holistic view of type 2 diabetes than simple clinical features - Authors' reply. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 7(9). Author URL. Full text.
Dennis J, Shields B, Hill A, Knight B, McDonald T, Rodgers L, Weedon M, Henley W, Sattar N, Holman R, et al (2018). Precision medicine in Type 2 diabetes: Clinical markers of insulin resistance are associated with altered short and long-term glycemic response to DPP4-inhibitor therapy. Diabetes Care Full text.
Curtis HJ, Dennis JM, Shields BM, Walker AJ, Bacon S, Hattersley AT, Jones AG, Goldacre B (2018). Time trends and geographical variation in prescribing of drugs for diabetes in England from 1998 to 2017. Diabetes Obes Metab, 20(9), 2159-2168. Abstract. Author URL. Full text.
Harris JD, Little CJL, Dennis JM, Patteson MW (2017). Heart rate turbulence after ventricular premature beats in healthy Doberman pinschers and those with dilated cardiomyopathy. J Vet Cardiol, 19(5), 421-432. Abstract. Author URL.
Dennis J, Crayford T (2015). Parliamentary privilege—mortality in members of the Houses of Parliament compared with the UK general population: retrospective cohort analysis, 1945-2011. BMJ, h6563-h6563.
Conferences
Dennis JM, Henley W, Jones A, McGovern A, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Shields B, Consortium MASTERMIND (2019). Precision medicine in type 2 diabetes: harnessing individual-level trial data alongside routine care records to identify predictors of response to SGLT2 inhibitors and DPP4 inhibitors. Author URL. Full text.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2019). Using trial data to test the proposed 5 novel subgroups of diabetes from Ahlqvist et al. derived from cluster analysis: simple clinical measures markedly outperform the 5 subgroups to predict drug response and diabetes progression. Author URL.
McGovern AP, Dennis JM, Shields BM, Hattersley AT, Pearson ER, Jones AG (2019). What to do when a new medication does not lower HbA1c: Add, switch or continue? a MASTERMIND study. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon MN, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Shields BM (2018). Are the new drugs better? Changing UK prescribing of Type 2 diabetes medications and effects on HbA1c and weight, 2010 to 2016. Author URL. Full text.
Kimmitt RA, Dennis JM, Weedon M, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Oram RA, Shields BM (2018). Higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with improved glycaemic response to sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in patients with Type 2 diabetes and normal renal function: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2018). Trial data show the proposed 5 diabetes subgroups from cluster analysis do predict drug response and diabetes progression but simple clinical measures are stronger predictors. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon MN, Lonergan M, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Sattar NA, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, et al (2017). A calculator to predict durability of HbA(1c) response with DPP4 inhibitors, sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones: a MASTERMIND precision medicine study. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Knight BA, McDonald TJ, Hill AV, Weedon MN, Rodgers LR, Hattersley AT, Jones AG, et al (2017). Clinical markers of insulin resistance predict reduced glycaemic response with DPP4-inhibitors: a MASTERMIND stratified medicine study. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Jones AG, Sattar N, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Shields BM, et al (2017). Development of an online risk calculator to predict durability of good glycaemic control with sulfonylurea and thiazolidinedione therapy: a MASTERMIND stratified medicine study. Author URL.
Shields BM, Dennis JM, Henley W, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Rodgers L, Jones AG, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, et al (2016). Personalising therapy in type 2 diabetes: the effect of BMI and sex on glycaemic response and side effects to sulphonylureas and thiazolidinediones. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon MN, Lonergan M, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Shields BM, et al (2016). Personalizing Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: the Effect of BMI and Gender on Response and Side Effects to Sulfonylureas and Thiazolidinediones. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Hattersley AT, Henley WE, Jones AG, Pearson ER, Shields BM (2016). Stratification using gender and body mass index (BMI) can predict side-effect risk in people with Type 2 diabetes initiating thiazolidinediones but not sulphonylureas: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL. Full text.
Dennis JM, Hattersley AT, Weedon M, Angwin C, Rodgers L, Pearson ER, Henley WE, Shields BM (2015). Development of oedema is associated with an improved glycaemic response in patients initiating thiazolidinediones: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL. Full text.
Dennis JM, Hattersley AT, Weedon M, Angwin CD, Rodgers L, Pearson ER, Henley WE, Shields BM (2015). Patients who develop oedema on initiating thiazolidinedione therapy have an improved glycaemic response: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL. Full text.
Publications by year
In Press
Lynam A, McDonald T, Hill A, Dennis J, Oram R, Pearson E, Weedon M, Hattersley A, Owen K, Shields B, et al (In Press). Development and validation of multivariable clinical diagnostic models to identify type 1 diabetes requiring rapid insulin therapy in adults aged 18 to 50. BMJ Open Full text.
Dennis J, Shields B, Henley W, Jones A, Hattersley A (In Press). Disease progression and treatment response in data-driven subgroups of type 2 diabetes compared to models based on simple clinical features: an evaluation using clinical trial data. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Full text.
Dennis J, Shields B, Jones A, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Henley W (In Press). Evaluating associations between the benefits and risks of drug therapy in type 2 diabetes: a joint modelling approach. Clinical Epidemiology Full text.
Dennis J, Henley W, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Rodgers L, Jones A, Hamilton W, Sattar N, Janmohamed S, Holman R, et al (In Press). Sex and BMI alter the benefits and risks of sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones in type 2 diabetes: a framework for evaluating stratification using routine clinical and individual trial data. Diabetes Care Full text.
Dennis J, Henley W, McGovern A, Farmer A, Sattar N, Holman R, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Shields B, Jones AG, et al (In Press). Time trends in prescribing of type 2 diabetes drugs, glycemic response and risk factors: a retrospective analysis of primary care data, 2010-2017 Running title: Prescribing and patient outcomes in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Full text.
McGovern A, Shields B, Hattersley A, Pearson E, Jones AG (In Press). What to do with diabetes therapies when HbA1c lowering is inadequate: add, switch, or continue? a MASTERMIND study. BMC Medicine Full text.
2019
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2019). Clusters provide a better holistic view of type 2 diabetes than simple clinical features - Authors' reply. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 7(9). Author URL. Full text.
Dennis JM, Henley W, Jones A, McGovern A, Pearson E, Hattersley A, Shields B, Consortium MASTERMIND (2019). Precision medicine in type 2 diabetes: harnessing individual-level trial data alongside routine care records to identify predictors of response to SGLT2 inhibitors and DPP4 inhibitors. Author URL. Full text.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2019). Using trial data to test the proposed 5 novel subgroups of diabetes from Ahlqvist et al. derived from cluster analysis: simple clinical measures markedly outperform the 5 subgroups to predict drug response and diabetes progression. Author URL.
McGovern AP, Dennis JM, Shields BM, Hattersley AT, Pearson ER, Jones AG (2019). What to do when a new medication does not lower HbA1c: Add, switch or continue? a MASTERMIND study. Author URL.
2018
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon MN, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Shields BM (2018). Are the new drugs better? Changing UK prescribing of Type 2 diabetes medications and effects on HbA1c and weight, 2010 to 2016. Author URL. Full text.
Kimmitt RA, Dennis JM, Weedon M, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Oram RA, Shields BM (2018). Higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with improved glycaemic response to sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in patients with Type 2 diabetes and normal renal function: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL.
Dennis J, Shields B, Hill A, Knight B, McDonald T, Rodgers L, Weedon M, Henley W, Sattar N, Holman R, et al (2018). Precision medicine in Type 2 diabetes: Clinical markers of insulin resistance are associated with altered short and long-term glycemic response to DPP4-inhibitor therapy. Diabetes Care Full text.
Curtis HJ, Dennis JM, Shields BM, Walker AJ, Bacon S, Hattersley AT, Jones AG, Goldacre B (2018). Time trends and geographical variation in prescribing of drugs for diabetes in England from 1998 to 2017. Diabetes Obes Metab, 20(9), 2159-2168. Abstract. Author URL. Full text.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Jones AG, Hattersley AT (2018). Trial data show the proposed 5 diabetes subgroups from cluster analysis do predict drug response and diabetes progression but simple clinical measures are stronger predictors. Author URL.
2017
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon MN, Lonergan M, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Sattar NA, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, et al (2017). A calculator to predict durability of HbA(1c) response with DPP4 inhibitors, sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones: a MASTERMIND precision medicine study. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Shields BM, Henley WE, Knight BA, McDonald TJ, Hill AV, Weedon MN, Rodgers LR, Hattersley AT, Jones AG, et al (2017). Clinical markers of insulin resistance predict reduced glycaemic response with DPP4-inhibitors: a MASTERMIND stratified medicine study. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Jones AG, Sattar N, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Shields BM, et al (2017). Development of an online risk calculator to predict durability of good glycaemic control with sulfonylurea and thiazolidinedione therapy: a MASTERMIND stratified medicine study. Author URL.
Harris JD, Little CJL, Dennis JM, Patteson MW (2017). Heart rate turbulence after ventricular premature beats in healthy Doberman pinschers and those with dilated cardiomyopathy. J Vet Cardiol, 19(5), 421-432. Abstract. Author URL.
2016
Shields BM, Dennis JM, Henley W, Weedon M, Lonergan M, Rodgers L, Jones AG, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, et al (2016). Personalising therapy in type 2 diabetes: the effect of BMI and sex on glycaemic response and side effects to sulphonylureas and thiazolidinediones. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Henley WE, Weedon MN, Lonergan M, Rodgers LR, Jones AG, Holman RR, Pearson ER, Hattersley AT, Shields BM, et al (2016). Personalizing Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: the Effect of BMI and Gender on Response and Side Effects to Sulfonylureas and Thiazolidinediones. Author URL.
Dennis JM, Hattersley AT, Henley WE, Jones AG, Pearson ER, Shields BM (2016). Stratification using gender and body mass index (BMI) can predict side-effect risk in people with Type 2 diabetes initiating thiazolidinediones but not sulphonylureas: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL. Full text.
2015
Dennis JM, Hattersley AT, Weedon M, Angwin C, Rodgers L, Pearson ER, Henley WE, Shields BM (2015). Development of oedema is associated with an improved glycaemic response in patients initiating thiazolidinediones: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL. Full text.
Dennis J, Crayford T (2015). Parliamentary privilege—mortality in members of the Houses of Parliament compared with the UK general population: retrospective cohort analysis, 1945-2011. BMJ, h6563-h6563.
Dennis JM, Hattersley AT, Weedon M, Angwin CD, Rodgers L, Pearson ER, Henley WE, Shields BM (2015). Patients who develop oedema on initiating thiazolidinedione therapy have an improved glycaemic response: a MASTERMIND study. Author URL. Full text.
External Engagement and Impact
Awards
- Poster prize runner-up. Statistical analysis of multi-outcome data conference, 2017
- Diabetes UK Type 2 diabetes research award runner-up. Diabetes UK professional conference, 2017
- Diabetes UK Lily Clinical Science Poster Award, Diabetes UK professional conference, 2015
Committee/panel activities
Diabetes UK Clinical Studies Group 1: Causes of diabetes (2018-date)
Competitively funded studentships and postdoctoral fellowships
UKRI E3 Independent Research Fellowship (2019-2023)
Invited lectures
- “Is defining subtypes the best way to individualise care in Type 2 diabetes?” Diabetes UK Professional conference Hot Topics, Liverpool, 2019
- “Can we use clinical features to stratify type 2 diabetes treatment?” GoDARTs Symposium Precision Medicine in Diabetes, Pitlochry, Scotland, 2018
- “Developing a treatment selection algorithm for second-line therapy” MASTERMIND 5 year report: Industry Partners and Stakeholders meeting, London, 2018
Media Coverage
Feb 2018: Diabetes: Clinical markers of glycaemic response to DPP4 inhibitor therapy
Dec 2015: New perk for MPs: longer life