While having a conversation with Dr Meena Rafiq – an Academic GP and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and University College London (UCL) – you could be forgiven for thinking you’re in a doctor’s surgery, having a private conversation with a GP who has a great bedside manner.
“I think what motivated me to become a GP, was wanting to provide that continuity of care. We had our own family GP from childhood through to university. It was a special relationship that I think everyone should have ,” Meena said when asked about her recent Data Connect sarcoma research study, and her journey into clinical research.
It was when she was a junior doctor that Meena’s interest in clinical research was first sparked. “I really liked how in research you’re pushing the boundaries and developing the next generation of guidelines and advancing the field of medicine.”
And that’s exactly what Meena’s recent research does.
Sarcoma is a rare and deadly bone cancer most commonly found in young people. Forty per cent of sarcoma patients don’t survive five years after their diagnosis. Meena hopes her research can change that by opening a new window for earlier diagnosis.
“Our study showed an increase of GP visits for Australian sarcoma patients in the six months before diagnosis, identifying an earlier opportunity for detection. Based on these findings, we developed a clinical tool, which could improve earlier diagnosis and patient outcomes,” Meena said. The tool is a simple flowchart that lays out a pathway of options for diagnosis when a GP is investigating soft tissue lumps or bone pain – both symptoms of sarcoma.”
Meena’s interest lies in using linked electronic health records to improve early cancer diagnosis. Alongside working as a GP in Australia and the UK, she has a PhD in Early Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care and expertise in conducting 'big data' research using a number of primary care datasets worldwide.
“I joined the VCCC Alliance Data Connect team due to a series of lucky coincidences,” Meena said. Originally from the UK, Meena met Data Connect co-chair Professor Jon Emery many years ago when they were both participating in the CanTest Collaborative, an international team of primary care cancer researchers working on early detection and diagnosis of cancer funded by Cancer Research UK.
Eventually, Meena decided to come to Australia “for the sunshine and change of scene” and contacted Prof Emery to see what research he was involved in. “I was about halfway through my PhD at the time. Jon told me about a great new primary care registry dataset they had just set up with a linkage to a hospital sarcoma dataset, made possible by Associate Professor Jeremy Lewin, an oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
"That data linkage enabled the first studies around the sarcoma diagnostic window in an Australian setting, and the first international study of this kind for sarcoma.”
“Our ultimate aim is to make the experience in primary care better for sarcoma patients - that includes ensuring they are diagnosed earlier,” Meena said. “We’re now working towards getting this tool reviewed and adopted for use in general practice settings.”
In the meantime, Meena spends any downtime she may have getting crafty. “During Covid lockdowns my partner bought me a sewing machine. I also knit and paint; it’s nice to have an artistic outlet that’s unrelated to medicine.”
In a way, Meena’s datasets are like the bits of a patchwork quilt that she might pull together to tell a story, so maybe her creativity at work and artistry at home aren’t that unrelated after all.
Meena was interviewed by the British Journal of General Medicine - you can watch a short video of Meena here Meena Rafiq video and listen to a 10-minute podcast here Meena Rafiq podcast.
Visit our Events page to register for two online sarcoma discussions chaired by Associate Professor Jeremy Lewin, Medical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre; Medical Director, Victorian Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Service, who was co-lead author on this sarcoma study.
