One of the most significant advances in respiratory medicine and primary care for two decades has taken place with the appointment to the first ever Chair in a clinical discipline in primary care. Dr David Price, a Norwich GP with a track record of innovative thinking, has been appointed as the first ever GPIAG Chair of Primary Care Respiratory Medicine based within the University of Aberdeen’s Department of Primary Care.
Funding for the Chair was awarded to the University in 1999 by the GPs in Asthma Group (GPIAG), following open competition with over 30 departments across the UK. The GPIAG raised the funds from a consortium of pharmaceutical companies to lead research into common primary care problems such as asthma, hay fever and bronchitis. The objective of the Chair will be to search for primary care solutions to primary care problems.
Dr Price’s mould-breaking appointment will combine clinical expertise and academic rigour in this important area of healthcare. A major part of his role will be to provide a primary care perspective and input into the work already taking place in Adult Respiratory Care, Child Health, Medical Genetics, Environmental and Occupational Health and Public Health. Sufferers from common respiratory disorders should benefit from the better understanding of how disease affects their everyday lives coupled with more focused and effective interventions.
Dr Price will take up his post in June 2000.
To complement Dr Price’s work and to develop a Europe-wide primary care perspective, the University is also appointing a Visiting Professorship to Dr Thys van der Molen from the University of Gröningen in The Netherlands. Dr van der Molen is currently an associate professor researching primary care respiratory problems.
To enhance further the appointments, they will be collaborating actively with the Asthma Research Group led by Dr Ron Neville already established at the Tayside Centre for General Practice in Dundee which also receives support from GPIAG. All three enjoy enviable reputations for being at the forefront of respiratory medicine in the primary care environment and have all published extensively.
Head of the University of Aberdeen’s Department of General Practice and Primary Care, Professor Lewis Ritchie, said: “This exciting initiative, involving three academic centres with a unique European dimension, will address the need for more focused research in respiratory care, leading to improved treatments and better services for patients who suffer from these common and often distressing conditions.”
Further information from:
Christine Cook, Director of Public Relations, Tel: 01224 272014
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.