IRB Faculty
The Medical &
Scientific Research Directorate
Dr. Vanessa Apea
MBBS, MPH, FRCP, DipGUM, DFSRH
Consultant Physician / Senior Lecturer
v.apea@nhs.net | 00233594477880 |
Education
- Intercalated Bachelor of Science – Physiology with Basic Medical Sciences – 1999
Kings College London, UK
- Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery – 2003
Guy’s, Kings and St.Thomas’ Medical School, UK
- Masters in Public Health (Fulbright Scholar) - 2011
Harvard School of Public Health, USA
- PhD Candidate – HARP Fellow – To be completed 2025
Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Board Certifications
- Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) – 2006
- Diploma of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare - 2007
- Diploma in Genito-urinary Medicine – 2009
- Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) – 2018
- Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Registered Trainer - 2023
Research Interest
My research interests focus on exploring and promoting health equity in marginalised populations at the intersection of race, gender and health. I have a particular interest in mixed-methods, community participatory and co-production approaches in health research, with over 15 years’ experience of successful collaborative working with community stakeholders, third sector agencies, health economists, sociologists, health psychologists and policy-makers to advocate for racially minoritised communities in the UK, Canada, and Ghana.
I am currently undertaking PhD in applied social science exploring the interactions between Black women and clinicians within the UK.
Expertise:
Sexual and reproductive health, HIV, Stigma, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, Health Equity, Population Health, Diversity and Inclusion, Qualitative methods, Mixed methods
Current projects
Barts Charity Funding – Amplifying the Lived Experiences of East London Communities (ALIVE)
03/2022 - Present
Principal Investigator
Using artificial intelligence (AI) to characterize the dynamic inter-relationships between
Multiple Long-term conditions and Polypharmacy and across diverse UK populations and inform health care pathways (AI-MULTIPLY) (Award number: NIHR203982)
03/2022 – Present
Co-Investigator
CRN Portfolio - North Thames Study Notification: NON-COMMERCIAL - 295506 - ASSIST: Assessing the impact of online self-sampling for STIs & HIV v1
05/2021 - Present
Co-Site Lead
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (award number NIHR200856) - Improving care for people with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a digital NHS
11/2020 - Present
Co-Investigator
NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research reference number: NIHR202038
Programme Title: A person-centred Needs Informed model of Care for people with HIV (NICHE), to improve wellbeing, mental health and reduce socio-economic disadvantages and stigma
08/2020 – Present
Co-Investigator
Selected Publications
Health Inequalities:
- Howe A, Orkin C, Apea V. The under-representation of racially minoritised doctors in academic general practice training: a retrospective analysis. BJGP Open. 2024 Apr 17:BJGPO.2023.0136.
- Farooq HZ, Apea V, Kasadha B, Ullah S, Hilton-Smith G, Haley A, Scherzer J, Hand J, Paparini S, Phillips R, Orkin CM. Study protocol: the ILANA study - exploring optimal implementation strategies for long-acting antiretroviral therapy to ensure equity in clinical care and policy for women, racially minoritised people and older people living with HIV in the UK - a qualitative multiphase longitudinal study design. BMJ Open. 2023 Jul 9;13(7):e070666.
- Wan YI, Bien Z, Apea VJ, Orkin CM, Dhairyawan R, Kirwan CJ, Pearse RM, Puthucheary ZA, Prowle JR. Acute Kidney Injury in COVID-19: multicentre prospective analysis of registry data. Clinical Kidney Journal. 2021 Mar 27.
- Apea VJ, Wan YI, Dhairyawan R, et al. Ethnicity and outcomes in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 infection in East London: an observational cohort study. BMJ Open 2021;11:e042140. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042140.
HIV Engagement:
- Howarth A, Burns F, Apea V, Jose S, Hill T, Delpech, V, Evans A, Mercer C, Michie S, Morris S, Sachikonye M, Sabin C, the REACH study and the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort (UK CHIC) study (2017). Development and application of a new measure of engagement in out-patient HIV care. HIV Medicine, 18: 267–274.
- Howarth A, Apea V, et al. REACH: a mixed-methods study to investigate the measurement, prediction and improvement of retention and engagement in outpatient HIV care. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2017.
HIV Prevention:
- Whelan I, Strachan S, Apea V, Orkin C, Paparini S. Barriers and facilitators to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis for cisgender and transgender women in the UK. Lancet HIV. 2023 Jul;10(7):e472-e481.
- Ogbuagu O, Ruane PJ, Podzamczer D, Salazar LC, Henry K, Asmuth DM, Wohl D, Gilson R, Shao Y, Ebrahimi R, Cox S, Kintu A, Carter C, Das M, Baeten JM, Brainard DM, Whitlock G, Brunetta JM, Kronborg G, Spinner CD; DISCOVER study team. Long-term safety and efficacy of emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide vs emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis: week 96 results from a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet HIV. 2021 Jul;8(7):e397-e407.
- McCormack S, Dunn DT, Desai M, et al (2015). Preexposure prophylaxis to prevent the acquisition of HIV-1 infection (PROUD): effectiveness results from the pilot phase of a pragmatic open-label randomised trial. The Lancet, Volume 387, Issue 10013, 53 – 60.
- Nelson LE, Wilton L, Agyarko-Poku T, Zhang N, Zou Y, Aluoch M, Apea V, Hanson S, Adu-Sarkodie Y (2015). Predictors of Condom Use among Peer Social Networks of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Ghana, West Africa. PLoS ONE 10(1): e0115504.
Monkeypox:
- Thornhill JP, Barkati S, Walmsley S, Rockstroh J, Antinori A, Harrison LB, Palich R,Nori A, Reeves I, Habibi MS, Apea V, Boesecke C, Vandekerckhove L, Yakubovsky M, Sendagorta E, Blanco JL, Florence E, Moschese D, Maltez FM, Goorhuis A,Pourcher V, Migaud P, Noe S, Pintado C, Maggi F, Hansen AE, Hoffmann C, Lezama JI, Mussini C, Cattelan A, Makofane K, Tan D, Nozza S, Nemeth J, Klein MB, Orkin CM; SHARE-net Clinical Group. Monkeypox Virus Infection in Humans across 16 Countries - April-June 2022. N Engl J Med. 2022 Aug 25;387(8):679-691.
- Wan YI, Smuk M, Pearse RM, Paparini S, Apea VJ, Orkin CM. Clinical research in the NHS: a cross-sectional study of research engagement during the monkeypox pandemic. BMJ Leader 2023;7:e000812.
Thought Leadership:
- Orkin C and Apea V. International Women's Day-how can I help? Lancet HIV. 2022 Apr;9(4):e228-e229.
- Orkin C, Paparini S, Thornhill JP, Apea V, Mwendera CA, Smuk M, Hayes R, Anderson J; SHARE Collaborative. SHARING to create knowledge in a crisis. BMJ Lead. 2023 Aug;7(Suppl 2).
- Apea V. Closing the gap on health inequalities: learning from HIV care. British Journal of Healthcare Management. 2020. 26. 1-4.