Professor Geraldine Leydon BA, MA, PhD, Dip. PH
Professor in Primary Care

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Geraldine Leydon is Professor in Primary Care within Medicine at the University of Southampton.
The longer I am in research the more convinced I am that it is imperative we pay adequate scientific attention to understanding how people communicate with one another. Communication practices can enhance or diminish the patient and practitioner experience in routine healthcare and the effectiveness of intervention studies, especially those that involve human support.
Geraldine trained in Medical Sociology at Lancaster University (BA), Goldsmiths College, London (MA), and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (PhD, Dip.PH). She has specialised in leading qualitative studies and teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students qualitative methods in health.
Geraldine previously held a NIHR Post-Doctoral Fellowship. She worked with Macmillan Cancer Support to identify key communication challenges of providing telephone help. Here she collected audio recordings of calls, and interviews with call handlers and callers. Her research led to revised training, which was cascaded to all call handlers. She also previously held a Medical Research Council Health Services Research Training Fellowship at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Here she trained in a range of health services research methods and collected and analysed audio recordings of outpatient oncology consultations from which she developed and delivered communication training for Oncologists at the Institute of Cancer Research.
Qualifications
- BA, Politics and Sociology, Lancaster University
- MA, Sociology and Research Methods Goldsmiths College, University of London
- PhD, Conversation Analytic Study of Outpatient Oncology Consultations, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London (supervised by Dr Judith Green, LSHTM and Professor Emeritus David Silverman, Goldsmiths’ College; Examined by Professor Paul Drew, York University, and Professor Christian Heath, Kings College London)
- Dip Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London
Appointments held
Professor in Primary Care Research, Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton.
Associate Professor in Primary Care Research & NIHR Fellowship Award Holder, Primary Care and Population Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton – associated member of Cancer and End of Life Care Group, Health Sciences, University of Southampton.
Reader in Primary Care Research & NIHR Fellowship Award Holder, Primary Care and Population Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton – associated member of Cancer and End of Life Care Group, Health Sciences, University of Southampton
Principal Research Fellow in Primary Care Research, Primary Medical Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton
Senior Research Fellow in Primary Care Research, Primary Medical Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton
Lecturer and MRC HSR Training Fellow in Health Services Research, Health Services Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Research Fellow in Public Health, Cancer and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Research Assistant in Primary Care and Public Health, Academic Department of General Practice, and Population Science and Public Health, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School.