Community and Health Research Unit

Joseph Akanuwe, research assistant at CaHRU, recently attended the Cancer Research UK’s Fourth Biennial Early Diagnosis Research Conference on 23rd and 24th February 2017 in London. Joseph whose abstract was selected for a poster presentation was awarded a bursary to attend the conference. As part of an Early Career Researcher programme, Joseph was also invited to make a PechaKucha (3 minute) oral presentation of his work on early detection of cancer risk in primary care using QCancer, a novel cancer risk assessment tool.

Apart from providing an opportunity for Joseph to explain his work to other researchers, policy makers and practitioners with interest in early diagnosis of cancer, the conference included a wide range of speakers from various fields, with a potential for making a significant difference to the field of early diagnosis research and a positive impact for patients. The conference materials including posters, papers/abstracts, conference photos and film will soon be available at the Cancer Research UK website.

Overall, the conference presented an opportunity to share, learn, network and understand the latest developments in early diagnosis research.

By Joseph Akanuwe

Joseph Akanuwe, doctoral student at CaHRU, was recently invited to present a workshop with Dr Sharon Black (both pictured below) at a regional primary educator’s conference organised by Health Education East Midlands at the Eastgate Hotel on 14 January 2016. Joseph who is a full time PhD student with CaHRU, continues to work as a nurse to support his studies which are supervised by Prof Niro Siriwardena, Dr Black and Prof Sara Owen.

The workshop entitled ‘Estimating and Communicating Cancer risk in the GP Consultation’ was based on his work reviewing the literature around use of cancer risk assessment tools and a series of interviews of primary care practitioners and service users on their perceptions of risk assessment using a novel risk tool (Qcancer) and how this might be used in the primary care consultation. Participants discussed the implications for GPs of using Qcancer to quantify cancer risk; the potential uses of QCancer in the consultation; what communication issues might arise when using Qcancer; and the potential challenges to using QCancer in routine general practice. The workshop raised issues about communicating risk in general practice participants found the discussion of potential advantages and disadvantages of using Qcancer.

Joseph also presented findings of a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews and focus groups of 19 service users and 17 practitioners on cancer risk estimation and communication. The results of the workshop will contribute to validation of the research findings. Joseph has also been invited to present his most recent study, ‘Patient and practitioner perspectives of QCancer use in primary care consultations’ at the Trent Regional SAPC conference in Leicester in March 2016. His work was recently recognised through a bursary awarded by a member of the University Court to support his studies.