Sarah Greenley

Sarah qualified as an information professional with a post-graduate diploma then MSc from Leeds Metropolitan University and started her career in health information supporting the information skills component in the pre-registration nursing curriculum at City University. In 2000 She moved to the British Medical Journal’s Evidence Centre as an information specialist, working on resources such as BMJ Clinical Evidence, BMJ Best Practice and BMJ Learning where she collaborated with external authors, editors and clinicians to develop reviews. Her role involved developing, validating and performing complex search strategies for specific study designs for multiple medical conditions and interventions, critically appraising search results, reference management, data checking, extraction and quality control. In addition, her role in the information specialist team at the BMJ meant continually reviewing and developing the search processes and presenting the results of research at national and international conferences and workshops. In 2012 Sarah joined the team at InferMed Ltd (later part of Elsevier Clinical Solutions), in a role to analyse clinical guidelines and content and transform these into computer interpretable guidelines for use in GP and hospital systems and national telephone triage systems. In 2018 she joined the TRANSFORM team at Hull York Medical School to provide methodological expertise for evidence synthesis projects.

Prior to joining Hull York Medical School, Sarah was involved in research around designing and validating search filters for specific study designs and researching best practice in information retrieval to improve methodology at the BMJ’s Evidence Centre.

View Sarah’s full list of publications on ORCID.

Selected publications

Pickwell-Smith BA, Spencer K, Sadeghi MH, Greenley S, Lind M, Macleod U. Where are the inequalities in colorectal cancer care in a country with universal healthcare? A systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 3;14(1):e080467. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080467.

Pickwell-Smith B, Greenley S, Lind M, Macleod U. Where are the inequalities in ovarian cancer care in a country with universal healthcare? A systematic review and narrative synthesis. J Cancer Policy. 2023 Nov 25;39:100458. doi: 10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100458

Janssen DJA, Bajwah S, Boon MH, Coleman C, Currow DC, Devillers A, Vandendungen C, Ekström M, Flewett R, Greenley S, Guldin MB, Jácome C, Johnson MJ, Kurita GP, Maddocks M, Marques A, Pinnock H, Simon ST, Tonia T, Marsaa K. European Respiratory Society clinical practice guideline: palliative care for people with COPD or interstitial lung disease. Eur Respir J. 2023 Aug 17;62(2):2202014. doi: 10.1183/13993003.02014-2022.

Goedegebuur J, Abbel D, Accassat S, Achterberg WP, Akbari A, Arfuch VM, Baddeley E, Bax JJ, Becker D, Bergmeijer B, Bertoletti L, Blom JW, Calvetti A, Cannegieter SC, Castro L, Chavannes NH, Coma-Auli N, Couffignal C, Edwards A, Edwards M, Enggaard H, Font C, Gava A, Geersing GJ, Geijteman ECT, Greenley S, Gregory C, Gussekloo J, Hoffmann I, Højen AA, van den Hout WB, Huisman MV, Jacobsen S, Jagosh J, Johnson MJ, Jørgensen L, Juffermans CCM, Kempers EK, Konstantinides S, Kroder AF, Kruip MJHA, Lafaie L, Langendoen JW, Larsen TB, Lifford K, van der Linden YM, Mahé I,

Maiorana L, Maraveyas A, Martens ESL, Mayeur D, van Mens TE, Mohr K, Mooijaart SP, Murtagh FEM, Nelson A, Nielsen PB, Ording AG, Ørskov M, Pearson M, Poenou G, Portielje JEA, Raczkiewicz D, Rasmussen K, Trinks-Roerdink E, Schippers I, Seddon K, Sexton K, Sivell S, Skjøth F, Søgaard M, Szmit S, Trompet S, Vassal P, Visser C, van Vliet LM, Wilson E, Klok FA, Noble SIR. Towards optimal use of antithrombotic therapy of people with cancer at the end of life: A research protocol for the development and implementation of the SERENITY shared decision support tool. Thromb Res. 2023 Aug;228:54-60. doi: 10.1016/j.thromres.2023.05.008.

Wray A, Pickwell-Smith B, Greenley S, Pask S, Bamidele O, Wright B, Murtagh F, Boland JW. Parental death: a systematic review of support experiences and needs of children and parent survivors. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022 Nov 16:bmjspcare-2022-003793. doi: 10.1136/spcare-2022-003793. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36384696.

Patterson M, Greenley S, Ma Y, et al Inoperable malignant bowel obstruction: palliative interventions outcomes – mixed-methods systematic review. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2023;13:e515-e527.

Cairns JM, Greenley S, Bamidele O, Weller D. A scoping review of risk-stratified bowel screening: current evidence, future directions. Cancer Causes Control. 2022 May;33(5):653-685. doi: 10.1007/s10552-022-01568-9. Epub 2022 Mar 20. PMID: 35306592; PMCID: PMC8934381.

Bamidele OO, Alexis O, Ogunsanya M, Greenley S, Worsley A, Mitchell ED. Barriers and facilitators to accessing and utilising post-treatment psychosocial support by Black men treated for prostate cancer-a systematic review and qualitative synthesis. Support Care Cancer. 2022 May;30(5):3665-3690. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06716-6. Epub 2022 Jan 4. PMID: 34982226; PMCID: PMC8724231.

Bansal A, Greenley S, Mitchell C, Park S, Shearn K, Reeve J. Optimising planned medical education strategies to develop learners' person-centredness: A realist review. Med Educ. 2022 May;56(5):489-503. doi: 10.1111/medu.14707. Epub 2021 Dec 22. PMID: 34842290; PMCID: PMC9306905.

Chand CP, Greenley S, Macleod U, Lind M, Barton R, Kelly C. Geographical distance and reduced access to palliative radiotherapy: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022 Mar 15:bmjspcare-2021-003356. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2021-003356. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35292512.

Wray A, Seymour J, Greenley S, Boland JW. Parental terminal cancer and dependent children: a systematic review. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022 Jan 28:bmjspcare-2021-003094. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2021-003094. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35091436.

Bullock, A.F., Greenley, S.L., Patterson, M.J., McKenzie, G.A.G. and Johnson, M.J. (2021), Patient, family and carer experiences of nutritional screening: a systematic review. J Hum Nutr Diet, 34: 595-603.

Curry J, Patterson M, Greenley S, Pearson M, Forbes CC. Feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of online supportive care for individuals living with and beyond lung cancer: a systematic review. Support Care Cancer. 2021 Nov;29(11):6995-7011. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06274-x. Epub 2021 May 18. PMID: 34008080; PMCID: PMC8130779.

McKenzie GAG, Bullock AF, Greenley SL, Lind MJ, Johnson MJ, Pearson M. Implementation of geriatric assessment in oncology settings: A systematic realist review. J Geriatr Oncol. 2021 Jan;12(1):22-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jgo.2020.07.003. Epub 2020 Jul 14. PMID: 32680826.

Bullock AF, Greenley SL, McKenzie GAG, Paton LW, Johnson MJ. Relationship between markers of malnutrition and clinical outcomes in older adults with cancer: systematic review, narrative synthesis and meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2020 Nov;74(11):1519-1535. doi: 10.1038/s41430-020-0629-0. Epub 2020 May 4. PMID: 32366995; PMCID: PMC7606134.

Forbes CC, Swan F, Greenley SL, Lind M, Johnson MJ. Physical activity and nutrition interventions for older adults with cancer: a systematic review. J Cancer Surviv. 2020 Oct;14(5):689-711. doi: 10.1007/s11764-020-00883-x. Epub 2020 Apr 24. PMID: 32328828; PMCID: PMC7473955.

May 2011 Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis.
Beyond searching: practical advice for increasing your role in systematic reviews (oral paper)

May 2010 Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC
Doing more with less: supplying evidence-based searches to multiple products (oral paper)

May 2008 Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Chicago
Building on existing evidence: Comparing Medline systematic review search strategies for everyday use at BMJ Clinical Evidence

Connecting with international evidence: Measuring the importance of multiple database searching for BMJ Clinical Evidence (poster presentations)

Mar 2008 Finding the Evidence workshop, Bradford Royal Infirmary

Feb 2008 Clinical Evidence training, University Hospital Galway, Ireland

Feb 2007 Dewsbury, Finding the evidence workshop

Jul 2006 Health Libraries Group Conference, Eastbourne. “Beyond search results: an introduction to pragmatic evidence retrieval and appraisal” (workshop)

Jun 2006 Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference, Vancouver. Keeping up with the evidence: systematic searching vs literature surveillance (oral presentation)

Mar 2004 Library Assistants’ Study Day, Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, “Clinical Evidence workshop”

Jun 2004 Health and Life Sciences Online conference, University of Oxford, “Clinical Evidence workshop”

May 2003 Medical Library Association Annual Meeting Symposium, San Diego. Evidence-Based Nursing Practice: Needs, Tools, and Solutions (oral paper)