Jan Verbakel

My research focuses on the diagnosis of serious diseases and the use of point-of-care devices in primary care.

Over the past few decades, diagnostic technologies have become cheaper, smaller, and in some cases more accurate. A wide range and growing number of point-of-care tests which provide rapid ‘on site’ results are now available.

These may potentially improve outcomes in primary care by optimising prescribing decisions, reducing referrals, improving efficiency of care and decreasing costs.

I started a research fellowship in 2014 in Oxford to initiate new projects on the use of diagnostic tests in primary care and have obtained my PhD in 2015, examining the added value of a point-of-care CRP (C-reactive protein) in addition to vital signs and clinical prediction rules in identifying serious infection in acutely ill children. The results of these studies have been awarded by the Royal Academy of Medicine in Belgium and were used for the update of the NICE guideline on feverish illness in children.

I have a strong interest in other conditions, such as chronic kidney disease, ovarian cancer and heart failure.