Simon Griffin

Professor Simon J Griffin

MB BS MSc DLSHTM DM MDhc FRCGP FMedSci

Simon is a general practitioner who undertakes research, teaching and clinical work. 

Simon Griffin

Simon qualified from the London Hospital Medical College in 1986 and specialised in general practice. As a Wellcome Training Fellow, he undertook doctoral study in Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Southampton and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, before being appointed as a University Lecturer in Cambridge in 1998. In 2005 Simon joined the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit as Assistant Director and was appointed Professor of General Practice in May 2013.

Simon is an Honorary Doctor at Umeå University Sweden, Honorary Consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal College of General Practitioners. He undertakes two surgery sessions per week at Lensfield Medical Practice in the centre of Cambridge.

 

 

Recognitions & achievements

  • Professor of General Practice, University of Cambridge
  • Assistant General Practitioner, Lensfield Medical Practice, Cambridge
  • Honorary Consultant, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Honorary Professor of General Medical Practice, Aarhus University, Denmark
  • Honorary Doctor, Umeå University Sweden
  • Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
  • Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners
  • NIHR Senior Investigator
  • Member, RCGP East Anglia Faculty Board
  • Board of Trustees, Novo Nordisk UK Research Foundation

Research Interests

As a clinical academic the majority of Simon’s research is applied and hence directly relevant to patients and the public. He has utilised a range of approaches, including systematic reviews and qualitative methods, but has generated knowledge and informed policy mainly through the translation of evidence from aetiological epidemiology and other disciplines, in particular behavioural science, into the development and subsequent randomised trial evaluation of behavioural, pharmacological, organisational and policy interventions. His research programme contributes to efforts aimed at reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

He has undertaken over 35 randomised trials, including the first trial of screening for type 2 diabetes. This work has been supported by over £70M in extramural grants, including five NIHR programme grants, in addition to an MRC programme renewed in 2010, 2015, and 2020. He developed and championed pragmatic strategies using information routinely available in general practice medical records to identify those at high risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, a strategy widely implemented in screening and prevention programmes around the world. He is applying similar approaches to the early detection of cancer. He is among the most highly cited general practitioners in the world with over 500 publications in peer review journals which have been cited over 34,000 times (Google H index:93). He has been a winner and twice runner-up of the British Medical Journal research paper of the year award.

Simon’s diverse teaching portfolio integrates research into under/postgraduate education. He teaches pre-clinical/clinical and masters degree students and is a senior examiner for the Cambridge medical degree. He has supervised 18 completed PhDs and 28 Master's degrees.