Biography
Rakesh Modi completed his medical degree at the University of Cambridge and University College London (UCL), with an intercalated BA (converted to MA) in the mechanisms of disease, and research projects in autism. He undertook his junior doctor training in London, an Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Practice at UCL, and completed his GP training as part of the Royal Free Hospital training scheme whilst also completing (with various awards) specialist qualifications in general medicine, paediatrics and obstetrics/gynaecology. During his junior doctor years, he undertook research in the use of eye-tracking technology to appraise facial lesions, and in improving the physical health monitoring of people with serious mental illness.
During his academic fellowship, he researched the measurement of child vaccination in Low- and Middle-income countries at UCL, and attained a Msc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with distinction. He currently is in receipt of a Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship and also works as a GP in Cambridgeshire, performing regular practice in Cambourne and extended hours shifts in St Neots. He is also the Clinical Lead for Research in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS). In this role he commissions, sponsors, advises on and encourages primary care research.
He is a group supervisor for five students on the MPhil in population health sciences, and he lectures on implementation science on this degree. He supervises undergraduates at Peterhouse College in demographics. He previously lectured in public health, primary care and pathology, was a trustee of a charity in Zimbabwe, and used to run international projects for the RCGP as part of their Junior International Committee. He is a clinical advisor to the RCGP and sits on an advisory board to improve the capacity of early career researchers for Cambridge Public Health.
Research
Rakesh is interested in medical screening, process evaluations, implementation science and inequalities. His PhD involves leading the mixed-methods process evaluation of the SAFER trial, a multi-university study led by the PCU on screening for atrial fibrillation (AF). He is particularly looking at successful models of implementing AF screening in order to make recommendations for a national roll-out, supplemented by two complex reviews of how primary care can deliver screening programmes. He collaborates with the behavioural group and is a collaborator for the PrimaryBreathe trial.
Publications
A cluster randomised controlled trial of screening for atrial fibrillation in people aged 70 years and over to reduce stroke: protocol for the pilot study for the SAFER trial. BMJ Open 2022;12:e065066
Why do people take part in atrial fibrillation screening? Qualitative interview study in English primary care. BMJ Open 2022;12:e051703
How to embed qualitative research in trials: insights from the feasibility study of the SAFER trial programme. Trials 23, 394 (2022)
Delivering screening programmes in primary care: protocol for a scoping and systematic mixed studies review. BMJ Open. 2021 Apr 15;11(4):e046331
An analysis of qualitative and mixed methods abstracts from Japanese, UK and US primary care conferences. Asia Pacific Family Medicine 2018 Nov 22;17:11
Caregiver Recall in Childhood Vaccination Surveys: Systematic Review of Recall Quality and Use in Low- and Middle-Income Settings. Vaccine 2018 Jul 5;36(29):4161-4170
‘The Best Laid Schemes o’ Mice an’ Men’: A Workshop to Teach the Application of Evidence Based Medicine in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Education for Primary Care 2018 Mar; 29(2):107-112
Challenges facing early career primary care researchers across Europe. Education for Primary Care 2016 Sep;27(5):425-426
Cardiovascular health monitoring in patients with psychotic illnesses: A project to investigate and improve performance in primary and secondary care. BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2013 Mar 19;2(1)
Other Professional Activities
Currently fully funded by the Wellcome Trust. Previous trustee and chair of the board of Trustees for The SEED Project.
