Top Researchers
Top Medicine Researchers at University of St Andrews for 2026
The University of St Andrews has a broad and active medicine research profile, with recent work spanning clinical trials, public health, mental health, infectious disease, and health services research. Looking across the last year, the output sampled here shows a community engaged with both day-to-day care and longer-term questions about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Below, you’ll find a snapshot of researchers whose recent publications reflect that range, from applied studies in clinical practice to interdisciplinary work that connects medicine with epidemiology, neuroscience, and health systems.
Featured Researchers
Andrew Blaikie
Andrew Blaikie’s recent work at the University of St Andrews spans epidemiology, ophthalmology, and history, with studies ranging from visual dysfunction case work to diabetic retinopathy assessment and AI use in surgical decision-making.
Activity over the last year: 15 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Emulation of the subjective experience of visual dorsal stream dysfunction: a description of three in depth case studies (Jan 2025)
- Assessment of decision-making with locally run and web-based large language models versus human board recommendations in otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery (Jan 2025)
- Methods of assessment of diabetic retinopathy in low- and middle-income countries: a protocol for scoping review (Jul 2025)
Craig Ritchie
Craig Ritchie’s recent publications connect psychiatry and mental health with physiology and cognitive neuroscience, including a phase 2b trial of liraglutide in Alzheimer’s disease and related studies on traumatic brain injury and multimorbidity.
Activity over the last year: 14 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Liraglutide in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: a phase 2b clinical trial (Dec 2025)
- Intimate partner violence, traumatic brain injury and long-term mental health outcomes in midlife: the Drake IPV study (Jun 2025)
- The associations between multimorbidity, healthcare resource utilisation and costs in individuals with Alzheimer's disease dementia (May 2025)
Colin McCowan
Colin McCowan’s work draws on epidemiology, infectious diseases, and family practice, with recent studies on colorectal screening uptake, cardiovascular risk markers, and postpartum risk prediction.
Activity over the last year: 10 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Behavioural interventions to increase uptake of FIT colorectal screening in Scotland (TEMPO): a nationwide, eight-arm, factorial, randomised controlled trial (Mar 2025)
- Abnormal Plasma/Serum Magnesium, Copper, and Zinc Concentrations Associate with the Future Development of Cardiovascular Diseases (Apr 2025)
- Development and validation of a postpartum cardiovascular disease risk prediction model in women incorporating reproductive and pregnancy-related predictors (Aug 2025)
Frank Sullivan
Frank Sullivan focuses on general health professions, health information management, and public health, with recent papers on medication adherence, lung cancer screening, and collaborative practice in multimorbidity care.
Activity over the last year: 11 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Association between medication adherence and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with both diabetes and hypertension in primary care settings in Canada: A retrospective cohort study (Apr 2025)
- Five year mortality in an RCT of a lung cancer biomarker to select people for low dose CT screening (Jan 2025)
- Interprofessional collaborative practice in health and social care for people living with multimorbidity: a scoping review protocol (Jan 2025)
Derek J. Sloan
Derek J. Sloan’s recent research centers on infectious diseases and epidemiology, highlighted by phase 1b/2a and phase 2b tuberculosis drug trials involving BTZ-043, sutezolid, and delpazolid.
Activity over the last year: 11 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Safety, bactericidal activity, and pharmacokinetics of the antituberculosis drug candidate BTZ-043 in South Africa (PanACEA-BTZ-043–02): an open-label, dose-expansion, randomised, controlled, phase 1b/2a trial (Jan 2025)
- Sutezolid in combination with bedaquiline, delamanid, and moxifloxacin for pulmonary tuberculosis (PanACEA-SUDOCU-01): a prospective, open-label, randomised, phase 2b dose-finding trial (Jul 2025)
- Delpazolid in combination with bedaquiline, delamanid, and moxifloxacin for pulmonary tuberculosis (PanACEA-DECODE-01): a prospective, randomised, open-label, phase 2b, dose-finding trial (Jul 2025)
David J. Harrison
David J. Harrison’s publications link molecular biology, cancer research, and immunology, including work on haematopoiesis, whole-slide imaging datasets, and adjuvant durvalumab in renal cell carcinoma.
Activity over the last year: 9 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Clonal dynamics and somatic evolution of haematopoiesis in mouse (Mar 2025)
- SurGen: 1020 H&E-stained whole-slide images with survival and genetic markers (Jan 2025)
- LBA93 First results from RAMPART: An international phase III randomised-controlled trial of adjuvant durvalumab monotherapy or combined with tremelimumab for resected primary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) led by MRC CTU at UCL (Sep 2025)
Andrew O’Malley
Andrew O’Malley’s recent output combines literature, history, and the visual and performing arts with medical education themes such as AI-generated assessment questions, teleconsultation, and cannabinoid-related psychosis.
Activity over the last year: 6 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Quality assurance and validity of AI-generated single best answer questions (Feb 2025)
- Medical students’ and educators’ opinions of teleconsultation in practice and undergraduate education: A UK-based mixed-methods study (Mar 2025)
- Novel substance, same old problems: admissions of psychosis precipitated by hexahydrocannabinol, a widely available semi-synthetic cannabinoid (Jul 2025)
Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray’s recent studies sit at the intersection of medicine and performance science, with work on recovery, physical preparation, and shot-data analysis in professional golf.
Activity over the last year: 8 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Recovery for Professional and Elite Amateur Golfers: A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Methods (Aug 2025)
- Associations Between Physical Performance and Golf Shot Data: A Pilot Study of Touring Professional Female Players (Apr 2025)
- Elite professional golfers’ physical preparation practices and perceptions (Mar 2025)
What University of St Andrews's Medicine Community Is Working On
The most common subfields in this sample are epidemiology, history, and infectious diseases, suggesting a community that is balancing population-level analysis with clinical and translational questions. That mix is reflected in work on screening, risk prediction, tuberculosis trials, and decision-making in practice, alongside studies that use historical or interdisciplinary perspectives to frame present-day medical problems. Overall, the recent output points to a department engaged with both evidence generation and real-world application across prevention, treatment, and health service delivery.- Epidemiology - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- History - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Infectious Diseases - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Ophthalmology - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
- Psychiatry and Mental health - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
Together, these researchers show how medicine at the University of St Andrews brings together patient-focused studies, population health, and methodical clinical inquiry. Explore the full list below to see how the institution’s recent work is distributed across topics and specialties, and consider using Resub to support your own citation discovery, manuscript formatting, and submission preparation.
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