Prof Frank Sullivan
Professor of Primary Care Medicine
Research areas
Frank Sullivan has been an academic GP since 1984. He was appointed as the Professor of Primary Care Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of St. Andrews in 2017. His research interests lie mainly in health informatics and community based trials, covering the spectrum from record-linkage of electronic health records to decision support to the evaluation of complex interventions. Professor Sullivan has published 234 papers on primary care research, notably in the early detection of cancer and the management of diabetes and Bell’s palsy. He won the British Medical Association Research paper of the year in 2009 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2011 – the first family physician since 1908.
From March 1998 until February 2014 he was the NHS Tayside professor of R&D in General Practice and Primary Care. In the seven years before moving to Toronto he was the clinical director of the Scottish School of Primary Care. From 2014-17 he was the inaugural Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research Chair at North York General Hospital and director of the University of Toronto’s Practice Based Research Network: UTOPIAN. He is an honorary professor in the University of Dundee, the Department of Family & Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto and an Adjunct Scientist in the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Ontario
PhD supervision
- Lamorna Brown
- Emma Davies
- Josephine Murray
Selected publications
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Briefing note: sexual violence and assault on NHS premises
McCartney, M., Sullivan, F. & Orr, K., 1 Apr 2026, Online: Centre for Evidence and Values in Healthcare / University of St Andrews. 3 p.Research output: Book/Report › Policy brief
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Open access
Corticosteroids and antiviral treatment for Bell's palsy (idiopathic facial paralysis) (Protocol)
Kurotschka, P. K., Daly, F., Gagyor, I., Bauer, M., Babl, F. E., Hernandez Santiago, V., Bassi, M. C., Somasundara, D., Lowe, S. W. & Sullivan, F., 24 Feb 2026, In: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2, 2, p. 1-9 9 p., CD015563.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Effects of a comprehensive antibiotic stewardship program on antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in rural facilities: a cluster randomized trial
Wei, X., Zhuo, C., Hicks, J. P., Zhang, Z., Wu, S., Walley, J. D., Zheng, J., Guo, W., Huang, H., Sullivan, F., Brown, A. & Zhong, N., Mar 2026, In: Nature Medicine. 32, p. 841–848 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Family physicians' experiences with an electronic medical record-integrated family history collection strategy: a qualitative study
Walji, S., Makuwaza, T., Bearss, E., Kukan, S., Aliarzadeh, B., Allanson, J., Greiver, M., Grunfeld, E., Gupta, K., Heisey, R., Ivers, N., Kavanagh, D., Kim, R., Levy, M., Moineddin, R., Morrison, S., Muraca, M., Mutasingwa, D., O'Brien, M. A. & Permaul, J. & 3 others, , 19 May 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: BJGP Open. Latest Articles, p. 1-11 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Scottish GP walk-in centres: access at the expense of continuity?
Hughes, L. D., McCartney, M. & Sullivan, F., 1 Apr 2026, In: British Journal of General Practice. 76, 765, p. 155-156 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
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Open access
“Walking around the golf course is the exercise you need”: exploring the acceptability of a golf on referral scheme amongst participants through post-programme focus groups
Warne, S. J., Brown, L. R., Barker, K., Carstairs, S. A., Burns Cunningham, K., Duggal, S., Evans, I., Martin, A., Murray, A., Ozakinci, G., Williams, A. J. & Sullivan, F., 27 Mar 2026, In: BMC Primary Care. 27, p. 1-16 16 p., 108.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
When to stop digging: a systematic review on the impact of false positives in multi-cancer early detection and associated diagnostic work-up when used in asymptomatic population screening
Romeikat, N. L., Morgan-Young, R., McCartney, M. & Sullivan, F., 3 Jun 2026, In: BMJ Connections Oncology. 3, 1, p. 1-12 12 p., e000103.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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An innovative strategy for collecting family health history: an effectiveness-implementation trial in primary care clinics
Carroll, J. C., Greiver, M., Kukan, S., Bearss, E., Walji, S., Moineddin, R., Aliarzadeh, B., Kalia, S., Allanson, J., Grunfeld, E., Gupta, K., Heisey, R., Kavanagh, D., Kim, R., Levy, M., Morrison, S., Muraca, M., Mutasingwa, D., O’Brien, M. A. & Permaul, J. & 2 others, , Sept 2025, In: Annals of Family Medicine. 23, 5, p. 399-406 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Are treatment services ready for the use of big data analytics and artificial intelligence in managing opioid use disorder?
Amer, M., Gittins, R., Millana, A. M., Scheibein, F., Ferri, M., Tofighi, B., Sullivan, F., Handley, M., Ghosh, M., Baldacchino, A. & Tay Wee Teck, J., 28 Apr 2025, In: Journal of Medical Internet Research. 27, p. 1-15 15 p., e58723.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Association between medication adherence and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with both diabetes and hypertension in primary care settings in Canada: a retrospective cohort study
Su, M., Qin, X. S., Li, Y., Upshur, R., Sullivan, F., Légaré, F., Greiver, M., Wu, S. & Wei, X., 16 Apr 2025, In: PLoS ONE. 20, 4, p. 1-14 14 p., e0319991.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review