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Dr Rebecca Fortescue

Lecturer in EBCP and Co-ordinating Editor for Cochrane Airways Group
I teach evidence based clinical practice and am part of the public health teaching team

Dr Fortescue's main responsibilities are facilitating the final year Public Health attachment and evidence-based medicine teaching to T year medical students. She also provides advice and support to those undertaking evidence synthesis projects within the institution and is a co-investigator/collaborator on a number of other external projects in the area of evidence synthesis and respiratory research.

Until March 2023, she was responsible for co-ordinating Cochrane Airways, one of the Cochrane Review Groups. The group produced and published Cochrane Reviews on the Cochrane Library about long-term respiratory conditions. The group was part of Cochrane, an international collaboration of researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, carers and those interested in evidence-based healthcare. Dr Fortescue continues to be involved in Cochrane as an associate editor.

Dr Fortescue was involved in updating the 2019 BTS/SIGN Asthma guideline and the 2021 ERS Bronchiectasis in children guideline. She also is part of an ERS research collaboration Child-BEAR-net. 

Dr Fortescue studied medicine at Cambridge University, before training to be a general practitioner at King's College Hospital in London. She undertook a joint academic/clinical role in her fourth year of GP training and was placed at St George's for the academic element, getting involved with Cochrane Airways as well as other projects. She continued to work with the group for 10 years, initially splitting her time between general practice and academic work and then completing a Masters in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 2015-2017. 

Following cessation of NIHR funding for UK-based Cochrane Review Groups and a Cochrane restructure, Cochrane Airways closed in March 2023. Dr Fortescue has transitioned into a teaching role, primarily with the Public Health teaching team. She continues to contribute to evidence based medicine teaching to T year medical students and physician associates and maintains research interests in respiratory health and evidence synthesis through collaborations both internally and externally. 

Dr Fortescue's main research interest is respiratory medicine using systematic reviewing methods. She is also interested in primary health care research and physical activity. 

Dr Fortescue is a co-investigator on a current NIHR HTA grant being led by the University of Manchester and a member of a European Respiratory Society Clinical Research Collaboration. 

She was previously the Principal Investigator for Cochrane Airways' NIHR Infrastructure funding and 2017-2020 NIHR Programme Grant. 

Public Health teaching team:

  • Dr Tahira Chishti
  • Dr Umar Chaudhry
  • Dr Richard Alderslade
  • Dr Miranda Mindlin

Dr Fortescue is part of the Public Health teaching team and also contributes regularly to evidence-based medicine and Case Analysis Project (CAP) teaching. 

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