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Dr Ajay Aggarwal

MSc MRCP FRCR PhD

Associate Professor
NIHR Advanced Fellow

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

I am a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Guy's St Thomas' NHS Trust specialising in the delivery of radiation and systemic therapies for cancer. In 2020 I received a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellowship to undertake a four-year programme of research to inform different options for the re-design of NHS cancer treatment services to optimise equity, access and outcomes using both qualitative and quantitative "big data" methods (epidemiology, GIS and econometrics). 

I graduated from Guy’s, Kings’ & St Thomas’ Medical school having attained a BSc in Management at Imperial College London. I have an MSc in the Science of Cancer from The Institute of Cancer Research and an MSc in Health, Population and Society from The London School of Economics. I completed my PhD in Health Services Research at LSHTM as part of a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship. In addition to my role at LSHTM I have honorary senior lecturer positions at the Institute of Cancer Policy (King's College London) where I co-director of the global oncology group and the MRC Clincial Trials Unit (University College London).

I am the current editor of the Journal of Cancer Policy. 

Affiliations

Faculty of Public Health and Policy
Department of Health Services Research and Policy

Teaching

I teach on the Public Health MSc at LSHTM. I am a faculty member of CREDO (International Collaboration for Research Methods Development in Oncology), which is an annual one-week research protocol development workshop involving senior oncology trainees from within and outside of India.

I am a faculty member of the Institute of Cancer Research MSc in Oncology course. I teach on two modules "Global Oncology" and "Cancer Economics". I am also a member of Faculty for the Leadership in Oncology Course organized by the European Society of Oncology.

Research

My academic career to date brings together my training in clinical oncology (radiation and medical oncology) with national and global health services research, with a particular focus on evidence-based policy implementation and impact. I have a wide skill set in research methodologies including epidemiology, demography, geographic information systems, econometrics, and qualitative methods. 

I have contributed significantly to national and international policy discussion around the affordability of cancer care and the value of new technologies in cancer medicine, which has directly influenced both WHO Cancer Drug Pricing and Benefits Taskforces, and the European Medicines Agency. In my role as the Oncology Coordinator for the UK National Prostate Cancer Audit, I led the development and delivery of the first ever national hospital outcome reporting programme for radiotherapy. As chair of the Health Economics in Radiation Oncology (HERO) group within ESTRO (European Society for Radiation Oncology), I am co-leading the value-based health care initiative.

I have experience and expertise in global health research. I have previously worked at the World Health Organisation in Geneva in the TB disease domain, and have ongoing global health projects aimed at building cancer control capacity and research capability in low and middle income countries. I am the Chief Investigator of the NIH funded ARCHERY study, the first prospective international multicentre trial across India, South Africa, Jordan and Malaysia evaluating the role of AI in radiotherapy.

Research Area
Health policy
Health services research
Health systems
Electronic health records
Global Health
Discipline
Economics
Epidemiology
GIS/Spatial analysis
Medicine
Policy analysis
Social Sciences
Disease and Health Conditions
Cancer
Country
Botswana
Ghana
India
Jordan
Malaysia
Tanzania
United States of America
South Africa
Zambia
Region
European Union
Middle East & North Africa (all income levels)
North America
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Managing the cancer backlog: a national population-based study of patient mobility, waiting times and 'spare capacity' for cancer surgery
Aggarwal A; Han L; Sullivan R; Haire K; Sangar V; van der Meulen J
2023
The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
Delays in seeking, reaching and access to quality cancer care in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.
Lombe DC; Mwamba M; Msadabwe S; Bond V; Simwinga M; Ssemata AS; Muhumuza R; Seeley J; Mwaka AD; Aggarwal A
2023
BMJ Open
From the European Medicines Agency to Project Orbis: new activities and challenges to facilitate UK oncology drug approval following Brexit.
Lythgoe MP; Krell J; Bower M; Murphy R; Marriott J; Blagden SP; Aggarwal A; Sullivan R
2023
The Lancet. Oncology
The rise of immuno-oncology in China: a challenge to western dominance?
Lythgoe MP; Lewison G; Aggarwal A; Booth C; Lawler M; Trapani D; Sengar M; Sullivan R
2023
The Lancet. Oncology
Virtual reality and surgical oncology.
Ng PY; Bing EG; Cuevas A; Aggarwal A; Chi B; Sundar S; Mwanahamuntu M; Mutebi M; Sullivan R; Parham GP
2023
ecancermedicalscience
Media coverage of cancer therapeutics: A review of literature
Rubagumya F; Galica J; Rugengamanzi E; Niyibizi BA; Aggarwal A; Sullivan R; Booth CM
2023
Journal of cancer policy
Treatment-related toxicity using prostate bed versus prostate bed and pelvic lymph node radiation therapy following radical prostatectomy: A national population-based study
Sujenthiran A; Parry MG; Dodkins J; Nossiter J; Morris M; Berry B; Nathan A; Cathcart P; Clarke NW; Payne H
2023
Clinical and translational radiation oncology
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