缅北禁地

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Staff Profile

Dr Claire McDonald

Intermediate Clinical Fellow/ Honorary Consultant in Geriatric Medicine

  • Personal Website:
  • Address: AGE Research Group,
    NIHR 缅北禁地 Biomedical Research Centre,
    3rd floor Biomedical Research Building,
    Campus for Ageing and Vitality,
    缅北禁地 upon Tyne, NE4 5PL
Background

Dr Claire McDonald is an Intermediate Clinical Fellow with the AGE Research Group at the NIHR 缅北禁地 Biomedical Research Centre and an Honorary Consultant Geriatrician at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, where she leads the movement disorder service. Her research focuses on ageing syndromes, sarcopenia, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple long-term conditions (MLTC), with a particular interest in clinical trial design informed by the biology of ageing.


Nationally, Claire is a core member of the NIHR Cross-Infrastructure Intervention and Prevention Workstream for MLTC, contributing to coordinated efforts to address research challenges in this area. She also serves as Ageing Specialty Lead for the NIHR Research Delivery Network in the North East and North Cumbria, where she has played a key role in strengthening regional research infrastructure and clinical trial capacity.


Claire has established strong academic and clinical collaborations across 缅北禁地, Northumbria, and Durham Universities, as well as with local NHS partners. She has authored 38 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals including The Lancet Healthy Longevity, Neurology, Geroscience, and Age and Ageing. Several of her first-author papers have influenced major international guidelines, including those from the European Association of Urology, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the European Society of Cardiology.



Research

Claire is an academic geriatrician whose research is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of older adults through clinical trials that target the biological hallmarks of ageing. Her work addresses priority areas of unmet need, including multiple long-term conditions (MLTC), sarcopenia, and Parkinson’s disease in older adults.


She is Chief Investigator of MULTIPLE, a national registry designed to improve recruitment of older adults with sarcopenia and MLTC into clinical studies, and MULTIPLE-STRIDE, which explores how ageing-related biomarkers underpin shared symptoms across MLTC.


Claire is Co-Chief Investigator of REVITALISE, the UK’s first platform trial in sarcopenia, and of the ACIPIMOX study, a drug repurposing trial targeting muscle decline. She was Principal Investigator of MET-PREVENT, which tested metformin as a potential intervention for sarcopenia and frailty.


In Parkinson’s disease research, Claire led the ImPrOve PD study, a randomized controlled trial of bladder training, and currently acts as Principal Investigator for ACT-PD, a national platform trial assessing disease-modifying therapies. She was also Principal Investigator for Chief-PD, the UK’s largest Parkinson’s disease trial.


Across these roles, Claire brings expertise in adaptive trial design, drug repurposing, and geroscience to the forefront of clinical research—advancing biologically informed, clinically meaningful interventions that aim to transform care for older adults.

Teaching

Claire is committed to supporting the development of future clinical academics and researchers. Her supervision experience includes:

  • PhD supervision
  • Mentoring NIHR Green Shoots candidates and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Research Fellows
  • Supervising MRES and undergraduate MBBS and SSC research students,.

She encourages inclusive research career paths and supports Allied Health Professionals and junior doctors to get involved in research. Claire also leads the AGE Research Group’s culture and team science working group and helps build regional research capacity through a roving research fellow program.

Publications

  • Articles

    • Witham MD, McDonald C, Wilson N, Rennie KJ, Bardgett M, Bradley P, Clegg AP, Connolly S, Hancock H, Hiu S, Nicholson K, Robertson L, Simms L, Steel AJ, Steves CJ, Storey B, Wason J, von Zglinicki T, Sayer AA. . Lancet Healthy Longevity 2025, 6(3), 100695.
    • Witham MD, McDonald C, Wilson N, Rennie KJ, Bardgett M, Bradley P, Clegg AP, Connolly S, Hancock H, Hiu S, Nicholson K, Robertson L, Simms L, Steel AJ, Steves CJ, Storey B, Wason J, von Zglinicki T, Sayer AA. . The Lancet Healthy Longevity 2025, 6(3), 100695.
    • McDonald C, Alderson C, Birkbeck MG, Del Din S, Gorman GS, Hollingsworth KG, Kirk C, Massarella C, Rochester L, Tuppen HAL, Warren C, Sayer AA, Witham MD. . GeroScience 2025, 47, 6065-6078.
    • Lawson RA, Richardson SJ, Gerakios F, Yarnall AJ, Bate G, Wright L, McDonald C, Taylor JP, Burn DJ, Stebbins G, Allan LM. . Age & Ageing 2025, 54(7).
    • McDonald C, Cooper R, Sayer AA, Witham MD. . British Journal of Hospital Medicine 2024, 85(3).
    • McDonald C, Sayer AA, Witham MD. . Age and Ageing 2024, 53(10), afae212.
    • McDonald C, Alderson C, Birkbeck MG, Brown L, Del Din S, Gorman G, Hollingsworth KG, Massarella C, Rehman R, Rochester L, Sayer AA, Su H, Tuppen HAL, Warren C, Witham MD. . BMJ Open 2024, 14, e076518.
    • Graham L, Armitage J, Vitorio R, Das J, Barry G, Godfrey A, Mcdonald C, Walker R, Mancini M, Morris R, Stuart S. . Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2023, 37(10), 734-743.
    • Das J, Morris R, Barry G, Celik Y, Godfrey A, McDonald C, Walker R, Vitorio R, Stuart S. . Expert Review of Medical Devices 2023, 20(4), 253–257.
    • Graham L, Das J, Vitorio R, McDonald C, Walker R, Godfrey A, Morris R, Stuart S. . Experimental Brain Research 2023, 241, 2191–2203.
    • Araújo HA, Smaili SM, Morris R, Graham l, Das J, McDonald C, Walker R, Stuart S, Vitório R. . Sensors 2023, 23(10), 4651.
    • Das J, Vitorio R, Butterfield A, Morris R, Graham L, Barry G, McDonald C, Walker R, Mancini M, Stuart S. . Sensors 2022, 22(18), 6746.
    • Witham MD, Heslop P, Dodds RM, Clegg AP, Hope SV, McDonald C, Smithard D, Storey B, Tan AL, Thornhill A, Sayer AA. . BMC Geriatrics 2022, 22, 368.
    • Rennie KJ, Witham M, Bradley P, Clegg A, Connolly S, Hancock HC, Hiu S, Marsay L, McDonald C, Robertson L, Simms L, Steel AJ, Steves CJ, Storey B, Wason J, Wilson N, von Zglinicki T, Sayer AAP. . BMJ Open 2022, 12(7), e061823.
    • Das J, Morris R, Barry G, Vitorio R, Oman P, McDonald C, Walker R, Stuart S. . Plos One 2022, 17(10), e0275738.
    • Witham MD, Heslop P, Dodds RM, Clegg AP, Hope SV, McDonald C, Smithard D, Storey B, Tan AL, Thornhill A, Sayer AA. . Age and Ageing 2021, 50(5), 1762–1769.
    • McDonald C, Rees J, Winge K, Newton JL, Burn DJ. . Neurology 2020, 94(13), e1427-e1433.
    • Klaptocz J, Gray WK, Marwood S, Agarwal M, Ziegler J, Webb Z, Prabhakar M, Hand A, Oates L, McDonald C, Walker RW. . Journal of Aging and Health 2019, 31(9), 1616-1630.
    • Lawson RA, McDonald C, Burn DJ. . Parkinsonism and Related Disorders 2019, 64, 29-39.
    • Daud DB, McDonald C. Medical and surgical care for patients with Parkinson's disease. British Journal of Hospital Medicine 2018, 79(11), C162-C166.
    • O'Dowd S, Galna B, Morris R, Lawson RA, McDonald C, Yarnall AJ, Burn DJ, Rochester L, Anderson KN. . Journal of Parkinson's Disease 2017, 7(3), 465-470.
    • McDonald C, Pearce MS, Kerr SRJ, Newton JL. . Journal of Hypertension 2017, 35(1), 140-147.
    • McDonald C, Pearce M, Kerr SJR, Newton JL. . Age and Ageing 2017, 46(3), 439-445.
    • McDonald C, Pearce MS, Newton JL, Kerr SR. . Europace 2016, 18(7), 1101-1107.
    • McDonald C, Pearce MS, Wincenciak J, Kerr SRJ, Newton JL. . American Journal of Hypertension 2016, 29(5).
    • Durham J, McDonald C, Hutchinson L, Newton JL. . Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache 2015, 29(2), 152-157.
    • Bohr I, McDonald C, He J, Kerr S, Newton J, Blamire AM. . AGE 2015, 37, 91.
    • McDonald C, Koshi S, Busner L, Kavi L, Newton JL. . BMJ Open 2014, 4(6), e004127.
    • McDonald C, Frith J, Newton JL. . Europace 2011, 13(3), 427-430.
    • Costigan A, Elliott C, McDonald C, Newton J. . QJM 2010, 103(8), 589-595.
    • McDonald C, Newton J, Lai HM, Baker SN, Jones DE. . Journal of Hepatology 2010, 53(6), 1095-1100.
    • Hollingsworth KG, Newton JL, Taylor R, McDonald C, Palmer JM, Blamire AM, Jones DEJ. . Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2008, 6(9), 1041-1048.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • McDonald C, Lawson RA, Duncan GW, O'Dowd ST, Khoo TK, Yarnall AJ, Burn DJ. . In: Parkinson’s UK Research Conference. 2016, Leeds.
    • McDonald C, Pearce MS, Newton JL, Kerr SRJ. . In: British Geriatrics Society Autumn Meeting. 2014, Yorkshire: Oxford University Press.
    • Kerr SRJ, Newton JL, McDonald C. . In: British Geriatrics Society Spring Meeting. 2013, Belfast, Ireland: Oxford University Press.
    • McDonald C, Pearce MS, Newton JL, Kerr S. . In: British Geriatrics Society Spring Meeting. 2013, Belfast, Ireland: Oxford University Press.
    • McDonald C, Pearce MS, Newton JL, Kerr SRJ. . In: British Geriatrics Society Spring Meeting. 2013, Belfast, Ireland: Oxford University Press.
    • McDonald C, Pearce M, Newton J, Kerr S. . In: 8th World Congress on Aging and Physical Activity: A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusion in Active Ageing. 2012, Glasgow, UK: Human Kinetics.
    • Jones DE, McDonald C, Newton JL. . In: Hepatology: 60th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. 2009, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
    • McDonald C, Baker S, Lai M, Jones DE, Newton JL. . In: 58th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. 2007, Boston, MA: Hepatology, Wiley-Blackwell.

  • Letters

    • McDonald C, Firbank M, Pearce M, Blamire AM, Newton JL, Kerr S. . Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014, 62(10), 1988-1989.
    • Hardy T, MacDonald C, Jones DEJ, Newton JL. . Liver International 2010, 30(10), 1551-1552.

  • Reviews

    • McDonald C, Gordon G, Hand A, Walker RW, Fisher JM. . Age and Ageing 2018, 47(2), 209-214.
    • McDonald C, Winge K, Burn DJ. . Parkinsonism & Related Disorders 2017, 35, 8-16.
    • McDonald C, Newton JL, Burn DJ. . Movement Disorders 2016, 31(7), 937-946.