Staff Profile

Title of current posts         

• Consultant & Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Newcastle University
• Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust                All May 2002-

Funding

My role is 6 sessions clinical, 3 sessions undergraduate teaching (SIFT), 2 sessions postgraduate teaching & research (Degree Programme Director Masters of Clinical Research) & 0.5 session CLRN. There is agreement through the PDR process & appraisal to increase research time. I am both clinically qualified and clinically active.

Employment History

Specialist Registrar to: Dr PA Sanders, Dr B Pal & Dr A Ismail, Rheumatology,

South Manchester University Hospitals

Honorary Clinical Research Fellow, arc Epidemiology Unit (now ARUK)                                 Aug 2001-April 2002

Specialist Registrar to: Dr RM Bernstein & Dr I Bruce, Rheumatology, Manchester Royal Infirmary

Honorary Clinical Research Fellow, arc Epidemiology Unit (now ARUK)                                 Feb 2000-July 2001

Clinical Epidemiology Training Fellow: Professor AJ Silman (supervisor) & Dr GJ Macfarlane (adviser)          

                                arc Epidemiology Unit, University of Manchester (now ARUK)                  Feb 1997-Jan 2000

Registrar to: Dr RC Butler & Dr AF Macleod, Rheumatology & General Medicine/Endocrinology, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry  Feb 1996-Jan 1997

Registrar to: Dr T Price, Dr TP Sheeran & Dr AB Hassell, Dr J Gibson, Dr J Elizabeth

Rheumatology & General/Elderly Medicine, Cannock Chase Hospital                                     Feb 1995-Jan 1996

Senior House Officer to: Prof. J Walls, Dr J Feehally, Dr K Harris & Dr G Warwick

                                Nephrology, Leicester General Hospital                                                                          Aug 1994-Jan 1995

Senior House Officer to: Prof. DB Barnett, Dr KL Woods & Dr LL Ng

                                Clinical Pharmacology & Medicine, Leicester Royal Infirmary                                        Feb-July 1994

Senior House Officer to: Prof. David de Bono & Dr PJB Hubner

                                Cardiology, Groby Road Hospital & Glenfield General Hospital                             Aug 1993-Jan 1994

Senior House Officer to:  Dr DR Ives, Medicine for the Elderly, Leicester Royal Infirmary                            May-July 1993

Senior House Officer to: Dr MA Stern & Dr A Scriven. Medicine, Immunology & Cardiology,
                                Leicester General Hospital                                                                                             Feb-April 1993

Pre-registration House Surgeon to: Mr DNL Ralphs, Mr BA Ross & Mr R Vaughan.

                                General & Thoracic Surgery, Norfolk & Norwich Hospital                                       Aug 1992-Jan 1993

Pre-registration House Physician to:  Dr G Neale, Dr JO Hunter  Dr BL Hazleman, Dr AJ Crisp & Dr JR Jenner,                            Medicine, Gastroenterology & Rheumatology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital                                        Feb-July 1992

                                               

Education

Secondary: The Manchester Grammar School                                                              1979-

Undergraduate: Emmanuel College, Cambridge                                                           1986-

Clinical School: Addenbrooke’s, Cambridge                                                                  1989-

Leicester SHO Rotation in Medicine                                                                              1993-

North Midlands Specialist Registrar Rotation in Rheumatology                                    1995-

PhD: ARUK Epidemiology Unit, University of Manchester                                            1997-

North West Specialist Registrar Rotation in Rheumatology                                          2000-2

Postgraduate Certificate & Diploma in Clinical Education                                             2004-9

 

Qualifications:

BA (Hon’s, Med Sci Tripos, Cantab. IIi) Part II Physiology                                            1989

MB, B Chir (Cantab.)                                                                                                     1991

MA (Hon’s, Cantab.)                                                                                                      1993

MRCP (UK)                                                                                                                    1994

FRCP (RCP London)                                                                                                     2007

PhD (Manchester)                                                                                                          2000

Certificate & Diploma of Clinical Education (Newcastle)                                               ,2004 & 2009

Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy                                                    2018

Prizes

• LEA Scholarship to Manchester Grammar School
• Junior & Senior Exhibitions, Emmanuel College
• Fisons Prize, Paed’s Dept, Addenbrooke’s (for paper on Cystic Fibrosis)
• Desmond Hawkins Award, University of Cambridge
• Commonwealth Foundation Elective Bursary
• 3M Elective Competition, First prize (Cambridge)
• Leicester Hospitals Case Presentation Competition, First Prize
• (for presentation on Wegener’s granulomatosis)
• arc/ARUK Clinical Epidemiology Training Fellowship
• British Society for Rheumatology Young Investigator Award 
  (for research on progression of hip osteoarthritis)
• BSR Innovation in Development Award (for Group Clinic pilot)

My research students have also been awarded:

1. British Society for Rheumatology Young Investigator; OARSI Young Investigator; DOHAD Young Investigator; EULAR bursary; ARUK Primary Care regional & national prizes; Zeshan-Qureshi Award for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Education

 

Recent & Current Grants

PROvision of braces for Patients with knee OsteoArthritis (PROP OA): a randomised controlled trial

National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Commissioned Call: 16/160 Knee Braces in the Management of Knee Osteoarthritis

01/09/18-30/08/22

Co-applicant & Principal Investigator for Northumbria Site (1 of 3 sites; CI: Prof George Peat, Keele)

£1,377,543

 

Are microRNAs a molecular clock for biological and musculoskeletal ageing? The Newcastle Thousand Families Study (NTFS)

National Institute for Health Research Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre Project Grant

05/02/18-04/08/19

Principal Investigator

£60,824.87

 

Industry Partnership HTG

Loan equipment provided by HTG (equipment value £120,000)

Partnership discount saving on Edgeseq analysis= £750-£125=£625 per sample (for 390 samples) = £243,750

Training & support £10,000

 

Group Consultations; a potential solution to the workforce crisis in primary care.

Health Education England NE

1/11/17-31/10/18

Joint Principal Investigator

£49,500

 

Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) Renewal

Medical Research Council & Arthritis Research UK

01/06/17-31/05/22

Co-investigator: Engagement Lead

£1,999,998.00 (FEC £2.45m)

 

CIMA equipment award (Qubit™ fluorometric quantitation)

Medical Research Council & Arthritis Research UK

Co-investigator (with Tania Jones & David Young)

12/12/16

£2,515.20

 

PROMOTE: a trial to treat painful knee osteoarthritis

Arthritis Research UK

Principal Investigator for multicentre study (Philip Conaghan CI)

01/10/2012-30/9/2018

£1,200,471.90

 

HERO: does hydroxychloroquine provide effective pain relief for people with hand osteoarthritis?

Arthritis Research UK

Principal Investigator for multicentre study

01/09/2011-31/8/2015

£900,692.45

 

Arthritis Research UK Experimental Arthritis Treatment Centre- Newcastle

Arthritis Research UK

Co-Investigator

01/07/2012-30/06/2018

£375,000.00

 

CIMA Clinical Fellowship: Lifecourse influences on the development of structural changes on pMRI

Arthritis Research UK & Medical Research Council

Chief Investigator

01/09/2014-31/8/2015

£35,592.00

 

A pilot study to investigate the role of CILP in predicting the development of Osteoarthritis

NIHR BRC for Ageing

Collaborator

01/07/2014-30/06/2015

£21,158.34

 

X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM) for human and veterinary biomechanics

Medical Research Council

Co-Investigator (Lead for Newcastle; Karl Bates CI)

September 2013

£657,000

• Luqmani R, Hennell S, Estrach C, Birrell F, Bosworth A, Davenport G, Fokke C, Goodson N, Jeffreson P, Lamb E, Mohammed R, Oliver S, Stableford Z, Walsh D, Washbrook C, Webb F, British Society for Rheumatology, British Health Professionals in Rheumatology Standards, Guidelines and Audit Working Group. British Society for Rheumatology and British Health Professionals in Rheumatology guideline for the management of rheumatoid arthritis (the first two years). Rheumatology 2006, 45(9), 1167-1169.
• Birrell F, Lohmander S. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs after hip replacement. British Medical Journal 2006, 333(7567), 507-508.
• Roddy E, Zhang W, Doherty M, Arden NK, Barlow J, Birrell F, Carr A, Chakravarty K, Dickson J, Hay E, Hosie G, Hurley M, Jordan KM, McCarthy C, McMurdo M, Mockett S, O'Reilly S, Peat G, Pendleton A, Richards S. Evidence-based clinical guidelines: a new system to better determine true strength of recommendation. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2006, 12(3), 347-52.
• Pearce MS, Birrell F, Francis RM, Rawlings DJ, Tuck SP, Parker L. Lifecourse study of bone health at age 49-51 years: The Newcastle thousand families cohort study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2005, 59(6), 475-480.
• Birrell F, Lunt M, Macfarlane G, Silman A. Association between pain in the hip region and radiographic changes of osteoarthritis: Results from a population-based study. Rheumatology 2005, 44(3), 337-341.
• Birrell F, Lunt M, Macfarlane GJ, Silman AJ. Defining hip pain for population studies. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2005, 64(1), 95-98.
• Tuck SP, Pearce MS, Rawlings DJ, Birrell FN, Parker L, Francis RM. Differences in bone mineral density and geometry in men and women: the Newcastle Thousand Families Study at 50 years old. British Journal of Radiology 2005, 78(930), 493-498.
• Roddy E, Zhang W, Doherty M, Arden NK, Barlow J, Birrell F, Carr A, Chakravarty K, Dickson J, Hay E, Hosie G, Hurley M, Jordan KM, McCarthy C, McMurdo M, Mockett S, O'Reilly S, Peat G, Pendleton A, Richards S. Evidence-based recommendations for the role of exercise in the management of osteoarthritis of the hip or knee - The MOVE concensus. Rheumatology 2005, 44(1), 67-73.
• Birrell F, Arden NK, Conaghan PG, Cooper C, Dieppe P, Doherty M. Is it time for more rheumatologists to embrace osteoarthritis?. Rheumatology 2005, 44(7), 829-830.
• Birrell F, Pearce MS, Francis RM, Parker L. Self-report overestimates true height loss: Implications for diagnosis of osteoporosis. Clinical Rheumatology 2005, 24(6), 590-592.
• Birrell FN. Patterns of joint pain: Lessons from epidemiology. Rheumatology 2004, 43(4), 408-409.
• Pope DP, Hunt IM, Birrell FN, Silman AJ, Macfarlane GJ. Hip pain onset in relation to cumulative workplace and leisure time mechanical load: a population based case-control study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2003, 62(4), 322-326.
• Birrell F, Croft P, Cooper C, Hosie G, Macfarlane G, Silman A. The Syndrome of Symptomatic Adult Acetabular Dysplasia (SAAD Syndrome). Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2003, 62(4), 356-358.
• Birrell FN, Gordon F. Clinical Courses: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. BMJ careers 2001, 322(7286), S2.
• Birrell F, Croft P, Cooper C, Hosie G, Macfarlane G, Silman A. Predicting Radiographic Hip Osteoarthritis from Range of Movement. Rheumatology 2001, 40(5), 506-512.
• Birrell F, Croft P, Cooper C, Hosie G, Macfarlane G, Silman A. Health impact of pain in the hip region with and without radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis: A study of new attenders to primary care. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2000, 59(11), 857-863.
• Birrell FN, Hassell AB, Jones PW, Dawes PT. How Does the Short Form 36 Health Questionnaire (SF-36) in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Relate to RA Outcome Measures and SF-36 Population Values? A Cross-sectional Study. Clin Rheumatol 2000, 19, 195-99.
• Birrell F, Croft P, Cooper C, Hosie G, Macfarlane GJ, Silman A. Radiographic Change is Common in New Presenters in Primary Care. Rheumatology 2000, 39(7), 772-725.
• Birrell F, Johnell O, Silman A. Projecting the Need for Hip Replacement Over the Next Three Decades: Influence of Changing Demography and Threshold for Surgery. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 1999, 58, 569-572.
• Kingsbury SR, Tharmanathan P, Keding A, Ronaldson S, Grainger A, Wakefield R, Arundel C, Birrell F, Doherty M, Vincent T, Watt FE, Dziedzic K, O'Neill T, Arden N, Scott DL, Dickson J, Garrood T, Green M, Menon A, Sheeran T, Torgerson D, Conaghan PG. Corrigendum to "Hydroxychloroquine in hand OA; results of the UK HERO trial" [Osteoarthr Cartil 25 (2017) S3-S4]. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2017, 25(12), 2147-2147.
• Hind K, Pearce M, Birrell F. Total and Visceral Adiposity Are Associated With Prevalent Vertebral Fracture in Women but Not Men at Age 62 Years: The Newcastle Thousand Families Study. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2017, 32(5), 1109-1115.
• Ahmed HE, Pearce MS, Birrell F. Can we predict patterns of radiographic osteoarthritis in the population?. In: 2016 OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis - Promoting Clinical and Basic Research in Osteoarthritis. 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
• Jones O, Birrell F. Diagnosis and management of polymyalgia rheumatica. Practitioner 2016, 260(1799), 13-16.
• Kingsbury SR, Corp N, Watt FE, Felson DT, O'Neill TW, Holt CA, Jones RK, Conaghan PG, Arden NK, Adams J, Appleyard I, Birrell F, Blank M, Callaghan MJ, Cumming J, Chapman GJ, Halstead J, Hamilton DF, Hurley M, Martin K, Mason DJ, Nuki G, Redmond AC, Reilly K, Robinson N, Roddy E, Simpson H, Smith TO, Thomas C, Thomas E, Wilkinson J, Wise E. Harmonising data collection from osteoarthritis studies to enable stratification: Recommendations on core data collection from an Arthritis Research UK clinical studies group. Rheumatology (United Kingdom) 2016, 55(8), 1394-1402.
• Duncan R, Kingston A, Stephan B, Birrell F, Kirkwood T, Jagger C. Influence of Joint Pain on the Incidence and Progression of Disability in the Very Old: The Newcastle 85+ Study. In: Rheumatology 2016. 2016, Glasgow: Oxford University Press.
• Roberts E, Nunes VD, Buckner S, Latchem S, Constanti M, Miller P, Doherty M, Zhang WY, Birrell F, Porcheret M, Dziedzic K, Bernstein I, Wise E, Conaghan PG. Paracetamol: not as safe as we thought? A systematic literature review of observational studies. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2016, 75(3), 552-559.
• Arden NK, Cro S, Sheard S, Dore CJ, Bara A, Tebbs SA, Hunter DJ, James S, Cooper C, O'Neill TW, Macgregor A, Birrell F, Keen R. The effect of vitamin D supplementation on knee osteoarthritis, the VIDEO study: a randomised controlled trial. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2016, 24(11), 1858-1866.
• van Middelkoop M, Arden NK, Atchia I, Birrell F, Chao J, Rezende MU, Lambert RGW, Ravaud P, Bijlsma JW, Doherty M, Dziedzic KS, Lohmander LS, McAlindon TE, Zhang W, Bierma-Zeinstra SMA. The OA Trial Bank: meta-analysis of individual patient data from knee and hip osteoarthritis trials show that patients with severe pain exhibit greater benefit from intra-articular glucocorticoids. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2016, 24(7), 1143-1152.
• Conaghan PG, Porcheret M, Kingsbury SR, Gammon A, Soni A, Hurley M, Rayman MP, Barlow J, Hull RG, Cumming J, Llewelyn K, Moscogiuri F, Lyons J, Birrell F. Impact and therapy of osteoarthritis: the Arthritis Care OA Nation 2012 survey. Clinical Rheumatology 2015, 34(9), 1581-1588.
• Duncan R, Francis RM, Jagger C, Kingston A, McCloskey E, Collerton J, Robinson L, Kirkwood TBL, Birrell F. Magnitude of fragility fracture risk in the very old – are we meeting their needs? The Newcastle 85+ Study. Osteoporosis International 2015, 26(1), 123-130.
• Duncan R, Francis RM, Jagger C, Kingston A, McCloskey E, Collerton J, Robinson L, Kirkwood TBL, Birrell F. Magnitude of fragility fracture risk in the very old-are we meeting their needs? The Newcastle 85+Study. Osteoporosis International 2015, 26(1), 123-130.
• Kingsbury SR, Tharmanathan P, Arden NK, Batley M, Birrell F, Cocks K, Doherty M, Edwards CJ, Garrood T, Grainger AJ, Green M, Hewitt C, Hughes R, Moots R, O'Neill TW, Roddy E, Scott DL, Watt FE, Torgerson DJ, Conaghan PG. Pain reduction with oral methotrexate in knee osteoarthritis, a pragmatic phase iii trial of treatment effectiveness (PROMOTE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials 2015, 16, 77.
• Felson DT, Redmond AC, Chapman GJ, Smith TO, Hamilton DF, Jones RK, Holt CA, Callaghan MJ, Mason DJ, Conaghan PG, Adams J, Arden NK, Birrell F, Cumming J, Corp N, Halstead J, Hurley M, Kingsbury SR, Martin K, Nuki G, O'Neill T, Reilly K, Robinson N, Roddy E, Simpson H, Thomas C, Thomas E, Watt FE, Wilkinson J, Wise E. Recommendations for the conduct of efficacy trials of treatment devices for osteoarthritis: A report from a working group of the arthritis research UK osteoarthritis and crystal diseases clinical studies group. Rheumatology (United Kingdom) 2015, 55(2), 320-326.
• Scott DL, Ibrahim F, Farewell V, O'Keeffe AG, Walker D, Kelly C, Birrell F, Chakravarty K, Maddison P, Heslin M, Patel A, Kingsley GH. Tumour necrosis factor inhibitors versus combination intensive therapy with conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in established rheumatoid arthritis: TACIT non-inferiority randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2015, 350, h1046.
• Evangelou E, Kerkhof HJ, Styrkarsdottir U, Ntzani EE, Bos SD, Esko T, Evans DS, Metrustry S, Panoutsopoulou K, Ramos YFM, Thorleifsson G, Tsilidis KK, arcOGEN Consortium, Arden N, Aslam N, Bellamy N, Birrell F, Blanco FJ, Carr A, Chapman K, Day-Williams AG, Deloukas P, Doherty M, Engstrom G, Helgadottir HT, Hofman A, Ingvarsson T, Jonsson H, Keis A, Keurentjes JC, Kloppenburg M, Lind PA, McCaskie A, Martin NG, Milani L, Montgomery GW, Nelissen RGHH, Nevitt MC, Nilsson PM, Ollier WER, Parimi N, Rai A, Ralston SH, Reed MR, Riancho JA, Rivadeneira F, Rodriguez-Fontenla C, Southam L, Thorsteinsdottir U, Tsezou A, Wallis GA, Wilkinson JM, Gonzalez A, Lane NE, Lohmander LS, Loughlin J, Metspalu A, Uitterlinden AG, Jonsdottir I, Stefansson K, Slagboom PE, Zeggini E, Meulenbelt I, Ioannidis JPA, Spector TD, van Meurs JBJ, Valdes AM. A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies novel variants associated with osteoarthritis of the hip. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2014, 73(12), 2130-2136.
• Abraham AM, Pearce MS, Mann KD, Francis RM, Birrell F. Population prevalence of ultrasound features of osteoarthritis in the hand, knee and hip at age 63 years: the Newcastle thousand families birth cohort. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2014, 15, 162.
• Hind K, Birrell F, Beck B. Prevalent Morphometric Vertebral Fractures in Professional Male Rugby Players. PLoS One 2014, 9(5), e97427.
• Stamm T, Hieblinger R, Bostrom C, Mihai C, Birrell F, Thorstensson C, Fialka-Moser V, Meriaux-Kratochvila S, Smolen J, Coenen M. Similar problem in the activities of daily living but different experience: A qualitative analysis in six rheumatic conditions and eight European countries. Musculoskeletal Care 2014, 12(1), 22-33.
• van Middelkoop M, Arden N, Atchia I, Birrell F, Chao J, Lambert RG, Ravaud P, Bijlsma JJ, Doherty M, Dziedzic KS, Lohmander S, McAlindon TE, Zhang W, Bierma-Zeinstra SM. The OA trial bank: meta-analysis of individual patient data show that patients with severe pain or with inflammatory signs detected by ultrasound especially benefit from intra-articular glucocorticoids for knee or hip OA. In: 2014 World Congress on Osteoarthritis. 2014, Paris, France: Elsevier.
• Hind K, Birrell F, Beck B. Vertebral Deformities Consistent With Fracture In Professional Male Rugby Players. In: 61st Annual Meeting of American College of Sports Medicine. 2014, Florida, USA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
• Hudson G, Panoutsopoulou K, Wilson I, Southam L, Rayner NW, Arden N, Birrell F, Carluke I, Carr A, Chapman K, Deloukas P, Doherty M, McCaskie A, Ollier WE, Ralston SH, Reed MR, Spector TD, Valdes AM, Wallis GA, Wilkinson JM, Zeggini E, Samuels DC, Loughlin J, Chinnery PF. No evidence of an association between mitochondrial DNA variants and osteoarthritis in 7393 cases and 5122 controls. Annals of Rheumatic Diseases 2013, 72(1), 136-139.
• Abraham A, Pearce MS, Mann KD, Francis RM, Birrell F. Breast is best. Lifecourse influences on the development of knee osteophytes: the Newcastle Thousand Families Study. In: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2012, Glasgow, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Abraham A, Pearce MS, Mann KD, Francis RM, Birrell F. Lifecourse predictors of ultrasound features of hip osteoarthritis: the newcastle thousand families study. In: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2012, Glasgow, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Abraham AM, Pearce MS, Mann KD, Francis RM, Birrell F. Ultrasound features of osteophytes and cartilage thickness at the knee are associated with pain and functional impairment: the Newcastle thousand families study. In: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2012, Glasgow, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Abraham A, Mann KD, Pearce MS, Francis RM, Birrell F. Ultrasound features of osteophytes and cartilage thickness at the knee are associated with pain and functional impairment: The newcastle thousand families study. In: Annual European Congress of Rheumatology EULAR. 2012, Berlin, Germany: BMJ Publishing Group.
• Nicolaou M, Amstrong R, Hassell AB, Walker D, Birrell F. e-learning is widely used by musculoskeletal professionals (especially academics and trainees) and arthritis research UK provides some of the best resources: Results from a national electronic survey. In: Rheumatology: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2011, Brighton, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Abraham A, Mann KD, Pearce MS, Francis RM, Birrell F. Exclusive Breast Feeding in Infancy Has a Protective Effect on Development of Knee Osteophytes: The Newcastle Thousand Families Study. In: Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: 7th World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. 2011, Portland, Oregon, USA: Cambridge University Press.
• Duncan R, Francis RM, Collerton J, Davies K, Jagger C, Kingston A, Kirkwood T, Robinson L, Birrell F. Prevalence of arthritis and joint pain in the oldest old - Findings from the Newcastle 85+ Study. In: Age and Ageing: British Geriatrics Society Spring Meeting. 2011, Liverpool: Oxford University Press.
• Duncan R, Francis RM, Collerton J, Davies K, Jagger C, Kingston A, Kirkwood T, Robinson L, Birrell F. Prevalence of arthritis and joint pain in the oldest old: findings from the Newcastle 85+ Study. Age and Ageing 2011, 40(6), 752-755.
• Abraham A, Pearce MS, Francis RM, Birrell F. Prevalence of ultrasound-defined hand, knee and hip osteoarthritis at age 63: Isolated hand and osteoarthritis is common and may predict knee and hip involvement. In: Rheumatology: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2011, Brighton, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Abraham AM, Goff I, Pearce MS, Francis RM, Birrell F. Reliability and validity of ultrasound imaging of features of knee osteoarthritis in the community. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2011, 12(1), 70.
• Atchia I, Kane D, Reed MR, Isaacs J, Birrell F. Musculoskeletal ultrasound predicts predicts response to corticosteroid injection in moderate-severe hip osteoarthritis. In: Rheumatology: Annual Meeting of the British Society of Rheumatology. 2009, Glasgow, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Birrell F, Croft P, Cooper C, Hosie G, Macfarlane G, Silman A. Predictors of Hip Joint Replacement in New Attenders in Primary Care. British Journal of General Practice 2003, 53(486), 26-30.