Grant McGeechan

Grant McGeechan joined the University in January 2015 as a Research Associate working on a series of co-production evaluations of public health interventions with Durham County Council. This involved Grant working as a researcher in residence at the local authority, and members of the public health team travelling to the University to work on all aspects of the evaluations.

In addition to this Grant worked on various research projects within the School of Health and Social Care - most notably as a research co-ordinator and lead qualitative researcher for an NIHR funded randomised controlled trial looking at the impact of learning mentors delivering alcohol brief interventions to students within a high school setting.

In January 2018 Grant moved roles within the University and joined the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law as a lecturer in Health Psychology. Grant contributes to various modules within the MSc in Health Psychology and Clinical Skills.

Grant's research interests focus on two main areas. Psycho-oncology research focusing on the lived experience of people at all stages of the cancer journey, from pre-diagnosis and cancer screening through to those living with and beyond cancer as a chronic illness. Furthermore, Grant has extensively worked in Public Health research and specialises in evaluations of public health services. He has previously worked collaboratively with Durham County Council and has an on-going collaboration with South Tees Public Health through their Tackling Cancer Together board. Grant is a regular reviewer for a number of journals including the Journal of Public Health, Perspectives in Public Health and BMC Public Health and has formerly been a funding application reviewer for Cancer Research UK.

Current Research Projects include:

• Systematic Review of alcohol interventions for people with cancer - Funded by Alcohol Research UK
• A discourse analysis of Facebook users reactions to Social Media posts for cancer awareness campaigns
• Evaluation of South Tees Public Health cancer screening awareness programme.

Grant supervises both full, and part-time PhD students and would welcome the opportunity to work with students in the areas of Health Psychology, Psycho-Oncology or students looking to employ qualitative research methods in the remit of physical health. Current students are conducting research in the following areas - understanding the experiences of people with learning disabilities, and the influence of their carers on national cancer screening programmes; and understanding the lived experiences of people undergoing treatment for fear of cancer recurrence.

Presently Grant is a member of the Tackling Cancer Together board within the South Tees Public Health team.

Previously Grant served as a member of the School of Health and Social Care research ethics and governance committee.

Grant primarily teaches on the MSc in Health Psychology and Clinical Skills and leads the modules 'Current Topics in Health Psychology' and 'Interventions in Health Psychology' on this programme. Grant specialises in teaching health behaviour change models, psycho-oncology, the impact of alcohol on physical health outcomes and qualitative research methods. Grant supervises students across all levels of study, from undergraduate dissertations through to PhD students, and Top Up Doctorate students.