![Professor Gary Macfarlane Professor Gary Macfarlane](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/sme490/avatar/lNHmQ7aFXP5qvcdbhbzBeMKuX3gEeHXw3npkOzwG.jpeg)
BSc (Hons), MBChB, PhD, CStat, MD (Hons), FFPHM, DSc
Clinical Chair in Epidemiology
- About
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- Email Address
- g.j.macfarlane@abdn.ac.uk
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Personal Assistant- Personal Assistant
- Mrs Jisha Babu
Biography
Gary Macfarlane has held the Chair in Epidemiology (Clinical) since 2005 and previously held the same post at The University of Manchester from 1999. He is an Honorary Consultant in the Department of Public Health at NHS Grampian, Deputy Clinical Lead for Chronic Pain at NHS Research Scotland and Director of the Versus Arthritis/Medical Research Council Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work. He was Dean of Research Impact and Interdisciplinary Research for the period 2018-2024. He trained in Statistics/ Computing Science and then Medicine at The University of Glasgow before undertaking his PhD at The University of Bristol. He worked at the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan before leading a programme of chronic pain research at the Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit at the University of Manchester.
He leads the Epidemiology group at the University of Aberdeen. The clinical research programme focusses on Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMD) and undertakes research on: mechanisms of disease onset and outcome (observational epidemiology), identifying effective management for RMDs (Clinical trials and evidence synthesis), and designing optimal delivery of care (health services research). He and his research team have particular expertise in common complex conditions (including musculoskeletal pain and fatigue, fibromyalgia, and early osteoarthritis), inflammatory conditions, and rare diseases. The programme also hosts several disease and drug registries: the British Society of Rheumatology Biologics Registers in Ankylosing Spondylitis (BSRBR-AS) and Psoriatic Arthritis (BSR-PsA) and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy UK Antimicrobial Registry (UKAR), all of which recruit UK-wide. Professor Macfarlane is a Chartered Statistician of the Royal Statistical Society, a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine and an Honorary fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine.
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons) Statistics and Computing Science1985 - University of Glasgow
- MBChB Medicine and Surgery1990 - University of Glasgow
- PhD Epidemiology1993 - University of Bristol
The Epidemiology of Oral Cancer
- MD (Hons) Medicine (Epidemiology)2003 - University of Glasgow
- DSc Medicine2021 - University of Glasgow
- CStat Statistics1999 - Royal Statistical Society
- FFPH Public Health2009 - Faculty of Public Health
External Memberships
- Health and Safety Executive (UK) Scientific Quality Advisory Group: Member
- British Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting Organising Committee: Member
- NHS Research Scotland Pain Network: Deputy Chair
- Versus Arthritis Fellowship Committee: Member
- British Society for Rheumatology: Research and Registers Committee
Latest Publications
Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis Reported Willingness to Use Remote Care and Showed High Adherence to Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures: An 18-Month Observational Study
Rheumatology InternationalContributions to Journals: ArticlesImpact of fatigue on work productivity and health-related job loss
Occupational MedicineContributions to Journals: ArticlesCut-Offs for Disease Activity States in Axial Spondyloarthritis With Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) Based on C-Reactive Protein and ASDAS Based on Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate: Are they interchangeable?
The Journal of rheumatology, vol. 51, no. 7, pp. 673-677Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.2023-1217
Do current methods of measuring the impact of chronic pain on work reflect the experience of working-age adults?: An integrated mixed methods systematic narrative review
Pain, vol. 165, no. 7, pp. 1472-1481Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMeeting the care priorities of people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions: priorities for action
Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen. 39 pagesBooks and Reports: Other Reports
Prizes and Awards
Sir Alexander Morison Medal from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Heberden Medal from the British Society for Rheumatology
- Research
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Research Overview
My major research interests are in the Epidemiology of Rheumatic and Musculoskleletal Disorders (RMD) with a particular focus on common disabling symptoms (chronic pain, and fatigue) inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritis. I am Director of the Versus Arthritis and MRC Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work. I lead several nationwide drug registries. I have current live grant income over £13 million.
Research Specialisms
- Epidemiology
- Medical Statistics
- Medicine
- Environmental and Public Health
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Research programme
You can read about the research programme I lead, including studies underway, research outputs and plain language summaries here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/iahs/research/epidemiology/research-107.php
Collaborations
Medical Research Council/Arthritis Research UK Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work
Professor Macfarlane principal investigator for the Aberdeen spoke of this centre, which is based at the University of Southampton. Coordinated by the University of Southampton, the centre brings together fifteen different academic institutions across the UK, with interest and expertise in rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease, and its relation to occupation, to identify effective and cost-effective ways to minimise the adverse impacts of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace. The work at the University of Aberdeen is focussed on investigating: media campaigns for low back pain; axial spondyloarthritis; pain management.
European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) revised guidelines for the management of fibromyalgia
Professor Macfarlane chaired an international group of clinicians, allied health professionals and scientists from 12 countries across Europe, in revising EULAR guidelines for the management of fibromyalgia. Since the original EULAR fibromyalgia guidelines, more than fifty randomised controlled trials have been published concerned with the phramcological or non-pharmacological management of the conditions. The revised guidelines were published, in 2016, in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases: http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2016/07/04/annrheumdis-2016-209724.full
UK-RiME : UK Research in Musculoskeletal Epidemiology
The UK Research in Musculoskeletal Epidemiology (UK-RiME) partnership is a national collaboration between eight epidemiology centres in the United Kingdom including Aberdeen. The partnership seeks to develop a co-ordinated training programme facilitated by exchanges between departments at PhD, post-doctoral, NIHR academic clinical fellow, clinical fellow and international trainee levels. UK-RiME facilitates access to one another’s cohorts and share analytical expertise with each other and the UK musculoskeletal research community.
Supervision
Supervisees
- MR ROSS MACDONALD
- MS STEPHANIE LEMBKE
- MRS ALISON MACIVER
- MISS NABEEHA ATTIQUE
Funding and Grants
- 2024-29/£1.2m/Versus Arthritis. “PrIOritising early detection of KNEE osteoaRthritis – PIOKNEER
- 2022-25/£999k/ Medical Research Council and Versus Arthritis Advanced Pain Discovery Platform. High Impact Chronic Pain and UK Biobank: presentation, transitions and targets for intervention
- 2022-24/£232k/Chief Scientist’s Office/ Supporting people with musculoskeletal disorders in Scotland to remain in work: adapting the Making it Work™ intervention developed for people with inflammatory arthritis in Canada (Co-Chief Investigator)
- 2021-25/£3,179k/MRC and Versus Arthritis/Consortium Against Pain inEquality (CAPE) - The impact of adverse childhood experiences on chronic pain and responses to treatment (Investigator and Work Package Lead)
- 2021-24/£485k /MRC/ Quantifying the Impact of Work on Paid Employment (Chief Investigator)
- 2021-26/£1,250k/British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy/United Kingdom AntiMicrobial Registry (Co-chief Investigator)
- 2020-26/£2,488k/ NIHR/ NIHR Programme Grant: Development and evaluation of the Digital-My Arm Pain Programme (D-MAPP) for improving painful distal upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (Investigator)
- 2019-26/£2,300k/Medical Research Council & Versus Arthritis Centre of Excellence in Musculoskeletal Health and Work (Chief Investigator Investigator, Aberdeen)
- 2019-25/£1,138k/Versus Arthritis/Developing new models of care for people with fibromyalgia (PACFiND) (Chief Investigator)
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Postgraduate (PhD) research students
The Epidemiology group welcomes applications in our research areas of interest.
External courses
Professor Macfarlane established a week-long Intensive Course in Applied Epidemiology (ICAE) at the University of Aberdeen. This course has been run here since 2007, having previously been run for 15 years at the University of Manchester. The course is highly rated by attendees, with attendees from Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. The course is annual and starts on the first Monday in March. For further details and / or to register for the next course please see our ICAE web page.
The Epidemiology Group has also put on shorter courses at external locations including Warsaw and Bucharest and also runs courses focussed on specific clinical disciplines such as "Essentials in Epidemiology for Reproductive Health".
- Publications
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Reply: To PMID 23401475
Arthritis Care & Research, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 496-497Contributions to Journals: Letters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.22220
Targeted rehabilitation to improve outcome after total knee replacement (TRIO): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Trials, vol. 15, 44Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6215-15-44
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5475/1/1745_6215_15_44.pdf
Maternal and perinatal risk factors for childhood cancer: record linkage study
BMJ Open, vol. 4, no. 1, e003656Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003656
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3083/1/Childhood_cancer.pdf
Association between alcohol consumption and chronic widespread pain: Results from a population-based cross-sectional study
Annual European Congress of Rheumatology 2014Contributions to Conferences: AbstractsChronic Widespread Pain Versus Multi-Site Pain: Does the Distribution Matter?
2014 American College of Rheumatology Annual MeetingContributions to Conferences: PostersImprovements in Rheumatoid Arthritis related fatigue are driven by improvements in pain, not disease activity– Results from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Arthritis & Rheumatism, vol. 66, no. S10, pp. 2811Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/art.38914
Observations on silence in telephone delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (T-CBT)
Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1-22Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.27652
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Patients Receiving Anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor Therapies Experience Clinically Important Improvements in Rheumatoid Arthritis Related Fatigue: Results from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatology, vol. 53, no. Suppl 1, 035Contributions to Journals: AbstractsPredictors of Driving Disability in Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results from the Scotland and Ireland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis
Rheumatology, vol. 53, no. suppl 1, pp. i145-i146Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keu115.024
Prevalence of Pain Reporting in Different Ethnic Groups in the UK: Results from a Large Biobank
2014 American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting, pp. S29-S30Contributions to Conferences: PostersThe Natural History of Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results from the Scotland and Ireland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis
Rheumatology, vol. 53, no. suppl 1, pp. i43-i44Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keu115.018
Smoking addiction and the risk of upper-aerodigestive- tract cancer in a multicenter case-control study
International Journal of Cancer, vol. 133, no. 11, pp. 2688-2695Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.28288
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/4042/1/Prepublication_version.pdf
A randomised controlled trial (RCT) of telephone delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (TCBT) and exercise in the management of chronic widespread pain (CWP): Identifying long-term outcome and who benefits from which treatment
77th Annual Meeting of the American-College-of-Rheumatology / 48th Annual Meeting of the Association-of-Rheumatology-Health-Professionals, pp. S1221Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/art.38216
Ankylosing Spondylitis Is Associated With An Increased Likelihood Of Cardiovascular Disease: A Nationwide Matched Cohort Study In Primary Care
77th Annual Meeting of the American-College-of-Rheumatology / 48th Annual Meeting of the Association-of-Rheumatology-Health-Professionals, pp. S1187-S1187Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/art.38216
Do patients with ankylosing spondylitis have an excess prevalence of chronic widespread pain?: Results from the Scotland and Ireland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIRAS) and the MUSICIAN study
77th Annual Meeting of the American-College-of-Rheumatology / 48th Annual Meeting of the Association-of-Rheumatology-Health-Professionals, pp. S652-S652Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/art.38216
Explaining fatigue in ANCA-associated vasculitis
Rheumatology, vol. 52, no. 9, pp. 1680-1685Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/ket191
Fatigue-related brain white matter changes in granulomatosis with polyangiitis
Rheumatology, vol. 52, no. 8, pp. 1429-1434Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/ket135
Modest Association of Joint Hypermobility With Disabling and Limiting Musculoskeletal Pain: Results From a Large-Scale General Population–Based Survey
Arthritis Care & Research, vol. 65, no. 8, pp. 1325-1333Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.21979
Alternative population sampling frames produced important differences in estimates of association: a case-control study of vasculitis
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol. 66, no. 6, pp. 675-680Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.09.009
Does primary care management of low-back pain differ in older persons?: Results from the MUSICIAN study
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 72, no. Suppl. 3, pp. 1040Contributions to Journals: AbstractsLong-Term Effects of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Exercise for Chronic Widespread Pain
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 72, pp. 1057Contributions to Journals: AbstractsLong-term effects of cognitive behaviour therapy and exercise for chronic widespread pain
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 72, no. Suppl3, pp. 131Contributions to Journals: AbstractsMultiple somatic symptoms predict impaired health status in functional somatic syndromes
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 194-205Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9257-y
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Current evidence of methotrexate efficacy in childhood chronic uveitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis approach
Rheumatology, vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 825-831Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kes186
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Low back pain among textile workers: A cross-sectional study
Occupational Medicine, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 129-134Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqs231
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Genome-wide association study meta-analysis of chronic widespread pain: evidence for involvement of the 5p15.2 region
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 427-436Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201742
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5811/1/427.full.pdf
Investigating the role of pain-modulating pathway genes in musculoskeletal pain
European Journal of Pain (United Kingdom), vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 28-34Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1532-2149.2012.00163.x
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Does primary care management of low-back pain differ in older persons: Results from the MUSICIAN study
Scottish Pain Research Community 3rd Annual Scientific MeetingContributions to Conferences: AbstractsOP34 Assessing the Social Determinants of Teenage Pregnancy: A Time-Space Analysis using an Obstetric Database from 1950-2010
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, vol. 67, no. Suppl 1, pp. A18Contributions to Journals: AbstractsThe Prevalence Of Fibromyalgia In The General Population - a Comparison Of The ACR 1990, 2010 and Modified 2010 Classification Criteria
Arthritis & Rheumatism, vol. 65, no. S10, pp. S358Contributions to Journals: AbstractsThe characterisation and determinants of quality of life in ANCA associated vasculitis
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 207-211Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-202750
A systematic review of evidence for the effectiveness of practitioner-based complementary and alternative therapies in the management of rheumatic diseases: Osteoarthritis
Rheumatology, vol. 51, no. 12, pp. 2224-2233Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kes200
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence for flexible sigmoidoscopy as a screening method for the prevention of colorectal cancer
British Journal of Surgery, vol. 99, no. 11, pp. 1488-1500Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bjs.8882
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) is a better indicator of poor quality of life than Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) in ankylosing spondylitis: results from SIRAS - the Scotland and Ireland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis
76th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American-College-of-Rheumatology (ACR) and Association-of-Rheumatology-Health-Professionals (ARHP) 2012, pp. S261Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/art.37735
The non-synonymous SNP, R1150W, in SCN9A is not associated with chronic widespread pain susceptibility
Molecular Pain, vol. 8, 72Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA systematic review of evidence for the effectiveness of practitioner-based complementary and alternative therapies in the management of rheumatic diseases: Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatology, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 1707-1713Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kes133
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
A high tender point count is associated with the presence of multiple idiopathic pain disorders: Results from a population study
European Journal of Pain (United Kingdom), vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 1195-1203Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1532-2149.2012.00127.x
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system and its association with the presence and intensity of chronic widespread pain
Arthritis Care and Research, vol. 64, no. 8, pp. 1209-1216Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.21669
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Fatigue: prevalence, correlates and consequences: results from the Scotland and Ireland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIRAS)
Scottish Medical Journal, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 163-164Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1258/smj.2012.012030
The natural history of ankylosing spondylitis before and after commencing biological therapy
Scottish Medical Journal, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 164Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1258/smj.2012.012030
Somatization and health anxiety as predictors of health care use
Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 74, no. 6, pp. 656-664Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e31825cb140
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
BASFI is a better indicator of low quality of life than BASDAI in ankylosing spondylitis: results from the Scotland and Ireland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIRAS)
Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 621-621Contributions to Journals: AbstractsRisk of upper aerodigestive tract cancer and type of alcoholic beverage: a European multicenter case–control study
European Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 499-517Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-012-9699-1
The prevalence and burden of ankylosing spondylitis in Europe: a systematic review
Rheumatology, vol. 51, no. suppl 3, pp. 19-20Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kes118
Role of medical history and medication use in the aetiology of upper aerodigestive tract cancers in Europe: the ARCAGE study
Annals of Oncology, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1053-1060Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdr335
The epidemiology of multiple somatic symptoms
Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 311-317Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.01.009
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Predicting OA progression to total hip replacement: can we do better than risk factors alone using active shape modelling as an imaging biomarker?
Rheumatology, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 562-570Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/ker382
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/2790/1/Shape_PCR_study_Rheumatology.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Organising a World Congress of Epidemiology (WCE): Reflections and lessons from the XIX WCE, Scotland
Public Health, vol. 126, no. 3, pp. 265-270Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2012.01.024
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Cognitive behavior therapy, exercise, or both for treating chronic widespread pain
JAMA Internal Medicine, vol. 172, no. 1, pp. 48-57Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.555
The prevalence and management of low back pain across adulthood: Results from a population-based cross-sectional study (the MUSICIAN study)
Pain, vol. 153, no. 1, pp. 27-32Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2011.08.005