Newcastle University

Roles and Responsibilities

Secretary Confederation of Royal Colleges SCE (Geriatric Medicine) Board of Examiners

CPD Advisor Confederation of Royal Colleges for Geriatric Medicine

Qualifications

MB BS (Newcastle) 1986
MRCP 1989
MD (Newcastle) 2002
FRCP(Edin) 2006
FRCP 2009 

Previous Positions

1996-99 Lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

1994-96 First Assistant and Senior Registrar, Department of Geriatric and General Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals

February 1991-94 Sandoz Research Fellow, MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge University and The Gambia, West Africa

Research Interests

My main research interests are in the bone health of older people, particularly the frail. I have also worked in low and middle-income countries on chronic diseases and their management

Funding

Vitamin D in Older People (VDOP)
August 2012-present
Chief invstigator: Dr T. Aspray, Prof R. Francis, Prof. E. McColl, Dr T. Chadwick, Dr I. Schoenmakers, Dr A. Prentice, Dr G. Goldberg
£640,000

Health Needs Assessment of Diabetes Care in Newcastle Care homes
July 2003 – June 2004
Chief invstigator: Dr T. Aspray, Dr T. Cassidy, Dr G. Hawthorne
£15,000

Health Needs Assessment of Osteoporosis in Newcastle Care homes
January 2001 – October 2003
Chief invstigator: Dr T. Aspray, Dr R.M. Francis, Dr P. Stevenson. Small grant from Industry

Randomised Trial of a Nurse led clinic to promote use of calcium/vitamin D supplements in women aged over 70
July 2000 – June 2004
Collaborator: Dr D. Torgerson, Dr T. Aspray, Dr R.M. Francis, Sr A. Sutcliffe, , Dr I. Watt
£150,000

Urbanisation and Metabolic Outcomes Study in Tanzania
September 1999 – January 2002 (Pilot Phase)
Collaborator: Prof. Sir George Alberti, Dr T. Aspray, Dr N. Unwin, Prof. M. Walker

Essential Non-communicable Disease Inervention Project (ENHIP)
April 1995 – March 2001
Collaborator: Prof. G. Alberti, Dr T. Aspray, Dr J. Mbanya, Dr F. Mugusi, Dr N. Unwin, Mr D. Whiting

Undergraduate Teaching

I teach students throughout their training, predominently in their third and fifth year clinical attachments.

I have been an examiner for MB BS and BDS in Newcaslte for more than 12 years.

Postgraduate Teaching

Programme Leader for the MRes MMB (Ageing and Health)

Module Leader for Ageing and Health (MRes MMB)

Module Leader for Ageing and Health (MSc MedSCi)

Module Leader for Ageing and Health (MRes MMB) 

Convenor MCR 8020 Ageing and Health e-learning module

• Aspray TJ, Francis RM. Treatment of osteoporosis in women intolerant of oral bisphosphonates. Maturitas 2012, 71(1), 76-78.
• Aspray TJ, Francis RM. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation and cardiovascular disease: quo vadis?. Maturitas 2011, 69(4), 285-286.
• Sinclair A, Aspray TJ, Others AND. Good clinical practice guidelines for care home residents with diabetes: an executive summary. Diabetic Medicine 2011, 28(7), 772-777.
• Mayne D, Stout NR, Aspray TJ. Diabetes, falls and fractures. Age and Ageing 2010, 39(5), 522-525.
• Yarnall AJ, Hayes L, Hawthorne GC, Candlish CA, Aspray TJ. Diabetes in care homes: current care standards and residents' experience. Diabetic Medicine 2012, 29(1), 132-135.
• Yarnall AJ, Hayes L, Hawthorne GC, Candlish C, Aspray TJ. Diabetes in care homes: Residents' experience of care. In: Age and Ageing: Communications to the British Geriatrics Society Spring Meeting. 2011, Liverpool: Oxford University Press.
• Aspray TJ, Francis RM. Here comes the sun: good news for bone health!. Age and Ageing 2011, 40(2), 146-147.
• Unwin N, McLarty D, Machibya H, Aspray T, Tamin B, Carlin L, Patel S, Walker M, Alberti KGMM. Changes in blood pressure and lipids associated with rural to urban migration in Tanzania. Journal of Human Hypertension 2006, 20(9), 704-706.
• Aspray TJ, Nesbit K, Cassidy TP, Farrow E, Hawthorne G. Diabetes in British nursing and residential homes: A pragmatic screening study. Diabetes Care 2006, 29(3), 707-708.
• Aspray TJ, Francis RM. Fracture prevention in care home residents: Is vitamin D supplementation enough?. Age and Ageing 2006. Oxford University Press, 35(5), 455-456.
• Aspray TJ, Stevenson P, Abdy SE, Rawlings DJ, Holland T, Francis RM. Low bone mineral density measurements in care home residents - a treatable cause of fractures. Age and Ageing 2006, 35(1), 37-41.
• Brankin E, Walker M, Lynch N, Aspray T, Lis Y, Cowell W. The impact of dosing frequency on compliance and persistence with bisphosphonates among postmenopausal women in the UK: Evidence from three databases. Current Medical Research and Opinion 2006, 22(7), 1249-1256.
• Aspray TJ. Diabetes in later life. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology 2005. ,15 1 27-38.
• Aspray TJ, Yan L, Prentice A. Parathyroid hormone and rates of bone formation are raised in perimenopausal rural Gambian women. Bone 2005,36 4 710-720.
• Porthouse J, Cockayne S, King C, Saxon L, Steele E, Aspray T, Baverstock M, Birks Y, Dumville J, Francis R, Iglesias C, Puffer S, Sutcliffe A, Watt I, Torgerson DJ. Randomised controlled trial of calcium and supplementation with cholecalciferol (vitamin D₃) for prevention of fractures in primary care. British Medical Journal 2005,330 7498 1003-1008.
• Aspray TJ. The use of verbal autopsy in attributing cause of death from epilepsy. Epilepsia 2005, 46(11), 15-17.
• MacIntyre E, Neely D, Aspray T, Quinton R. Chronic, severe osteomalacia with hypocalcaemia: I. Standard doses of Vitamin D replacement may be inadequate. II. Plasma PTH level is a sensitive and reliable marker of treatment response. In: 12th International Congress of Endocrinology Poster Presentation: Series A, Calcium Bone. 2004, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Sobngwi E, Mbanya J-C, Unwin NC, Porcher R, Kengne A-P, Fezeu L, Minkoulou EM, Tournoux C, Gautier J-F, Aspray TJ, Alberti K. Exposure over the life course to an urban environment and its relation with obesity, diabetes, and hypertension in rural and urban Cameroon. International Journal of Epidemiology 2004,33 4 769-776.
• Aspray TJ, Stevenson P, Abdy SE, Rawlings DJ, Holland TM, Francis RM. Low bone mineral density measurements in care home residents - a treatable cause of fractures. In: 10th Conference of the National Osteoporosis Society. 2004, Harrogate, England: Osteoporosis International: Springer.
• Porthouse J, Cockayne S, King C, Saxon L, Steele E, Aspray T, Baverstock M, Dumville J, Francis RM, Iglesias C, Miles J, Puffer S, Sutcliffe A, Torgerson DJ, Watt I. Randomised controlled trial of calcium and vitamin D supplementation for fracture prevention in primary care. In: 10th Conference of the National Osteoporosis Society. 2004, Harrogate, England: Osteoporosis International: Springer.
• Sobngwi E, Mbanya JCN, Unwin NC, Kengne AP, Fezeu L, Minkoulou EM, Aspray TJ, Alberti KGMM. Physical activity and its relationship with obesity, hypertension and diabetes in urban and rural Cameroon. International Journal of Obesity 2002, 26(7), 1009-1016.
• Aspray TJ. Purity, pragmatism and hip protector pads. Age and Ageing 2002, 31(4), 319-320.
• Sobngwi E, Mbanya JCN, Unwin NC, Aspray TJ, Alberti KGMM. Development and validation of a questionnaire for the assessment of physical activity in epidemiological studies in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Epidemiology 2001, 30(6), 1361-1368.
• Unwin N, Setel P, Rashid S, Mugusi F, Mbanya JC, Kitange H, Hayes L, Edwards R, Aspray T, Alberti KG. Noncommunicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa: where do they feature in the health research agenda?. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2001, 79(10), 947-953.
• Whiting D, Unwin NC, Aspray TJ, Edwards R, Setel P, Rashid S, Mugusi F, Alberti KG. The pitfalls of measuring changes in smoking habits. Essential NCD Health Intervention Project Team. Tropical Doctor 2000, 30(3), 160-161.
• Edwards R, Unwin N, Mugusi F, Whiting D, Rashid S, Kissima J, Aspray TJ, Alberti KGMM. Hypertension prevalence and care in an urban and rural area of Tanzania. Journal of Hypertension 2000,18 2 145-152.
• Aspray TJ, Mugusi F, Rashid S, Whiting D, Edwards R, Alberti KGeorge, Unwin NC. Rural and urban differences in diabetes prevalence in Tanzania: The role of obesity, physical inactivity and urban living. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2000, 94(6), 637-644.
• Rashid S, Aspray TJ, Edwards R, Mugusi F, Whiting D, Unwin NC, Setel P, Alberti KG. The pitfalls of measuring changes in smoking habits. Essential NCD Health Intervention Project Team. Tropical Doctor 2000, 30(3), 160-161.
• Unwin N, Alberti G, Aspray T, Edwards R, Mbanya JC, Sobngwi E, Mugusi F, Rashid S, Setel P, Whiting D. Economic globalisation and its effect on health - Some diseases could be eradicated for the cost of a couple of fighter planes. British Medical Journal 1998, 316(7142), 1401-1402.
• Heighton C, Moffatt S, Howel D, McColl E, Milne E, Deverill M, Rubin G, Aspray T, White M. The Do-Well Study :Protocol for a randomised control trial, economic and qualitative process evaluations of domiciliary welfare rights advice for socio-economically disadvantaged older people recruited via primary health care. BMC Public Health 2012. In Press.
• Aspray TJ, Francis RM. Treatment of osteoporosis in women intolerant of oral bisphosphonates. Maturitas 2012, 71(1), 76-78.
• Carlin L, Aspray T, Edwards R, Hayes L, Kitange H, Unwin N, Populations and the Health of in Transition Research Group. Civilisation and its discontents: non-communicable disease, metabolic syndrome and rural-urban migration in Tanzania. Urban Anthropology 2001, 30, 51-70.
• Carlin L, Aspray T, Edwards R, Hayes L, Kitange H, Unwin N. Civilization and its discontents: Non-communicable disease, metabolic syndrome and rural-urban migration in Tanzania. Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 2001, 30(1), 51-70.
• Aspray TJ, Unwin N. Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa. In: Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Etiology, Treatment, and Outcomes. 2001, Winnipeg, Canada: Springer.