Request a quote 
Share
Therapy Areas
Therapy Areas
Below are just some of the areas that GKA focuses on. We have experience and reach to an unlimited number of therapy areas and the below are a few examples of the areas we are involved in. Should you wish to know more about your area of interest to support your medical fieldwork project, please contact our client services team anytime or request a quote.
Infectious Diseases
Respiratory Conditions
Diabetes
Oncology
Infectious Diseases
Focus Topic: HIV
The first case of HIV was discovered in the early 1980’s in USA and cases have continued to escalate worldwide ever since. More specifically, the number of people living with HIV in the UK has trebled in the last ten years currently standing at 90,000 people (www.hivaware.org.uk) living with the condition.
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. The virus weakens your ability to fight infections and disease, and gradually destroys important white blood cells which are crucial to fight disease and so will leave the body susceptible to other infection (www.hivaware.org.uk)
There is no cure for HIV, but there are treatments to enable most people with the virus to live a long and healthy life. Currently the main treatments available are Antiretroviral drugs (www.nhs.uk). The aim of these drugs is to reduce levels of HIV increasing in the body and so prevent further weakening of the immune system from any damage that HIV has caused already.
As an expert medical market research agency we have created the GKA Knowledge Works to help us contribute further towards the crucial development of medication and resources for hundreds of therapy areas. HIV is just one key focus point for us and here at GKA we have conducted over 50 projects in the last 18 months. To add to this we have a panel of over 250 experts specializing in HIV including HIV Specialists, GUM Specialists and Sexual Health Nurses. Over the years we have built excellent relationships with specialists on our panel and as a result this allows us to carry out effective medical research.
GKA is passionate about making a difference and because of this we support various charities such as LEPRA Health in Action. Founded in 1924, LEPRA Health in Action works to treat, educate and support people in some of the world’s most deprived communities (www.leprahealthinaction.org). They have built on their extensive experience in the prevention and treatment of leprosy, and have a large HIV testing and prevention programme. They actively help patients with HIV and run many support initiatives.
Dr Pozniak is on the Scientific Advisory Board and executive committee of LEPRA and with a special interest in HIV treatment he is also a key member of the GKA Knowledge Works and regularly helps GKA with projects and support with feasibility assessments and expert advice.
With a special interest in HIV treatment and care and he was an adviser on HIV and AIDS to the UK Government Health Select Committee and further to this he is on the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS for the UK Department of Health. Dr Pozniak has published widely on clinical aspects of HIV treatment and care and is HIV service Director at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital - http://www.chelwest.nhs.uk
GKA are proud to support Dr Anton Pozniak and the work that he does for the LEPRA. To help Dr Pozniak and his work with LEPRA, GKA gives all respondents that take part in our HIV studies the opportunity to donate their incentives to LEPRA and furthermore the GKA team are actively involved in charity events to help support this worthy cause, more information can be found on our news page.
Sources of information:
Respiratory Conditions:
GKA conduct many studies on different respiratory conditions and issues each year. These include, Lung Cancer, Smoking Cessation, Cystic Fibrosis, Sleep Apnoea, Asthma, COPD and many more.
Focus topics: Asthma & COPD
Asthma affects many people across the UK and Europe and is a major area of focus for GKA’s staff and clients alike. Over the past 12 months GKA has conducted over 40 medical fieldwork projects on Asthma & COPD. It is with this in mind that we work hard to be knowledgeable about this therapy area and ensure we’re giving the best advice and fieldwork foundations to our clients for their market research projects.
“In the UK 5.4 million people are currently receiving treatment for Asthma. That is 1 in every 12 adults and 1 in every 11 children”
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/asthma/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Asthma is a long term illness that affects all ages. The condition is caused by an inflammation of the airways which cause irritation and can lead to an acute attack with obstructed airways. The symptoms can be variable and unpredictable throughout the day. There are many treatments available that can help relieve these symptoms and improve asthma control, but as yet there is no long term cure. Symptoms are characterised by variable wheezing, breathlessness or coughing, especially during the night.
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder) can have some similar symptoms to Asthma but isusually a more predictable and progressive illness in nature.
“Research suggests there are 3.7 million people with COPD in the UK; of these only about 900,000 have been diagnosed”
http://www.lunguk.org/Resources
In the vast majority of cases COPD is largely attributable to smoking and its symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing and chest infections including winter bronchitis.The only treatments that can improve survival at the current time are smoking cessation and long term oxygen therapy (in appropriate patients). Inhalers can help to improve exacerbation, symptoms and quality of life, but do not currently improve the long term survival rate. The prognosis of COPD is more severe than Asthma.
Many of the studies GKA conducted in the area of Asthma & COPD surround the devices that help to improve symptoms and patients quality of life with simplified dosage regimens and improved delivery mechanisms.
GKA’s current database and online panel of expert respondents includes over 200 Chest Physicians90 Specialist Asthma Nurses and 1300 Practice Nurses, many of whom run local Asthma clinics to help support patients. We also have a constant connection with Asthma and COPD patients via our GKA finders network. Our patient finder network includes Nurses, GPs, Specialists, Pharmacists, Support groups and Charities who help us to find suitable patients to participate in our market research studies.
Our database and online panels for Respiratory conditions are overseen by Dr Medford who is a Consultant Physician and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Thoracic Medicine and Interventional Pulmonology at The North Bristol Lung centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol.
Dr Medford is an opinion leader and clinical lead for Endobronchial ultrasound and transbronchial needle aspiration services at North Bristol, providing a tertiary service which is used to optimise lung cancer diagnosis and staging. Dr Medford is a member of the GKA Knowledge Works and regularly helps GKA with a number of respiratory projects and support with feasibility assessments and advice.
“GKA are always a polite, professional and amiable company in their approach to market research studies and feasibility assessments” (Dr Medford)
GKA’s passion for medical fieldwork is more than just day to day work. We want to help and support our healthcare professionals community and patients by supporting the charities that are important to them. Our team are dedicated to the issues that matter and want to help make a difference. With this focus in mind our team, our Respiratory database and online panel are proud to support charities such as Asthma UK.
“ Three people a day die from asthma. Asthma UK is the charity dedicated to changing this. We fund research and offer support because 90% of asthma deaths are preventable.” (www.asthma.org.uk)
GKA shares this dedication in its support of the Asthma UK charity. All Health Care Professionals & Patients who take part in GKA’s Asthma studies are given the option to donate their fees to Asthma UK. Not only that but GKA takes part in regular events to help raise money for its chosen charities and both our team and clients support us in this cause. Check out our news page to keep up to date of our latest charity events.
Asthma is just one of the many therapy areas that GKA has fieldwork expertise in, please contact one of our client services team to discuss your needs further – contact form here or if you’re a Healthcare Professional or Patient interested in taking part in Market Research with GKA, please sign up here.
Sources of information:
Diabetes
"On 20 December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 61/225. This landmark Resolution recognizes diabetes as a chronic, debilitating and costly disease associated with major complications that pose severe risks for families, countries and the entire world. It designates 14November, the current World Diabetes Day, as a United Nations Day to be observed every year beginning in 2007. Governments have acknowledged that diabetes is increasing at epidemic rates and is affecting all countries. For the first time, a non-infectious disease has been seen as posing as serious a global health threat as infectious epidemics such as HIV/AIDS."
http://www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org/media(3892,1033)/UNR_media_kit_0407.pdf
Diabetes is a major healthcare issue and a growing global problem. As such it has become an area of focus for the healthcare industry and as a result GKA have had increasing involvement with this therapy area. GKA has worked on over 160 Diabetes market research fieldwork projects in the last 2 years alone.Our clients work in this area includes many treatment types such as oral tablets, GLP1 agonists, long and short acting insulin, pump therapy and other insulin delivery devices.
Diabetes patient studies have increased at GKA over the years as more and more patients become better informed and pharmaceutical companies seek to understand their needs more closely. GKA has a constant connection with new patients via the GKA finders network, which includes Nurses, GPs, Specialists, Pharmacists, Diabetes Support groups and Charities who help us to find suitable patients to participate in our market research studies.
Our Diabetes database and expert physician panels include over 360 Diabetologists, 380 Diabetes Specialist Nurses, many of whom are registered Diabetes Nurse Educators (DNE) and specialise in educating patients in the use of diabetes devices along with lifestyle management to help patients treat their condition as effectively as possible. As a result DNEs are often selected by our clients to take part in their market research surveys.
GKA’s database and online Diabetes panels are led by Professor Rayaz Malik who is a key member of the GKA Knowledge Works and regularly helps GKA with Diabetes projects and support with feasibility assessments and expert advice.
Professor Malik is a Professor of Medicine &Consultant Physician in the Division of CardiovascularMedicine and is a European thought leader in the area of diabetic neuropathy. His research focuses on diabetic neuropathy and cardiomyopathy and he has published and presented extensively on this. Professor Malik's research is funded by the NIH (National Institutes of Health), DUK (diabetes UK) and JDRF(Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).
"Type 1 diabetes affects 350,000 people intheUK - over 25,000 of them are children. The incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing by 4 % each year, particularly in children under five and it is not known why this trend is occurring.JDRF exists to find the cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications, and is the world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research."
GKA are proud to help support the JDRF in their mission and all healthcare professionals and patients participating in any of GKA’s Diabetes projects are given the option to donate their honorarium payment to this worthy cause. Our team is also actively involved in supporting the JDRF with regular charity events and more information on our events can be found on our news page
About Diabetes:
"There are 2.9 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK andan estimated850,000 people who have the condition but don’t know it." www.diabetes.org.uk
There are two main types of Diabetes: namely Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and both cancause serious health issues requiring expert advice and a tailored approach to treatment.
Type 1 Diabetes is diagnosed when autoimmune damage to the pancreas leads to inadequate production of insulin and represents only 10% (NHS Choices) of all diabetes. It is controlled primarily with Insulin, but other treatment options such as Islet cell and whole pancreas transplantation are increasingly used in a minority of patients.
Type 2 Diabetes is diagnosed when the body is unable to utilize its own insulin and it affects 90% of all diabetes cases (Diabetes UK). Itcan be improved through diet and exercise, but often requires a range of treatments to lower blood glucose including oral tablets, GLP-1 and Insulin injections.
Irrespective of type of diabetes, the symptoms include increased lethargy, frequent urination, thirst and weight loss. "With regard to complication these are characterised by retinopathy and loss of vision, neuropathy and foot ulcers leading to amputation and nephropathy leading to end stage renal failure requiring renal dialysis or transplantation. Concomitant hypertension and hyperlipidaemia result in accelerated cardiovascular disease."
Sources of information:
Oncology
Over the years, GKA has worked in many areas of Oncology. Some of the more regularly commissioned field projects include Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, and Skin Cancer.
Focus Topic: Lung Cancer
“Around 41,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK in 2008, that’s around 112 people every day.”
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/keyfacts/lung-cancer
Lung Cancer is the second most common form of cancer and worldwide it is said to kill over 1 million people every year. This has not always been the case and as recently as the early 1900's only a few hundred cases of lung cancer could be found. The introduction of mass produced cigarettes and their popularity during and after the first world war led to the discovery of the causal link between smoking and lung cancer. Today smoking causes around 9 out of 10 lung cancer cases.
There are two main types of Lung Cancer:
Small Cell (SCLC)
Small cell lung cancer makes up around 1 in 5 of all lung cancers and is usually caused by smoking.
Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Non small cell lung cancer is split into three main types:
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Adenocarcinoma
- Large cell carcinoma
At GKA we have conducted studies on both main types of lung cancer and regularly conduct fieldwork with 100 Oncologists per market. We have conducted these studies online, face to face and via our CATi centre. Study samples are often made up of Clinical Oncologists who initiate both Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy for patients with Lung Cancer and Medical Oncologists whose main focus is Chemotherapy and the surgical options used to manage the disease. Lung Cancer is a serious illness with a high mortality rate and is very difficult for patients and their families to cope with. GKA has built connections with the Bristol Lung Cancer Fund who help to raise money to provide patient awareness leaflets in the centre, fund Nurse education programmes and purchase specialised equipment for Lung Cancer patients. Sarah Smith, a Lung Cancer Oncology Nurse based at Bristol Lung Centre set up the fund in 2003 and since its inception the fund has successfully purchased a number of ultrasound probe machines. The fund is now looking to raise £5,000.00 to purchase a brand new machine for the Lung Centre. GKA is supporting this mission and is giving all its participants in Lung Cancer studies the chance to donate their market research fees to the Lung Cancer fund. The GKA team are also busy planning events to help raise money for the fund and further details of our team charity events can be found on our news page.
Sources of information:
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/keyfacts/lung-cancer
http://cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/type/lung-cancer/
http://www.macmillan.org.uk
http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/64/1/4.full
Focus Topic: Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in the UK with around 46,000 people diagnosed each year (www.nhs.uk). Female breast cancer incidence rates in Britain have increased by more than 50% over the last twenty-five years (www.info.cancerresearch.org) which is a worrying statistic. Further to this, more and more people are surviving breast cancer each year and in fact more than three quarters of women who are diagnosed with Breast Cancer now survive for ten years or more. The exact cause of Breast Cancer is so far undefined yet there are elements that increase the chances of someone developing Breast Cancer such as family history and obesity.
For most women the main treatment of Breast Cancer is surgery, but in many cases further treatment is given to patients to prevent the cancer returning including, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and biological therapy. In some cases women may be advised to have the whole breast removed and breast reconstruction can be done at the same time.
Breast Cancer is yet another therapy area that GKA is passionate about and has the drive to help make a difference. GKA has conducted over 20 projects on Breast Cancer in the last 18 months and has over 900 experts on our panel, including Oncologists, Oncology Nurses and Breast Nurses.
Here at GKA we give all respondents who take part in any Breast Cancer research the option to donate their honorarium to a breast cancer charity of their choice and it’s very worthy cause. Further to this, the GKA team show great enthusiasm for such charities by organizing team events to help raise money for charities that help breast cancer sufferers and their families. More information can be found on our news page
Sources of information
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Cancer-of-the-breast-female/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.breastcancercampaign.org/page.aspx?pid=434
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/keyfacts/breast-cancer/
