Process evaluation has its roots in public health, but now there is a growing body of work of process evaluations in clinical trials. In very simple terms it is no longer acceptable to just know if one intervention is more effective or not than another. Particularly when the interventions are complex/multifaceted. There is now a need to understand how or why an intervention works or indeed doesn’t work. Process evaluations help us do this.

My talk will be about my research journey and I will draw on my research experiences of working on many trials and process evaluations providing an insight into my influences, interests, and drivers.

I cannot begin this journey without reflecting on its foundations. Growing up in a world that knew little about universities and certainly at the time having no aspirations to go to one! Through a twenty-year career in a very different profession, having a family, and finally having to put my career aside to becoming a single parent of my two young children.

Reinventing myself inspired and encouraged by Susan who later became my wife; my journey began. Whilst my talk will be about me, I would not be here without the support and encouragement which Sue gave me. Sadly, she is not here to day to share this with me, but I dedicate my achievements to her.

Biography

David completed his first degree at Coventry University in Psychology & Biology followed by his PhD entitled “Stress and the Activity of Neutrophils: The potential for tissue damage and disease”. He continued at Coventry for a number of years in a research centre developing his research skills working in chronic disease self-management. He joined the team in Warwick Clinical trials unit in 2008 working as a researcher on several high-profile trials and projects. Over the last few years David has been a member of the ‘surgery, pain and rehabilitation theme’ team working closely with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire. One of his key roles is to encourage and support clinical and allied health professionals within the Trust to develop research ideas and ultimately write research proposals/funding applications. David is a research methodologist and now Professor of Clinical Trials methodology. He has expertise in process evaluation in clinical trials. He is well versed in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and often takes a mixed methods approach in his research work.

David works across a portfolio of research projects which have included national and international collaborations being a co-investigator and a chief investigator on clinical trials funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). Alongside his research career, David supports the MB ChB students as a personal tutor, teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and supervises PhD and MSc students within the Medical School. David is also Chair of the Biomedical & Scientific Research Ethics Committee (BSREC) one of the Universities main ethics committees with responsibility to oversee all non-NHS research in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine (excluding Psychology) involving human participants, their tissue, and/or their data.