Rate My Professor David Wellsted

Professor David Wellsted holds the position of Professor of Applied Health Science in the Department of Psychology, Sport and Geography within the School of Life and Medical Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire. He is Head of the Health Research Methods Unit, Head of the Centre for Health Services and Clinical Research, and Director of the University of Hertfordshire Clinical Trials Support Network. His career has centered on advancing applied health research at the interface of physical and mental health, with significant contributions to programs addressing distress in patients with long-term conditions, including End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Current initiatives under his involvement include a Horizon-funded trial aimed at preventing problematic internet use among young people. Leading a team in the Centre, he has overseen the delivery of more than 10 funded clinical trials, securing over £20 million in funding across 15 years, with ambitions to establish the Clinical Trials Support Network as an independent Clinical Trials Unit. Additionally, his group has developed work on Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) focused on renal services, alongside broader efforts in health care measurement.

Wellsted's research specializations encompass the design and evaluation of complex interventions in health, social care, and public health settings; health care measurement, particularly PREMs; psychosocial dimensions of living with ESRD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and diabetes; quality of life assessments in these populations; conservative management and end-of-life care for ESRD patients; adherence and behavior change techniques such as self-affirmation; and longitudinal analytical methods, including medical statistics, research designs, and meta-analysis. He has been a member of the NIHR East of England Research Design Service since 2008, leading the Hertfordshire group since 2003, and serves as a reviewer for NIHR funding programs including HTA, PGfAR, RfPB, and HSDR, as well as journals such as Kidney International, Clinical Oncology, Journal of Health Psychology, Psychology Health and Medicine, and International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. Key publications include 'Quality of Life and Survival in Patients with Advanced Kidney Disease' (2012), 'Effects of exercise on obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms: a systematic review with meta-analysis' (2023), 'Patient-Reported Experience Measures to Evaluate and Improve In-Center Hemodialysis Care' (2024), 'Disease-specific predictive formulas for energy expenditure in the dialysis population' (2014), 'You cannot choose your family: sociological ambivalence in the hemodialysis unit' (2015), and 'Identifying Depression in South Asian Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease' (2011).