§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 29 June 1998,Official Report, column 7, if he will make a statement on the medical career and research background of Professor Glyn Lewis. [52064]
§ Dr. ReidProfessor Glyn Lewis is the Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry at University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM), Cardiff. He is leading a project team which will conduct an independent systematic literature review of worldwide published research relating to Gulf veterans' illnesses. This study has been commissioned by the Medical Research Council (MRC) on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The team which Professor Lewis has assembled to conduct the systematic literature review has a wide range of expertise. It comprises experts from both UWCM and other academic establishments, in a wide range of fields including epidemiology, toxicology, cancer research, occupational medicine and clinical statistics.
Professor Lewis holds five degrees. These are: a BA (Oxon) in Physiology and Psychology, an MSc (Oxon) in Neurophysiology, an MB BS (UCL) in Medicine, an MSc (LSHTM) in Epidemiology and a PhD (Institute of Psychiatry, London) in Medicine.
He was appointed to his position at UWCM in 1996. Before that he was a Lecturer and then a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry in London (1986–95). During this period he was also a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1991–95) and worked on secondment for the Department of Health (1991–94).
Professor Lewis is particularly interested in research methods and systematic reviews. This interest and his combined expertise in the fields of psychiatry and epidemiology are reflected in his work. For example, his recent publications include: 'Systematic review and Meta-analysis (Editorial)' in Psychological Medicine 27: pp 3–7 (with Hotopf, M. and Hardy, R.); 'Discontinuation rates of SSRIs and tricyclic and antidepressants: a meta-analysis and investigation of heterogeneity', British Journal of Psychiatry 170: pp 120–127 (with Hotopf, M. and Hardy, R.); and 'Putting trials on trial: the costs and 39W consequences of small trials in depression', Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 51, pp 354–358 (with Hotopf, M. and Hardy, R).