Oliver van Hecke

Research 

I am an academic GP and completed my doctoral studies in 2018 at Oxford. My research interests are in optimising treatment options for common infections in the community. This stems from my early clinical training and ongoing collaborations with colleagues in Southern Africa. Optimising treatment for infections requires a multimodal approach:

• developing clinical decision-support tools for clinicians; 
• promoting cross-discipline teams to optimise treatment;
• testing and evaluating rapid diagnostic tests in clinical trials;
• ensuring public-facing communication strategies about infections and self-care are impactful.

Current projects

1. 2021 NIHR HTA Impact of duration of antibiotic therapy on effectiveness, safety and selection of antibiotic resistance in adult women with urinary tract infections (DurATIon-UTI trial, Hayward CI et al. Van Hecke Co-I) 
2. 2021 NIHR UK-wide Antiviral Clinical Trial Platform in Non-hospitalised Patients. Platform Adaptive trial of NOvel antiviRals for eArly treatMent of COVID-19 In the Community (PANORAMIC, Butler, Little co-CI, et al. Van Hecke co-I)
3. 2021 Academy of Medical Sciences Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers. Using a child’s antibiotic history as a data-enabled brief intervention to optimise antibiotic prescribing in children with acute respiratory tract infections in general practice (PI)
4. 2020 The International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) and Pfizer Global Medical Grants: Antimicrobial Stewardship in Africa and Middle East. Antimicrobial stewardship in publicly-funded primary healthcare clinics in the Cape Metro, South Africa: an implementation study (PI)
5. 2020 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR). Platform Randomised trial of INterventions against COVID-19 In older people (PRINCIPLE trial, Butler CI, et al. Van Hecke co-I)
6. 2020 NIHR HTA, AmiTriptyline for the prevention of post-HErpetic NeuralgiA (ATHENA trial, Ridd CI, et al. Van Hecke co-PI)

Beyond infectious diseases and the major antibiotic challenge, my other research interests include chronic pain and its wider influence on multi-morbidity and poor health.

Other roles

Member, NIHR Community Healthcare MIC (MedTech and In vitro diagnostics Co-operative) (2018-current)

Grants Secretary, British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (current)

Public Engagement and Patient Support Committee, Antibiotic Research UK (2021-current)

Department ambassador, Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) (2017-current)