Mrs Melissa Barlow

Melissa is a PhD student and Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Exeter. Her PhD investigates the diagnostic value of thrombocytosis for lung cancer detection in primary care and examines the underlying molecular mechanisms linking elevated platelet counts to disease development, combining epidemiological analyses of large healthcare datasets with in-vitro experiments. She is supervised by Associate Professor Sarah Bailey, Professor Willie Hamilton, Associate Professor Chris Scotton, and Dr Giordano Pula.

Alongside her PhD, Melissa works as a Graduate Research Assistant within Associate Professor Sarah Bailey’s team. In this role, she has contributed to numerous projects aimed at improving the early diagnosis of cancer in primary care through analysis of electronic health records.

Expertise

• Management and analysis of large health care datasets, including the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), and the UK Biobank
• Statistical analyses including  including linear, logistic, and fractional polynomial regression; spline modelling; and the development and external validation of clinical prediction models
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
• In-vitro cell culture and experimental techniques