Dr Raff Calitri
Trial Manager/ Research Fellow
r.calitri@exeter.ac.uk
01392 726 047
Smeall building JS03
Smeall Building, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK
Overview
Raff is a an experienced Trial Manager. He joined the Medical School in 2010 and has honed his trial management skills through involvement in a number of important RCTs, including:
i) the ReTrain trial - a pilot, feasibility trial of a community-based physical activity rehabilitation training programme for stroke survivors (CI Prof Sarah Dean)
ii) the SPA trial - a pilot, feasibility trial of singing groups for people with post stroke aphasia (CI Dr Mark Tarrant)
iii) the ESTEEM trial - a definitive, cluster RCT of telephone triage in General Practice (CI Prof John Campbell)
iv) the ERICA trial - a definitive cluster RCT of electronic risk assessment tools for cancer (CI Prof Willie Hamilton). The trial is currently ongoing. Please see the trial website for more information (http://www.theericatrial.co.uk/)
Raff holds a PhD in Social Psychology. In addition to his expertise in project management and designing and delivering randomised controlled trial, he also has significant experience conducting research in group and inter-group relations. He is currently working as a researcher on an NIHR funded programme grant - PROGROUP (joint Co-Is Prof Jon Pinkey (Plymouth) and Dr Mark Tarrant (Exeter) - which seeks to improve outcomes for patients with severe obesity through the optimisation of group processes in Tier 3 weight managment programmes. We will create a novel, group-based lifestyle behaviour change programme and subject it to a randomised controlled trial in order to test its clinical and cost-effectiveness (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/primarycare/obesity/progroup).
Raff supports undergraduate and post graduate teaching at Exeter where he delivers seminars, small-group teaching, and project supervision on topics related to trial management, pilot/feasibility trials, research ethics, and issues involved in medical device trials, group processes in health research intervention. He is also co-supervisor for two PhD students:
Alex Burns - Uncertainty during potential cancer diagnosis in the ERICA trial (lead supervisor Prof Sarah Dean).
Laura Hollands - How to reduce loneliness in older adults using group interventions. Laura's PhD is a collaboration between the University of Exeter (co-lead supervisor Dr Mark Tarrant) and University of Queensland (co-lead supervisor Prof Cath Haslam).
Raff is also currently involved in an evaluation of the Stroke Association's Hand-in-Hand Peer Support Group programme (co-led by Mark Tarrant; Funded by the Stroke Association); with a key part of this work being an assessment of the group variables (e.g., social identity, group norms, social agency) that are involved in making groups work well for stroke survivors.
Qualifications
PhD Social Psychology
MSc Social & Applied Psychology
BSc (Hons) Cognitive Science
Links
Research
Research interests
- Management and Delivery of Randomised Controlled Trials
- Pilot Feasibility Trials
- Cluster Randomised Controlled Trials
- Stroke Rehabilitation
- Group and intergroup relations in Health and Wellbeing
Research projects
The SPA Trial (http://clahrc-peninsula.nihr.ac.uk/singing-for-aphasia-spa-trial-information). A pilot feasibility trial of singing groups for people with post-stroke aphasia. We want to know whether singing groups can help improve wellbeing for stroke survivors. Before we can answer that, this pilot feasibility trial answers other important questions - at the end of this research will we have a better understanding of whether we will be able to run this research as a definitive trial. We'll know whether stroke survivors find randomisation and outcome allocation acceptable, we'll know how they found the programme and how easy/difficult it was to complete the outcome measures.
Evaluation of the Stroke Association Hand-in-Hand Peer Support Programme. The stroke Association oversee more than 200 hand-in-hand groups across the country which support more than 4,000 stroke survivors. We'll be helping the Stroke Association understand 'what makes a group good'. Through a questionnaire survey and in-depth qualitative interviews with attendees, we'll start to identify the group processes at play and examining how they relate to group outcomes such as loneliness and wellbeing.
The ERICA Trial (http://www.theericatrial.co.uk/). This is a flagship trial for the University of Exeter. Prof Willie Hamilton and his team have created risk assessment tools (RATs) for cancer that provide GPs and patients with an accurate estimate of the risk of cancer when a patient reports symptoms to a GP. In collaboration with Macmillan, these tools have been converted into electronic format (eRATs) and will be embedded into GP IT systems. This is an ambitious trial - the largest of its kind in general practice - and will be recruiting around 530 GP surgeries across England. It has the potential to significantly impact cancer diagnosis in primary care - with an important ambition of helping GPs catch cancer sooner.
Research networks
- Exeter Clinical Trials & Support Network
- Exeter Clinical Trials Unit
- UK Trial Manager Network
Publications
Journal articles
Chapters
Conferences
External Engagement and Impact
Awards
Tarrant, M. (CI), Backhouse, A., Calitri, R., Mounce, L., Dean, S. (2019). Evaluating the Stroke Association’s peer support programme. The Stroke Association; £69,940.
Campbell JL, Calitri R, Salisbury C, Anderson R, Dean S, Richards S, Fitzner G, Warren F, Wellsman J, Chilvers R (2014 - part of team up to Stage 2 application). The changing general practitioner (GP) workforce: the development of policies and strategies for retaining in direct patient care senior GPs and those undertaking a career break. NIHR – HSDR; £426, 863.
Calitri, R. Society of Academic Primary Care Personal Award (2014). Award following election to society's Career Scoping Team for analysis of the sustainability of academic primary care careers £2,000.
Committee/panel activities
Member of the College of Medicine & Helath Research Ethics Committee.
For REC guidance: http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/medicine/research/ethics/
Invited lectures
Calitri, R. & Tarrant, M (2019) Results of the SPA Trial. Presentation at the School of Health Sciences, City University, 11th Novemebr 2019.
Calitri, R. & Fletcher, E. (2019). The ERICA trial. Presentation at the North West London Clinical Research Network Event, St. Mary's Hospital, London, 25th September 2019.
Calitri, R. & Mounce, L (2019) The ERICA trial. Presentation at the South West Community Clinical Research Forum, Exeter Racecourse, 4th March 2019.
Hamilton, W. & Calitri, R. (2018). Cancer diagnostic trials in primary care - ECASS and ERICA. Presentation at Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx), University of Exeter Medical School, 31st October 2018.
Calitri R & Hollands L (2016) Community-based Rehabilitation Training after Stroke (ReTrain): a pilot randomized control trial (RCT). A study update. Cardiovascular Health Research Group, University of Exeter Medical School, March 2016.
Campbell JL, Calitri R, Sansom A. (2015) Primary Care Workforce Briefing at South West AHSN Primary Care Workforce Sustainability meeting, Exeter Racecourse, 21st May 2015.
Calitri R (2014). Lessons learned from the ESTEEM trial – A trial manager’s experience. Workshop conducted for Exeter Clinical Trials and Support Network, University of Exeter Medical School, May 2014.