Dr Simona Hapca

Lecturer

Computing Science Room 4B126, Cottrell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA

Dr Simona Hapca

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About me

I am a Lecturer in the Division of Computing Science and Mathematics at the University of Stirling and a member of the Data Science and Intelligent Systems research group. My research interests relate to the development and application of statistical methodology to a range of subject domains including health and social sciences, bio-sciences and environmental sciences. Prior to joining the University of Stirling I was a Lecturer in Statistics at the University of Abertay (from 2007 to 2016) and a Senior Statistician in the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee (from 2016 to 2019).

Research

My current research is in the area of statistics and health informatics with main interest in the development and application of methods for record-linkage and analysis of longitudinal healthcare routine data and the design and analysis of clinical trials for public health intervention studies. I am particularly interested in the development and application of multivariate and multi-level modelling methods , survival analysis and data-mining methods for disease diagnosis and treatment response or prediction of disease course.

The unprecedented availability of individual-level health and social care data makes it now possible for the discovery of key success factors, which can be used to inform policy makers towards the development of an integrated strategy for the health and social care services to enable the most efficient use of resources and help cope with the burden of diseases in the society.

Recent collaborations include the NIHR funded OPRAA study (Older Persons Routine Acute Assessment ) looking to understand the outcomes of people with dementia, delirium and unspecified cognitive impairment following an acute hospital admission (led by University of Stirling), a CSO funded project investigating associations between anti-dementia medication and mortality in people with dementia; and the Biomarker Enterprise to Attack Diabetic Kidney Disease (BEAT-DKD), a European funded project aiming to identify predictive biomarkers for the development and progression of Diabetes Kidney Disease (led by University of Dundee)

Outputs (36)

Outputs

Article

Rajendrakumar AL, Hapca SM, Nair ATN, Huang Y, Chourasia MK, Kwan RS, Nangia C, Siddiqui MK, Vijayaraghavan P, Matthew SZ, Leese GP, Mohan V, Pearson ER, Doney ASF & Palmer CNA (2023) Competing risks analysis for neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of diabetic retinopathy incidence in the Scottish population. BMC Medicine, 21, Art. No.: 304. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-02976-7


Article

Wang H, Cordiner RLM, Huang Y, Donnelly L, Hapca S, Collier A, McKnight J, Kennon B, Gibb F, McKeigue P, Wild SH, Colhoun H, Chalmers J, Petrie J & Sattar N (2023) Cardiovascular Safety in Type 2 Diabetes With Sulfonylureas as Second-line Drugs: A Nationwide Population-Based Comparative Safety Study. Diabetes Care, 46 (5), pp. 967-977. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-1238


Article

Farrell CM, McNeilly AD, Fournier P, Jones T, Hapca SM, West D & McCrimmon RJ (2020) A randomised controlled study of high intensity exercise as a dishabituating stimulus to improve hypoglycaemia awareness in people with type 1 diabetes: a proof-of-concept study. Diabetologia, 63 (4), pp. 853-863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-019-05076-5


Article

Hapca S, Burton JK, Cvoro V, Reynish E & Donnan PT (2019) Are antidementia drugs associated with reduced mortality after a hospital emergency admission in the population with dementia aged 65 years and older?. Alzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions, 5, pp. 431-440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2019.07.011


Article

Hapca S, Guthrie B, Cvoro V, Bu F, Rutherford A, Reynish E & Donnan PT (2018) Mortality in people with dementia, delirium, and unspecified cognitive impairment in the general hospital: prospective cohort study of 6,724 patients with 2 years follow-up. Clinical Epidemiology, 10, pp. 1743-1753. https://doi.org/10.2147/clep.s174807


Article

Crombie IK, Irvine L, Williams B, Sniehotta FF, Petrie D, Jones C, Norrie J, Evans JMM, Emslie C, Rice PM, Slane PW, Humphris G, Ricketts IW, Melson AJ, Donnan PT & Hapca SM (2018) Texting to Reduce Alcohol Misuse (TRAM): main findings from a randomized controlled trial of a text message intervention to reduce binge drinking among disadvantaged men. Addiction, 113 (9), pp. 1609-1618. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14229


Article

Baveye PC, Otten W, Kravchenko A, Balseiro-Romero M, Beckers E, Chalhoub M, Darnault C, Eickhorst T, Garnier P, Hapca S, Kiranyaz S, Monga O, Mueller CW, Nunan N & Pot V (2018) Emergent Properties of Microbial Activity in Heterogeneous Soil Microenvironments: Different Research Approaches Are Slowly Converging, Yet Major Challenges Remain. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, Art. No.: 1929. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01929


Article

Cibati A, Foereid B, Bissessur A & Hapca S (2017) Assessment of Miscanthus × giganteus derived biochar as copper and zinc adsorbent: Study of the effect of pyrolysis temperature, pH and hydrogen peroxide modification. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, pp. 1285-1296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.114


Article

Reynish E, Hapca SM, De Souza N, Cvoro V, Donnan PT & Guthrie B (2017) Epidemiology and outcomes of people with dementia, delirium, and unspecified cognitive impairment in the general hospital: prospective cohort study of 10,014 admissions. BMC Medicine, 15 (1), Art. No.: 140. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-017-0899-0


Article

Morales VL, Pérez-Reche FJ, Hapca SM, Hanley KL, Lehmann J & Zhang W (2015) Reverse engineering of biochar. Bioresource Technology, 183, pp. 163-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.02.043


Teaching

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy with experience in HE curriculum development and teaching as well as experience with MSc and PhD supervision.

Research programmes

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