SENIOR CLINICAL RESEARCH FELLOW

BSc. MB BChir PhD

Email: gf272@medschl.cam.ac.uk | Strangeways’ Research Laboratory | ResearchGate

 

Background

Garth is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow in the Cambridge Primary Care Cancer Group. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2012 and went on to undertake an Academic Foundation Training post followed by an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Practice in Manchester. He recently completed a Cancer Research UK funded PhD evaluating the ovarian cancer biomarker CA125 in primary care and developing prediction models to improve its performance and clinical utility. In 2021, a study led by Garth was selected as the Royal College of General Practitioners Research Paper of The Year for Clinical Research and he was awarded the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s inaugural Transformational Researcher Award.

Research Interests

Garth has a particular interest in primary care cancer research including early detection, the optimisation of diagnostic pathways and survivorship care. He has experience in the use of large, routinely collected datasets, of diagnostic accuracy studies and systematic reviews. He is currently undertaking a range of studies which aim to improve the detection of ovarian, lung and prostate cancers.

Medical Education

Garth has been heavily involved in medical education since university and has a particular interest in engaging students in research. He is Co-Founder of the Wellcome Trust funded National Student Association of Medical Research (https://nsamr.ac.uk). Garth enjoys hands on teaching and mentoring, and supervises clinical and masters student attachments within the Cancer Group.

Selected Publications

Full list available: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Garth_Funston/research

Could Ovarian Cancer Prediction Models Improve the Triage of Symptomatic Women in Primary Care? A Modelling Study Using Routinely Collected Data. Funston G et al. Cancers 2021; 13:2886

CA125 test result, test-to-diagnosis interval and stage in ovarian cancer: a cohort study using electronic health records. Funston G et al. BJGP 2021; 71:e465-e472

Time from presentation to pre-diagnostic chest X-ray in symptomatic lung cancer patients: a cohort study using electronic patient records. Arendse K, Walter FM, Pilling M, Zhou Y, Hamilton W, Funston G. BJGP 2021; 71:e273-e279

Associations between breast cancer survivorship and adverse mental health outcomes: a matched population-based cohort study in the United Kingdom (1988-2018). Carreira H, Williams R, Funston G, Stanway S, Bhaskaran K. PLOS Medicine 2021; 18:e1003504

Identifying ovarian cancer in symptomatic women: a systematic review of clinical tools Funston G et al. Cancers 2020; 12:3686

The diagnostic performance of CA125 for the detection of ovarian and non-ovarian cancer in primary care: a population-based cohort study. Funston G et al. PLOS Medicine 2020; 17:e1003295

Variation in the initial assessment and investigation for ovarian cancer in symptomatic women: a systematic review of international guidelines. Funston G et al. BMC Cancer. 2019; 19:028

Prostate cancer in primary care. Merriel S, Funston G, Hamilton W. Adv Ther. 2018; 35:1285-1294

The road to a clinical academic career. Funston G et al. The BMJ. 2015; 350:h786

Action is required to safeguard the future of academic medicine in the UK. Funston G, Young AM. Nat Med. 2012;18:194

Additional Information

Grants and Research Awards

2018– National Institute for Health Research (NIHR Grant, Principal Investigator

Purpose: Evaluate the diagnostic performance of CA125 in primary care

2018– CanTest PhD Fellowship

Purpose: To fund PhD research into tests for the early detection of ovarian cancer in primary care

2017 – Wellbeing of Women Entry Level Scholarship

Purpose: To investigate the utility of ovarian cancer biomarkers in primary care

2011 – Singapore International Pre-Graduate Award

Purpose: To fund a medical elective undertaken in Professor Sir David Lane’s Singapore lab

2011 – Wellcome Trust Grant, Co-Principal Investigator

Purpose: To fund the establishment of a National Student Association of Medical Research

2010 – Wellcome Trust Grant, Co-Principal Investigator

Purpose: To fund the establishment of the Cambridge University Clinical Research Society

2009 – Wellcome Trust Student Research Bursary

Purpose: To fund research undertaken during a summer vacation

2008 – Wolfson Intercalated Award

Purpose: To fund an intercalated research degree