Dr Melissa Barlow

Melissa's research focuses on improving the early and timely detection of cancer within primary care. She examines diagnostic pathways, the accuracy and effectiveness of diagnostic tests, use of routine blood tests in primary care to identify patients at risk of cancer, and explores inequalities in access to diagnosis and cancer outcomes. Her research draws on large-scale linked datasets, including linked electronic health records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), cancer registry data from the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), data from the UK Biobank, and bespoke project-specific datasets.

Her current research projects include:

• Evaluating the rates at which patients from different ethnic groups undergo primary care blood tests and how this can affect cancer prediction
• Assessing pre-diagnostic full blood count trends before a leukaemia diagnosis 

Research skills:

• Management, preparation and analysis of large healthcare datasets (CPRD, HES, NCRAS, UK Biobank).
• Diagnostic accuracy studies and test evaluation for cancer risk
• Regression modelling and complex statistical analysis using Stata
• Systematic reviews and meta-analysis