Professor Simon Stanworth

FRCP, FRCPath Dphil
Consultant Haematologist, John Radcliffe Hospital

Professor Simon Stanworth is a Consultant Haematologist at John Radcliffe Hospital (NHSBT and Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust) and Professor of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine at the University of Oxford. His applied research examines clinical indications for blood components and alternatives through systematic reviews and clinical trials.

Since gaining his Oxford DPhil in 1995, he has developed extensive clinical research experience, driven by patient needs identified through Patient and Public Engagement panels and James Lind Priority Setting Partnerships. His work includes international randomised trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

He has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles, with an H-index above 70. Recent major trials include CRYOSTAT2, for which he was Joint Chief Investigator (Davenport et al., JAMA 2023). He supports translating research into practice through contributions to national and international guidelines, including collaboration with Drs Carson and Pagano on red cell transfusion thresholds.

His quality improvement research focuses on Audit and Feedback (A&F). Although widely used, cumulative meta-analysis suggests A&F effect sizes stabilised over a decade ago, highlighting limited progress in improving effectiveness. Working with national audit programmes, he has tested methods to enhance A&F and explored embedding this research routinely within UK national audits.

During the COVID-19 response, he led research into impacts across the transfusion chain, from donor to recipient, including responses to blood shortages. He also investigated COVID-19’s effects on patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and tested anticoagulation strategies in critically ill patients, with findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.