Jamie Kavanagh

Jamie Kavanagh is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis (CCSPED) at Queen Mary University of London. Their research focusses on using quantitative methods to address evidence gaps in LGBTQIA+ experiences in cancer care. This includes investigating primary care datasets to determine cancer incidence, mortality and healthcare utilisation compared to cisgender heterosexual comparators, as well as evaluating levels of risk factor behaviours and screening rates in self-reported questionnaire data. Prior to starting their post-doctoral position at QMUL, Jamie's research primarily focussed on the use of long-read sequencing technologies to improve understandings of health outcomes. They completed their PhD at Imperial in paediatric infectious disease, using Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing to study the association between a child's throat microbiome and immune response to viral infections. Prior to this, they were a research assistant with the Modernising Medical Microbiology group at the University of Oxford. This included working with UKHSA to investigate ONT sequencing for real-time screening of Influenza, multi-omic profiling of sewage treatment and farm environments to study the environmental resistome, and targeted metagenomic sequencing of urine samples to improve the diagnosis of multi-drug-resistant gonorrhoea.