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Dr Raheelah Ahmad

Senior Lecturer

School of Health Sciences Division of Health Services Research and Management

Contact details

Address

Dr Raheelah Ahmad City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

Raheelah is the Director for Global Engagement for the School of Health Sciences.
She leads the Health Management and Leadership and the Innovation and Change teaching on the Health Management MSc programme at City. She also contributes to the Master of Public Health Programme.
Raheelah is Deputy Chair of The Surveillance and Epidemiology of Drug-resistant Infections Consortium (SEDRIC) and the Knowledge Mobilisation Lead for three National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Units (HPRU): Modelling and Health Economics, Respiratory Infections and Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HCAI & AMR) at Imperial College London, where she is also the Health Management Programme Lead.
Preceded by a decade of management experience in the English National Health Service, she is a recipient of the prestigious NIHR Fellowship in Knowledge Mobilisation and co-investigator on the ESRC/UKRI project to address AMR in low resource settings (ASPIRES), leading work to evaluate sustained impact of interventions across the healthcare economy. She co-leads the Implementation Course in Infection Control (EUCIC), in collaboration with the University of Geneva Hospitals, in its 6th year of running.

Qualifications

  1. PhD Health Management, Business School, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
  2. MSc Health Services Management, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
  3. MSc Medical Informatics, City University & Guy’s & St Thomas’ Medical School, United Kingdom
  4. PGCE, King's College London, United Kingdom
  5. BSc Mathematics, University College London, United Kingdom

Employment

  1. Director for Global Engagement, City, University London, Feb 2021 – present

Visiting appointments

  1. Visiting Scientist, Harvard University, 2019 – present
  2. Adjunct Faculty, Dow University of Health Sciences, Pakistan, 2019 – present

Memberships of committees

  1. Technical Advisor, Fleming Fund, 2020 – present

Languages

Urdu.

Expertise

Geographic Areas

  • Africa - Southern
  • Asia
  • Europe

Research

Selected Projects

Co-I: NIHR HPRU for Healthcare Associated infections and Antimicrobial Resistance, NIHR HPRU Respiratory Infections, NIHR HPRU Modelling and Health Economics - NIHR 3 x £5 million 04/2020 – 60 months

PI: Evaluation of antibiotic use in out of hours settings - Public Health England £40,000 (08/2019 - 12 months)

Co-I: Evaluating Pharmacy led advise for Urinary Tract Infections - Public Health England £65,000 (08/2018 - 12 months)

PI: Optimising knowledge mobilisation - NIHR £215,000 (06/2016 – 36 months)

Co-I: Improving surgical outcomes and reducing mortality and morbidity in maternal, neonatal and paediatric populations: optimising antibiotic use and infection prevention - Research England Grand Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) £147,723 (11/2018 - 9 months)

Co-I: Antibiotic use across Surgical Pathways - Investigating, Redesigning and Evaluating Systems; India, South Africa, Rwanda, England, Scotland. GCRF/ESRC £1.9 million (05/2017 - 48 months)

PI: Evaluation of family medicine reforms in Turkey - World Bank/MoH £80,200 (11/2011-12 months)

Research students

1st supervisor

Publications

Publications by category

Conference paper/proceedings

  1. Kyratsis, Y., Ahmad, R., Iwami, M., Sanchez, E.C., Atun, R. and Holmes, A. (2018). A multi-level analysis of infection control in English hospitals: coerced safety culture change.

Journal articles (51)

  1. Zhu, N.J., McLeod, M., McNulty, C.A.M., Lecky, D.M., Holmes, A.H. and Ahmad, R. (2021). Trends in Antibiotic Prescribing in Out-of-Hours Primary Care in England from January 2016 to June 2020 to Understand Behaviours during the First Wave of COVID-19. Antibiotics, 10(1), pp. 32–32. doi:10.3390/antibiotics10010032.
  2. Singh, S., Mendelson, M., Surendran, S., Bonaconsa, C., Mbamalu, O., Nampoothiri, V. … Ferlie, E. (2021). Investigating infection management and antimicrobial stewardship in surgery: a qualitative study from India and South Africa. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2020.12.013.
  3. Birgand, G., Mutters, N.T., Ahmad, R., Tacconelli, E., Lucet, J.-.C. and Holmes, A. (2020). Risk perception of antimicrobial resistance by infection control specialists in Europe: a case-vignette study. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 9(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-020-0695-z.
  4. Naylor, N.R., Yamashita, K., Iwami, M., Kunisawa, S., Mizuno, S., Castro-Sánchez, E. … Holmes, A. (2020). Code-Sharing in Cost-of-Illness Calculations: An Application to Antibiotic-Resistant Bloodstream Infections. Frontiers in Public Health, 8. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.562427.
  5. Veepanattu, P., Singh, S., Mendelson, M., Nampoothiri, V., Edathadatil, F., Surendran, S. … Charani, E. (2020). Building resilient and responsive research collaborations to tackle antimicrobial resistance—Lessons learnt from India, South Africa, and UK. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 100, pp. 278–282. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.08.057.
  6. Peiffer-Smadja, N., Allison, R., Jones, L.F., Holmes, A., Patel, P., Lecky, D.M. … McNulty, C.A.M. (2020). Preventing and Managing Urinary Tract Infections: Enhancing the Role of Community Pharmacists—A Mixed Methods Study. Antibiotics, 9(9), pp. 583–583. doi:10.3390/antibiotics9090583.
  7. Zhu, N.J., Ahmad, R., Holmes, A., Robotham, J.V., Lebcir, R. and Atun, R. (2020). System dynamics modelling to formulate policy interventions to optimise antibiotic prescribing in hospitals. Journal of the Operational Research Society. doi:10.1080/01605682.2020.1796537.
  8. Rawson, T.M., Ming, D., Ahmad, R., Moore, L.S.P. and Holmes, A.H. (2020). Antimicrobial use, drug-resistant infections and COVID-19. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 18(8), pp. 409–410. doi:10.1038/s41579-020-0395-y.
  9. Peiffer-Smadja, N., Rawson, T.M., Ahmad, R., Buchard, A., Georgiou, P., Lescure, F.-.X. … Holmes, A.H. (2020). Corrigendum to ‘machine learning for clinical decision support in infectious diseases: a narrative review of current applications’ clinical microbiology and infection (2020) 584–595. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 26(8), pp. 1118–1118. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2020.05.020.
  10. Peiffer-Smadja, N., Poda, A., Ouedraogo, A.-.S., Guiard-Schmid, J.-.B., Delory, T., Le Bel, J. … Lescure, F.-.X. (2020). Paving the Way for the Implementation of a Decision Support System for Antibiotic Prescribing in Primary Care in West Africa: Preimplementation and Co-Design Workshop With Physicians. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(7). doi:10.2196/17940.
  11. Peiffer-Smadja, N., Rawson, T.M., Ahmad, R., Buchard, A., Georgiou, P., Lescure, F.-.X. … Holmes, A.H. (2020). Machine learning for clinical decision support in infectious diseases: a narrative review of current applications. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 26(5), pp. 584–595. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2019.09.009.
  12. Zingg, W., Storr, J., Park, B.J., Ahmad, R., Tarrant, C., Castro-Sanchez, E. … Pittet, D. (2019). Implementation research for the prevention of antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections; 2017 Geneva infection prevention and control (IPC)-think tank (part 1). Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-019-0527-1.
  13. Zingg, W., Park, B.J., Storr, J., Ahmad, R., Tarrant, C., Castro-Sanchez, E. … Pittet, D. (2019). Technology for the prevention of antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections; 2017 Geneva IPC-Think Tank (Part 2). Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-019-0538-y.
  14. Castro-Sánchez, E., Gilchrist, M., Ahmad, R., Courtenay, M., Bosanquet, J. and Holmes, A.H. (2019). Nurse roles in antimicrobial stewardship: lessons from public sectors models of acute care service delivery in the United Kingdom. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-019-0621-4.
  15. Zingg, W., Storr, J., Park, B.J., Jernigan, J.A., Harbarth, S., Grayson, M.L. … Pittet, D. (2019). Broadening the infection prevention and control network globally; 2017 Geneva IPC-think tank (part 3). Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-019-0528-0.
  16. Ahmad, R., Zhu, N.J., Leather, A.J.M., Holmes, A. and Ferlie, E. (2019). Strengthening strategic management approaches to address antimicrobial resistance in global human health: a scoping review. BMJ Global Health, 4(5). doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001730.
  17. Ahmad, R., Sim, F. and Mackie, P. (2019). Navigating complexity: harnessing appropriate methodologies. Public Health, 174. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2019.08.001.
  18. Charani, E., Ahmad, R., Rawson, T.M., Castro-Sanchèz, E., Tarrant, C. and Holmes, A.H. (2019). The Differences in Antibiotic Decision-making Between Acute Surgical and Acute Medical Teams: An Ethnographic Study of Culture and Team Dynamics. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 69(1), pp. 12–20. doi:10.1093/cid/ciy844.
  19. Rawson, T.M., Ahmad, R., Toumazou, C., Georgiou, P. and Holmes, A.H. (2019). Artificial intelligence can improve decision-making in infection management. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(6), pp. 543–545. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0583-9.
  20. Kyratsis, Y., Ahmad, R., Iwami, M., Castro‐Sánchez, E., Atun, R. and Holmes, A.H. (2019). A multilevel neo‐institutional analysis of infection prevention and control in English hospitals: coerced safety culture change? Sociology of Health & Illness. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12897.
  21. McLeod, M., Ahmad, R., Shebl, N.A., Micallef, C., Sim, F. and Holmes, A. (2019). A whole-health–economy approach to antimicrobial stewardship: Analysis of current models and future direction. PLOS Medicine, 16(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002774.
  22. Ahmad, R., Zhu, N.J., Lebcir, R.M. and Atun, R. (2019). How the health-seeking behaviour of pregnant women affects neonatal outcomes: findings of system dynamics modelling in Pakistan. BMJ Global Health, 4(2). doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001242.
  23. Charani, E., Smith, I., Skodvin, B., Perozziello, A., Lucet, J.-.C., Lescure, F.-.X. … Holmes, A.H. (2019). Investigating the cultural and contextual determinants of antimicrobial stewardship programmes across low-, middle- and high-income countries—A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 14(1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209847.
  24. Birgand, G., Castro-Sánchez, E., Hansen, S., Gastmeier, P., Lucet, J.-.C., Ferlie, E. … Ahmad, R. (2018). Comparison of governance approaches for the control of antimicrobial resistance: Analysis of three European countries. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 7(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-018-0321-5.
  25. Alividza, V., Mariano, V., Ahmad, R., Charani, E., Rawson, T.M., Holmes, A.H. … Castro-Sánchez, E. (2018). Investigating the impact of poverty on colonization and infection with drug-resistant organisms in humans: a systematic review. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 7(1). doi:10.1186/s40249-018-0459-7.
  26. Rawson, T.M., Moore, L.S.P., Castro-Sanchez, E., Charani, E., Hernandez, B., Alividza, V. … Holmes, A.H. (2018). Development of a patient-centred intervention to improve knowledge and understanding of antibiotic therapy in secondary care. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 7(1). doi:10.1186/s13756-018-0333-1.
  27. Ashiru-Oredope, D., Doble, A., Akpan, M., Hansraj, S., Shebl, N., Ahmad, R. … Hopkins, S. (2018). Antimicrobial Stewardship Programmes in Community Healthcare Organisations in England: A Cross-Sectional Survey to Assess Implementation of Programmes and National Toolkits. Antibiotics, 7(4), pp. 97–97. doi:10.3390/antibiotics7040097.
  28. Mizuno, S., Iwami, M., Kunisawa, S., Naylor, N., Yamashita, K., Kyratsis, Y. … Ahmad, R. (2018). Comparison of national strategies to reduce meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in Japan and England. Journal of Hospital Infection, 100(3), pp. 280–298. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2018.06.026.
  29. Castro-Sánchez, E., Iwami, M., Ahmad, R., Atun, R. and Holmes, A.H. (2018). Articulating citizen participation in national anti-microbial resistance plans: a comparison of European countries. European Journal of Public Health, 28(5), pp. 928–934. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cky128.
  30. Ahmad, R., Sim, F. and Mackie, P. (2018). Ask not what your health system can do for you …. Public Health, 162. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2018.08.006.
  31. Hansen, S., Schwab, F., Gastmeier, P., Zingg, W., Pittet, D., Zingg, W. … Wu, A.W. (2018). Association of national and hospital factors to hospitals' alcohol-based handrub consumption in Europe: results of the European PROHIBIT study. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 24(7), pp. 778–778. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2017.10.015.
  32. Rawson, T.M., Castro-Sánchez, E., Charani, E., Husson, F., Moore, L.S.P., Holmes, A.H. … Ahmad, R. (2018). Involving citizens in priority setting for public health research: Implementation in infection research. Health Expectations, 21(1), pp. 222–229. doi:10.1111/hex.12604.
  33. Lebcir, R., Demir, E., Ahmad, R., Vasilakis, C. and Southern, D. (2017). A discrete event simulation model to evaluate the use of community services in the treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease in the United Kingdom. BMC Health Services Research, 17(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-017-1994-9.
  34. Naylor, N.R., Zhu, N., Hulscher, M., Holmes, A., Ahmad, R. and Robotham, J.V. (2017). Is antimicrobial stewardship cost-effective? A narrative review of the evidence. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 23(11), pp. 806–811. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2017.06.011.
  35. Charani, E., Ahmad, R., Tarrant, C., Birgand, G., Leather, A., Mendelson, M. … Holmes, A. (2017). Opportunities for system level improvement in antibiotic use across the surgical pathway. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 60, pp. 29–34. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2017.04.020.
  36. Iwami, M., Ahmad, R., Castro-Sánchez, E., Birgand, G., Johnson, A.P. and Holmes, A. (2017). Capacity of English NHS hospitals to monitor quality in infection prevention and control using a new European framework: a multilevel qualitative analysis. BMJ Open, 7(1). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012520.
  37. Rawson, T.M., Moore, L.S.P., Hernandez, B., Castro-Sanchez, E., Charani, E., Georgiou, P. … Holmes, A.H. (2016). Patient engagement with infection management in secondary care: a qualitative investigation of current experiences. BMJ Open, 6(10). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011040.
  38. Holmes, A., Castro-Sánchez, E. and Ahmad, R. (2016). Guidelines in infection prevention: Current challenges and limitations. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 22(9), pp. 440–443. doi:10.12968/bjhc.2016.22.9.440.
  39. Ahmad, R., Iwami, M., Castro-Sánchez, E., Husson, F., Taiyari, K., Zingg, W. … Holmes, A. (2016). Defining the user role in infection control. Journal of Hospital Infection, 92(4), pp. 321–327. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2015.09.018.
  40. Rawson, T.M., Moore, L.S.P., Hernandez, B., Castro-Sánchez, E., Charani, E., Ahmad, R. … Holmes, A.H. (2016). Missed opportunities for shared decision making in antimicrobial stewardship: The potential consequences of a lack of patient engagement in secondary care. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 45, pp. 122–123. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2016.02.306.
  41. Ahmad, R., Sim, F. and Mackie, P. (2016). Staying connected or networked to death? Public Health, 131, pp. 1–2. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2016.01.008.
  42. Hansen, S., Schwab, F., Gastmeier, P., Pittet, D., Zingg, W., Sax, H. … Wu, A.W. (2015). Provision and consumption of alcohol-based hand rubs in European hospitals. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 21(12), pp. 1047–1051. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2015.09.019.
  43. Hansen, S., Zingg, W., Ahmad, R., Kyratsis, Y., Behnke, M., Schwab, F. … Wu, A.W. (2015). Organization of infection control in European hospitals. Journal of Hospital Infection, 91(4), pp. 338–345. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2015.07.011.
  44. Holmes, A., Castro-Sánchez, E. and Ahmad, R. (2015). Guidelines in infection prevention: Current challenges and limitations. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 21(6), pp. 275–277. doi:10.12968/bjhc.2015.21.6.275.
  45. Martin, M., Zingg, W., Knoll, E., Wilson, C. and Dettenkofer, M. (2014). National European guidelines for the prevention of Clostridium difficile infection: a systematic qualitative review. Journal of Hospital Infection, 87(4), pp. 212–219. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2014.05.002.
  46. Ahmad, R., Sim, F. and Mackie, P. (2013). Keeping the data flowing. Public Health, 127(9), pp. 795–796. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2013.08.009.
  47. Ahmad, R., Ferlie, E. and Atun, R. (2013). How Trustworthiness is Assessed in Health Care: A Sensemaking Perspective. Journal of Change Management, 13(2), pp. 159–178. doi:10.1080/14697017.2012.700525.
  48. Kyratsis, Y. and Ahmad, R. (2013). Mapping the terrain of investment in global infectious diseases. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 13(1), pp. 6–7. doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(12)70289-x.
  49. Kyratsis, Y., Ahmad, R. and Holmes, A. (2012). Making sense of evidence in management decisions: the role of research-based knowledge on innovation adoption and implementation in healthcare. study protocol. Implementation Science, 7(1). doi:10.1186/1748-5908-7-22.
  50. Ahmad, R., Kyratsis, Y. and Holmes, A. (2012). When the user is not the chooser: learning from stakeholder involvement in technology adoption decisions in infection control. Journal of Hospital Infection, 81(3), pp. 163–168. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2012.04.014.
  51. Kyratsis, Y., Ahmad, R. and Holmes, A. (2012). Technology adoption and implementation in organisations: comparative case studies of 12 English NHS Trusts. BMJ Open, 2(2). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-000872.

Report

  1. Holmes, A., Dixon-Woods, M., Ahmad, R., Brewster, E., Castro-Sanchez, E., Secci, F. … Zingg, W. (2015). Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England. Towards a whole health economy approach. Health Foundation.

Professional activities

Editorial activity

  1. Public Health, Senior Associate Editor, 2013 – 2019.

Keynote lectures/speeches (6)

  1. 5th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety – Session chair (postponed due to COVID-19). Montreux, Switzerland (2020).
  2. 4th International Conference on Patient Safety. Islamabad, Pakistan (2019).
  3. Dow University of Health Sciences; Continuing Medical Education Lecture Series. Karachi, Pakistan (2019).
  4. World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) – Innovation showcase. Doha, Qatar (2018).
  5. World Health Organization Europe: Knowledge utilisation and translation to address antimicrobial resistance. Berlin, Germany (2017).
  6. Geneva Infection Prevention and Control - Think Tank. Geneva, Switzerland (2016).