Dr Stephen Spencer

Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow based in Malawi

Stephen is an intensive care and acute medicine trainee and is a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).

In 2013, while studying medicine in Manchester, he founded an international health research charity with the aim to improve equitable access to research, treatment and health education in remote and under-represented communities, and has continued in his role as Chair of Trustees. Through this work, he has established collaborative partnerships with an emphasis on capacity building.

Through Stephen's clinical training in acute care specialities, his research interests in care for the acute and critically unwell have developed, with a focus on acute care in low-resource settings.

In 2021, Stephen completed an MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at LSTM.

He has led and collaborated on projects in the UK, and in sub-Saharan Africa with the African Research Collaboration on Sepsis (ARCS), the MultiLink consortium (investigating multimorbidity-associated emergency hospitalisation in sub-Saharan Africa), and African Multimorbidity Alliance.

In 2021, Stephen secured a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD (2021-2025) to study acute multimorbidity-associated hospital admissions and breathlessness in sub-Saharan Africa.

The aim of this work is to understand the prevalence and outcomes of hospitalised adults in secondary care; to describe patterns of multimorbidity clusters; and to assess whether context-appropriate point-of-care tools can be used to effectively differentiate between common causes of acute and chronic breathlessness.

Stephen is currently working and living in Blantyre, Malawi at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme.

 

 

Selected publications

  • Spencer SA et al. (2022). Impact of a novel, low-cost and sustainable health education program on the knowledge, attitudes and practices related to intestinal schistosomiasis in school children in a hard-to-reach district of Madagascar. Am J Trop Med. 106(2): 685–694.

    Spencer SA, et al. (2019). The presence of psychological trauma symptoms in resuscitation providers and an exploration of debriefing practices. Resuscitation. 142:175–81.

    Spencer SA, Gumley J, Pachucki M. (2021). A retrospective case series of paediatric admissions to adult intensive care in a district general hospital over 6-years with a survey analysis of practitioner confidence and competence. Journal Intensive Care Society.

    Sheehy, C et al. (2021). Pilot survey of pre-school aged children (2-4-year olds) in Marolambo District reveals new treatment needs for intestinal schistosomiasis on Madagascar. Infectious Diseases of Poverty. 10(1):87.

    Spencer SA et al. (2021). Five year follow-up on the prevalence and intensity of infections of Schistosoma mansoni in a hard-to-reach district of Madagascar. Am J Trop Med. 104: 1841-1850.

    Russell H et al, . (2020). A cross sectional study of periportal fibrosis and Schistosoma mansoni infection amongst school aged children in a hard-to-reach area of Madagascar. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 114(4):315-322.

    Spencer SA, et al. (2017). High burden of Schistosoma mansoni infection in school-aged children in Marolambo District, Madagascar. Parasites & Vectors. 10:307.

    Spencer S, Buhary T, Coulson I, Sedki G. (2016). Mucosal erosions as the presenting symptom in erythema multiforme. BJGP (2016). 66(644):e222;1478-5242.

    Spencer S & Wilkins E. (2014). Routine screening for cognitive and psychological impairment in HIV-infected patients. HIV Medicine (2014). 15: 317–318.