Judith Strachan

Mrs Judith Strachan BSc, FRCPath, EurClincChem

Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Department of Blood Sciences, NHS Tayside, Lead of the Scottish Bowel Screening Laboratory, and Honourary Senior Lecturer, University of Dundee Medical School, Dundee, Scotland, judith.strachan@nhs.scot, a Member of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine

A graduate of the University of St Andrews and has worked in NHS Tayside for more than 30 years. Consultant Clinical Scientist in Biochemical Medicine since 2005. Main interests lie within bowel screening, paediatrics and inherited metabolic disease. Designated Consultant overseeing the laboratory aspects of the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme since 2010 and a member of the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme Board, the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry FIT Working Group and member of the NICE Diagnostics Advisory Committee which led to NICE CG30 (published July 2017).

The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme was initiated with a demonstration pilot running from 2000 to 2002 using biennial gFOBT in the 50-69 age range The results of this pilot, along with those from a similar exercise in England, were used to inform a UK National Screening Committee decision to recommend national bowel screening programmes across the UK. Roll-out across the whole of Scotland in the 50-74 age range was complete by December 2009. Led the laboratory aspects of the change from gFOBT to a single quantitative FIT as the screening test beginning November 2017.

Main interest in the laboratory investigation (using FIT) of symptomatic patients presenting with lower bowel symptoms and has published widely on this topic with the wider Dundee research team along with colleagues across Scotland. These publications have undoubtedly stimulated the ubiquitous use of FIT in the assessment of symptomatic patients in the UK. This work led to the Tayside team being awarded a Certificate of Distinction in the UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence programme and included the submission on “Use of faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) unlocks the door to efficient and effective investigation of patients with new bowel symptoms”.

Has participated in writing the recommendations from Scottish Government on the use of FIT in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: these have proved invaluable in the rational use of the scarce colonoscopy resource available during this time.