Flavia is a research fellow in cancer rehabilitation who works on the Yorkshire Cancer Research TRANSFORMing Cancer Outcomes in Yorkshire project. She is also part of the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre and the Institute for Clinical and Applied Health Research at the University of Hull.
Flavia is a research fellow in cancer rehabilitation at the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre and she is currently involved in a number of research projects:
1. PrimaryBreathe feasibility study: part of the PrimaryBreathe research programme to develop and test a brief remote primary care intervention for chronic breathlessness
2. CANAssess2: a project to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Needs Assessment Tool-Cancer (NAT-C) in reducing unmet needs of patients in primary care.
3. BREEZE2: a project to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a complex intervention to manage breathlessness in pulmonary fibrosis
4. FanFIRST: a project to test the feasibility of a fan-based intervention for people living with COPD and high SABA intake
She has a degree in physiotherapy and is a Chartered Physiotherapist who is a clinical specialist in palliative care. She was awarded a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Hull in 2017 on the role of non-pharmacological interventions for the management of chronic breathlessness.
My PhD research included a systematic review and meta-analysis of medical air for breathlessness, and a mixed methods feasibility study to investigate the handheld fan, the calming hand (a thinking strategy) and simple exercise advice for the management of chronic breathlessness. My main area of research interest is the role of the handheld fan and other symptom-based interventions for the management of chronic breathlessness.
I have post-doctoral research experience working on a number of breathlessness projects and I am a co-applicant on several NIHR successfully funded self-management breathlessness studies including; A feasibility, randomised controlled trial of a complex breathlessness intervention in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (Breeze-IPF); Living well with chronic breathlessness: Improving the sustained use of supported self-management strategies (Breathe Well); A randomised controlled trial of a complex intervention to manage breathlessness in pulmonary fibrosis (BREEZE 2) and Fan Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) for people living with COPD and high SABA intake (FanFIRST) where amongst other roles, I have led and provided clinical training for participants, and led the Patient and Public Involvement contribution.
I have led unfunded studies supervising MBBS undergraduates for the INSPIRE research programme. This has resulted in publications regarding the implementation challenges of the fan for breathlessness self-management. I continue to research the handheld fan and I am currently collaborating with IMPACCT research group at the University of Technology, Sydney to develop a handheld fan as a prototype medical device. In addition, I am looking at the role of physical activity for older people with lung cancer during cancer treatments on quality of life and cancer-related outcomes.
Undergraduate (MBBS)
Health and Society, Professionalism and ethics
Phase II Critically Appraised Topics (CAT marking and workshop facilitator)
Undergraduate (BSc Hons Physiotherapy)
Palliative care rehabilitation
Management of chronic breathlessness
Post-graduate (MSc Palliative Care: Implementing best practice)
Developing and refining complex interventions
A summary of Flavia’s research publications is available on ORCID or Researchgate.
Flavia currently collaborates on a number of projects with IMPACCT research group at the University of Technology, Sydney and with Prof Marie Williams, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Current and past research student supervision
Awarded Postgraduate research student
Thomas Burrell, MRes Sports, Health and Exercise Science, University of Hull. Project: Fan Facial Airflow Recovery from Exercise in people with chronic breathlessness (FanFare-P) Project co-supervisor
Undergraduate MBBS research students (Academy of Medical Sciences’ INSPIRE programme)
Josh Brown and Isobel Miller, Project: Implementation of the handheld fan in clinical practice; qualitative interviews of clinicians’ experience and perceptions of use, barriers and facilitators.
Gamze Keser, Project: The implementation of the handheld fan in clinical practice; a survey of clinicians’ experience and barriers and facilitators to use.
Andrew Brew and Sarah O’ Beine, Project: Fan Facial Airflow Recovery from Exercise in healthy participants (FanFARE-H).
Aliya Prihartadi and Giovanna Licastro, Project: A scoping review of non-medical devices for chronic breathlessness: use, barriers and facilitators for patients, carers and clinicians.
External Thesis examiner
Eloise Meulen, Bachelor of Exercise Physiology (Honours Research), University of South Australia. Project: Explaining breathlessness for people living with chronic breathlessness: Field testing a process to understand helpfulness and understandability of explanations.
Post-doctoral awards
NIHR & Charities Consortium for Hospice & Community Care Research Marie Curie award winner (2021)
Golden Heart award winner, Respiratory Palliative Care Research Partnership (2019)
Postgraduate awards
Hull York Medical School postgraduate award, The Dorothy Robson Prize for Palliative Medicine, (2017)
Hull York Medical School postgraduate research conference, 3 minute PhD thesis presentation prize winner: Airflow systematic review (SR) and meta-analyses, (2015)