Dr Matthew Allsop

Profile

I am an Associate Professor of Palliative Care funded by a Yorkshire Cancer Research University Academic Fellowship. 

My research focuses on palliative care. Palliative care is specialised medical care for people living with a serious illness. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family. My research is conducted globally across settings with varying levels of palliative care development and resources.

Current responsibilities include: 

• Associate Lead for Impact, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
• Member of the University of Leeds Africa Strategy Group
• Member of PallCHASE (Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies) 
• Member of International Partnership for Resilience in Cancer Systems (I-PaRCS) 

Research interests

My research uses a range of research methods to understand and develop palliative care. Examples of the types of research I conduct are: 

• Exploring the experiences, needs and preferences of people living with a serious illness, alongside their families and those who are providing their care.
• Analysing routine data to understand how services are being delivered (e.g. identifying inequalities in who is accessing palliative care and when people are receiving it) 
• Developing and evaluating different uses of technology to support access, coordination, and improvements in the delivery of palliative care.

My research as a primary investigator includes the following projects:

• British Medical Association Foundation 2023: “The Association of Social Determinants of Health in Decision Making at the End of Life: A Retrospective Observation Cohort Study”. Co-PI with Professor Jonathan Koffman. 
• CommCare Grant for Frontline Research 2023: A pilot study of digital health approaches for palliative care in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi 
• UKRI GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts 2022: Optimisation of a digital health approach to support continuity of palliative care for refugee populations in Uganda
• West Yorkshire Research and Development (WY R&D) 2020: Research Capability Funding (RCF) to explore the COVID-19 response across palliative care services in Leeds and Bradford
• National Institute for Health and Care Research 2020: “Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems (EPaCCS) in end of life care: evaluating their implementation and optimising future service provision” referred to as Optimal Care
• Research England QR GCRF 2018: "Understanding the role of digital technologies to enhance palliative cancer care delivery in low- and middle-income settings"
• Yorkshire Cancer Research 2018: University Academic Fellowship, "Connected Cancer Care Yorkshire: Maximising engagement with digital technology to support better care of patients with advanced cancer"
• Medical Research Council 2018: "Understanding data and information needs for palliative cancer care to target mobile phone-based intervention development in Uganda and Zimbabwe"
• Leeds Palliative and End of Life Care Managed Clinical Network 2018: "Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems (EPaCCS) evaluation in Leeds and Bradford"
• Wellcome Institutional Strategy Support Fund 2016: Academic Secondment Fellowship (with Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association)
• NHS Leeds South and East CCG 2015: "Evaluation of an Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination System (EPaCCS) across Leeds"
• University of Leeds, International Research Collaboration Award 2015: "The role of mobile technology in supporting symptom management for palliative care patients in sub-Saharan Africa"
• University of Leeds, Engagement Excellence Scheme 2014: “What is palliative care? Consulting hospice shop volunteers to devise a public engagement strategy”
• Wellcome Trust, Small Grant Scheme 2013: “Hospice volunteers as facilitators of public engagement in cancer pain research”
• Wellcome Trust, Biomedical Summer Studentship Bursary 2012: “The effect of visuomotor task performance on postural stability in older adults”
• Nuffield Foundation, Summer Studentship Science Bursary 2009: “Engaging children in health-related design processes”

Projects funded as a co-investigator:

• Royal Society Te Apārangi 2024: “Perspectives on Telehealth for Palliative Care for Underserved Populations”
• Marie Curie 2024: “Equitable Care for All Ethnicities (ECAE): Improving data collection on ethnicity and religion within palliative care settings”
• Horizon Europe 2024: “Artificial Intelligence-based Health, Optimism, Purpose, and Endurance in Palliative Care for Dementia (AI4HOPE)”
• Royal Marsden Charity and Royal Marsden/ICR Biomedical Research Centre 2023: “Evaluation of Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems to support advance care planning for people living with life-limiting conditions”
• Pfizer Global Bridges Oncology 2023: “Standardizing the Reporting of acute side effects and management through a Practice Improvement Project (STAR-PIPE)”
• Worldwide University Network 2022: “Supporting nurses’ palliative care education needs”
• Research England Policy Support Fund 2021: “Embedding the patient voice into palliative and end of life care policy in England”
• Research England QR GCRF 2020: “Developing national physical activity promotion policies in hospice care”
• White Rose Collaboration Fund 2020: “Measuring, evaluating and improving the quality of care for dying people and their families”
• Research England QR GCRF 2019: “Telerehabilitation to improve the quality of life of individuals with long term disabilities in Nepal” (click for a video providing an overview of the project) 
• University of Leeds Pump-priming for Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives 2019: “A user-centred approach to develop a new garment orthosis for improving movement in children with cerebral palsy”
• Global Crucible 2019: “Developing a low-cost digital platform to improve Continuing Professional Development in rehabilitation for healthcare professionals in Madagascar”
• IASP Developing Countries Project: Initiative for Improving Pain Education 2019: “Project OPUS – Online pain education for Nigerian medical undergraduate students"

Previous public engagement activity as a contributor includes: 

•  “Searching for Meaning”, 2019: An award-winning documentary that looks at life, death, and palliative and end of life care

Visiting scholars: 

• Dr Sarute Chawvavanich, through the Prince Mahidol Award Youth (PMAY) Program scholarship 

Current postgraduate students: 

• Emmanuel Leshak (with Bassey Ebenso and Joseph Hicks). Research title: Psychosocial impact of community-based management of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Nigeria.
• Eme Asuquo (with Kate Absolom and Bassey Ebenso). Research title: The provision of breast cancer survivorship care in sub-Saharan Africa. 
• Jakki Birtwistle (with Amy Russell and Sam Relton). Research title: Technology-mediated approaches to advance care planning.
• Noura Rizk (with Gemma Clarke, Bryony Hudson and Nuriye Kupeli): Exploring the influence of ethnic background, culture and faith on perceptions towards advance care planning conversations with British Muslim communities.
• Elizabeth Fair (with Alinka Greasley and Emily Payne): Personal music use in post-bereavement emotional regulation.
• Asmaa El Najar (with Bryony Dawkins): The use of economic evaluation to inform the management of non-communicable diseases in the context of humanitarian aid situations and emergencies.

Completed doctoral students: 

• Asma Abahussin (PhD, 2021) (with Lucy Ziegler, Robert West, and David Wong). Research title: A health informatics approach for recording pain and supporting effective pain management in cancer patients. 
• Hayley Scanlon (DClinPsy, 2021) (with Gary Latchford). Research title: Understanding hospice social workers’ experiences of their work with adults in the U.K. An interpretive phenomenological analysis. 
• Rebecca Day (DClinPsy, 2023) (with Florien Boele and Charlotte Baker). Research title: Exploration of a stroke population's experiences of a digital cognitive assessment: a think-aloud and interview study
• Will Goodman (PhD, 2024) (with Rebecca Beeken and Amy Downing). Research title: Using advanced quantitative methods to explore physical activity and quality of life in patients with a stoma.

Qualifications

• BSc Psychology
• PhD Mechanical Design Engineering

Professional memberships

• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
• Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol)

Student education

My current teaching roles include:

• Module Co-Lead, Systematic Reviews in Health Research, Postgraduate Programmes in Health Research
• Tutor, Research, Evaluation and Special Studies, School of Medicine
• Supervisor, Extended Student-led Research or Evaluation Project, School of Medicine
• Lecturer, BSc in International Health, Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development
• Lecturer, Masters module on non-communicable diseases, Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development
• Faculty member, Diploma in Palliative Care, Islamic University of Gaza 

Research groups and institutes

• Division of Primary Care, Palliative Care and Public Health
• St Gemma's Academic Unit of Palliative Care
• International health research
• Palliative care
• Research at the Nuffield Centre of International Health and Development
• Cancer
• Leeds Institute of Health Sciences

Current postgraduate researchers

• Mrs Asma Abahussin
• William Goodman
• Eme Asuquo