Dr Barbara Clyne, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Postdoctoral Researcher and Honorary Lecturer 

I have a Masters in the Sociology of Health and Illness and was awarded a PhD as part of the HRB PhD Scholars programme in Health Services Research from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 2014. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in The HRB Centre for Primary Care Research, RCSI.

My research focuses on methods to improve care for older patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy in primary care, incorporating social science approaches where appropriate. I have particular expertise in the design and conduct of randomised controlled trials. My doctoral research was a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a web-based information system designed to reduce potentially inappropriate prescribing in older patients in primary care, with a mixed methods process evaluation. In my current role, I am involved in a number of experimental and observational studies broadly focused improving appropriate prescribing for older patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy including a large scale cluster RCT of a deprescribing intervention, the development of a core outcome set for deprescribing trials, and a pilot intervention involving practice based pharmacists working with GPs to optimise prescribing. I am also involved the conduct of a number of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of interventions.

In 2016, I was elected to be an RCSI postdoctoral representative, acting as a bridge between RCSI management and the postdoctoral research community.