Bio

Dr Peter Adams is Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus. He completed secondary school at Queens College in Guyana, received a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London and a MBBS and DM from the University of the West Indies. He attended both the Mona and Cave Hill campuses of the UWI. He is a Family Physician who after completing his internship in Trinidad has been practising medicine for over 3 decades in Barbados.

Prior to becoming Dean in 2015, he coordinated both the undergraduate and postgraduate Family Medicine programmes. He introduced a Diploma in Family Medicine by distance with doctors in several Eastern Caribbean islands enrolled. Until recently he was an associate consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and headed the General Practice Unit located at the Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic. He is a former editor of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners Bulletin, and is currently a member of the International Advisory Board, British Journal of General Practice.

Qualifications

BSc (Lond), MB BS, MSc, DM (Family Medicine) (UWI)

Research Areas

My research has focused on aspects of chronic noncommunicable diseases and sexually transmitted infections relevant to the practice of Family Medicine in Barbados. I have employed a variety of research methods - both quantitative and qualitative methods. I have used clinic-based and population-based (simple random and multistage cluster) samples and I have established one of the very few cohorts in the English-speaking Caribbean. I am currently involved in a multi-site interventional study on diabetes prevention.

Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Network (ECHORN) cohort study
http://www.echorn.org/
Initial funding NIMHD U24 grant of US $748,546

ECHORN is a cross-island collaborative that has developed a population-based, observational cohort study that estimates prevalence of known and potential risk factors for cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease over time. I am the Barbados site Principal Investigator.

Yale Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center for Health Disparities Research focused on Precision
Medicine (Yale-TCC).
U54 NIHMD grant for US $507,216
https://medicine.yale.edu/intmed/genmed/tcc/people/implementation.aspx

The Yale-TCC and is funding wave 2 of the ECHORN cohort study and the following subprojects -

• Subproject 1 - Biobanking: Involves the collection of biological samples to test future hypotheses examining biomarkers and genetic polymorphisms that were collected prior to disease occurrence.

• Subproject 2- Diabetes: A precision medicine approach to identify novel biomarkers associated with type 2 diabetes development, thereby facilitating early diagnosis and potential therapeutic targeting of the disease. The primary objective is to identify biomarkers using state-of-the art metabolomics and genomic analyses of blood and urine collected from participants in the ECHORN cohort study. The central hypothesis is that a unique signature of blood and urine metabolites will predict the development of T2D earlier and more accurately than traditional biomarkers.

• Subproject 3 – Hypertension: The overarching goal of this sub-project is to examine momentary Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP) in relation to individual variability in environment, lifestyle, and related contextual factors members of the ECHORN Cohort. Our primary objective is to develop individual level phenotypes of hypertension risk, based on contextual factors and the momentary effects these have on ABP, using advanced analytic techniques. Our central hypothesis is that the integration of individual-specific contextual data with ABP profiles will better classify risk for hypertension.

Paediatric ECHORN Cohort study
NHBLI -- R01HL143785 grant for US $543, 388
The overall objective is to characterize intergenerational factors that contribute to paediatric cardiovascular risk.

Preventing Diabetes Using Lifestyle Intervention and Metformin Escalation –(LIME) Project of the Implementation Core of the Yale-TCC.
https://medicine.yale.edu/intmed/genmed/tcc/lime.aspx
The main aim is to determine if evidence-based lifestyle interventions and metformin can be effective to prevent diabetes in Caribbean populations. Involves study sites in Trinidad, Barbados, USVI, Puerto Rico and New York.

Teaching Areas

Previously coordinated the Family Medicine undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Publications

1. Adams OP, Mangera KAS, Hambleton I, Morris EH, Paul-Charles JL. Does peak expiratory flow measured sitting differ from that measured standing? BJGP Open. 2018 July; 2 (2) DOI:https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgpopen18X101592

2. Adams OP, Herbert JR, Howitt C, Unwin N. The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy severe enough to cause a loss of protective sensation in a population-based sample of people with known and newly detected diabetes in Barbados: a cross-sectional study. Diabet Med. 2019;36(12):1629-1636.  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dme.13989

3. Adams OP. The impact of brief high-intensity exercise on blood glucose levels. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2013; 6:113-22 https://www.dovepress.com/the-impact-of-brief-high-intensity-exercise-on-blood-glucose-levels-peer-reviewed-article-DMSO

4. Adams OP, Carter AO. Knowledge, Attitudes, practices, and barriers reported by patients receiving Diabetes and Hypertension Primary Health Care in Barbados: A focus group study. BMC Family Practice 2011; 12:135https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2296-12-135

5. Adams OP, Carter AO, Prussia P, et al. Risk Behaviour, Health Care Access and Prevalence of infection with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in a population based sample of adults in Barbados. Sex Transm Infect. 2008; 84: 192-194 https://sti.bmj.com/content/84/3/192.long
 

See additional publications here >>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Adams+OP&sort=date&size=50

Keywords

Family Medicine, Primary Care, Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity, HIV, ECHORN