Dr Marie Falahee BSc PhD CPsychol

Department of Inflammation and Ageing
Lecturer in Behavioural Rheumatology

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 371 7891
Email: m.falahee@bham.ac.uk
Twitter: @DrMarieFalahee

Address: Rheumatology Research Group
Department of Inflammation and Ageing
University of Birmingham
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Birmingham B15 2WB
United Knigdom

Patient perceptions are key predictors of clinical outcomes and health behaviours, and a central focus of Dr Falahee’s research is on understanding the perspectives of individuals with, or at risk of musculoskeletal disorders and the development of psychological and/or educational interventions to improve clinical outcomes or enhance shared decision making.

There is an increasing research interest in the development of predictive biomarkers and preventive strategies for rheumatoid arthritis, and Dr Falahee has a particular interest in the measurement of patient preferences in this context, in order to facilitate the efficient translation of this work and to inform the design of future clinical services that are effective and acceptable to patients and other stakeholders. She is also involved in the development of international evidence-based recommendations on the methodologies used to integrate patient preferences into decision making throughout the lifecycle of medical products as a partner in the European Union Innovative Medicines Initiative funded consortium PREFER.

Dr Falahee is passionate about patient and public involvement in research and as academic coordinator of the Birmingham Rheumatology Research Patient Partnership (R2P2): she facilitates patient involvement across the Rheumatology Research Group, ensuring that our research is informed by patients’ needs, experiences and expectations and is sharply focussed on public benefit.

Qualifications

Lecturer in Behavioural Rheumatology:

Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society 2017
PhD School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, 1997
BSc (Hons) Class 1. School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, 1992

Biography

2017 - Lecturer, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham

2014 - Post-doctoral Researcher, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham

2000 - Career Break

1997 - Lecturer in Psychology, Aston University

1995 - Research Fellow, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham

1992 - PhD School of Psychology, University of Birmingham

1989 - BSc University of Birmingham

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Falahee supervises doctoral students in areas related to her research interests and welcomes enquiries from self-funded PhD students with a background in behavioural / social science or medicine who have an interest in behavioural rheumatology. Dr Falahee is currently co-supervising an Arthritis Research UK funded PhD student (Imogen Wells) examining stakeholder perspectives on preventive approaches to rheumatoid arthritis

Research

Dr Falahee is interested in the application of behavioural science to improve outcomes for those affected by musculoskeletal disorders. Specific areas of interest include:

Developing programmes to facilitate the implementation of preventive treatments for individuals at risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis
Enhancing understanding of patient decision making about treatments or investigation strategies for inflammatory arthritis
Enhancing understanding of outcomes that are relevant to patients with inflammatory arthritis
Developing approaches to reduce delays in access to care/treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Other activities

Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society
Allied Health Professional Member of the British Society for Rheumatology
Member of the United Kingdom Society for Behavioural Medicine
Member of the EULAR Study Group for Risk Factors for RA
Member of the EULAR PARE Study Group for Collaborative Research

Publications

Recent publications

Article

ALTO Study Investigators, Cope, AP, Jasenecova, M, Vasconcelos, JC, Qureshi, S, van Schie, KA, Filer, A, Raza, K, D'Agostino, MA, McInnes, IB, Siebert, S, Isaacs, JD, Pratt, AG, Fisher, BA, Buckley, CD, Emery, P, Mankia, K, Ho, P, Buch, MH, Ciurtin, C, van Schaardenburg, D, Huizinga, TWJ, Toes, REM, Georgiou, E, Kelly, J, Murphy, C, Prevost, AT, Falahee, M & Sahbudin, I 2026, 'Long-term outcomes of abatacept in individuals at risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (ALTO): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial', The Lancet Rheumatology. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(25)00371-6

van Steenbergen, HW, Doornkamp, F, Alivernini, S, Backlund, J, Codreanu, C, Cohen, SB, Combe, B, Cope, AP, Deane, KD, England, BR, Falahee, M, de Jong, PHP, Kleyer, A, Lacaille, D, Maat, B, Mankia, K, van Mulligen, E, Nagy, G, O'Neill, LJ, Rodamaker, L, Sahbudin, I, van Schaardenburg, D, Sepriano, A, da Silva, JAP, De Smet, L, Sparks, JA, Steyerberg, EW, Studenic, P, Wethingtone, E, Landewe, RL, Raza, K & van der Helm-van Mil, AHM 2025, 'EULAR/ACR risk stratification criteria for development of rheumatoid arthritis in the risk stage of arthralgia', Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ard.2025.01.021

van Steenbergen, HW, Doornkamp, F, Alivernini, S, Backlund, J, Codreanu, C, Cohen, SB, Combe, B, Cope, AP, Deane, KD, England, BR, Falahee, M, de Jong, PHP, Kleyer, A, Lacaille, D, Maat, B, Mankia, K, van Mulligen, E, Nagy, G, O'Neil, LJ, Rodamaker, L, Sahbudin, I, van Schaardenburg, D, Sepriano, A, da Silva, JAP, De Smet, L, Sparks, JA, Steyerberg, EW, Studenic, P, Wethington, E, Landewé, RL, Raza, K & van der Helm-van Mil, AHM 2025, 'EULAR/American College of Rheumatology Risk Stratification Criteria for Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Risk Stage of Arthralgia', Arthritis & Rheumatology (Hoboken). https://doi.org/10.1002/art.43218

Saadat, P, Bansback, N, Falahee, M, Hiligsmann, M, Tugwell, P, Buchbinder, R, Whittle, S, Richards, DP, Proulx, L, Schunemann, H, Alonso Coello, P, Nieuwlaat, R, Wiercioch, W, Kuper, S, Pardo Pardo, J & Hazlewood, GS 2025, 'Patient preferences for drug therapy in inflammatory arthritis: protocol for a living systematic review and evidence map to inform clinical practice guidelines', BMJ open, vol. 15, e088267. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088267

Raskin, N, Hiligsmann, M, Rebutoc, AR, Bansback, N, Boonen, A, Buchbinder, R, Falahee, M, Fraenkel, L, Marshall, DA, Maxwell, L, Nieuwlaat, R, Proulx, L, Saadat, P, Shea, B, Tugwell, P, Wiercioch, W, Beaton, D, Richards, P, Schünemann, H, Guillemin, F & Hazlewood, GS 2025, 'Standardizing health outcomes for people with rheumatoid arthritis receiving disease modifying drug therapy: A rapid review of patient-decision aids and preference studies to inform the development of OMERACT Health Outcome Descriptors', Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism, vol. 74, 152769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2025.152769

Cope, A, Jasenecova, M, Vasconcelos, J, Filer, A, Raza, K, Qureshi, S, D'Agostino, M-A, McInnes, IB, Isaacs, J, Pratt, AG, Fisher, B, Buckley, CD, Emery, P, Ho, P, Buch, MH, Ciurtin, C, van Schaardenburg, D, Huizinga, TWJ, Toes, R, Georgiou, E, Kelly, J, Murphy, CL, Prevost, AT & APIPPRA Study Investigators 2024, 'Abatacept in individuals at high risk of rheumatoid arthritis (APIPPRA): a randomised, double-blind, multicentre, parallel, placebo-controlled, phase 2b clinical trial', The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02649-1

DiSantostefano, RL, Simons, G, Englbrecht, M, Humphreys, JH, Bruce, IN, Bywall, KS, Radawski, C, Raza, K, Falahee, M & Veldwijk, J 2024, 'Can the General Public Be a Proxy for an “At-Risk” Group in a Patient Preference Study? A Disease Prevention Example in Rheumatoid Arthritis', Medical Decision Making, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 189-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989x231218265

de Wit, M, Aouad, K, Elhai, M, Benavent, D, Bertheussen, H, Blackburn, S, Bőhm, P, Duarte, C, Falahee, M, Karlfeldt, S, Kiltz, U, Mateus, E, Richards, DP, Rodríguez-Carrio, J, Sagen, J, Shumnalieva, R, Stones, S, Tas, SW, Tillett, W, Viera, A, Wilhelmer, TC, Zabalan, C, Primdahl, J, Studenic, P & Gossec, L 2024, 'EULAR recommendations for the involvement of patient research partners in rheumatology research: 2023 update', Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, vol. 83, no. 11, pp. 1443-1453. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard-2024-225566

Simons, G, Jones, H, Clarke, I, Davies, F, Grealis, S, Insch, E, Kahn, H, Lloyd, J, Richards, A, Rose, H, Williams, R, de Wit, M, Woodcock, C, Romaniuk, L, Bardgett, M, Pratt, AG & Falahee, M 2024, 'Patient and public involvement in the design of an international clinical trial: real world experience', Research Involvement and Engagement, vol. 10, no. 1, 117. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-024-00642-7

Torlinska, B, Raza, K, Filer, A, Jutley, G, Sahbudin, I, Singh, R, De Pablo, P, Rankin, E, Rhodes, B, Amft, EN, Justice, E, McGrath, C, Baskar, S, Trickey, J, Calvert, M & Falahee, M 2024, 'Predictors of quality of life, functional status, depression and fatigue in early arthritis: Comparison between clinically suspect arthralgia, unclassified arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis', BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 25, no. 1, 307. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-024-07446-6

D'Elia, A, Baranskaya, A, Haroon, S, Hammond, B, Adderley, N, Nirantharakumar, K, Chandan, J, Falahee, M & Raza, K 2024, 'Prodromal symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in a primary care database: variation by ethnicity and socioeconomic status', Rheumatology. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keae157

Veldwijk, J, DiSantostefano, RL, Janssen, E, Simons, G, Englbrecht, M, Karin, SB, Radawski, C, Raza, K, Hauber, B & Falahee, M 2023, 'Maximum Acceptable Risk Estimation based on a Discrete Choice Experiment and Probabilistic Threshold Technique', Patient. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-023-00643-w

Smith, M, Janssens, R, Jiminez-Moreno, AC, Cleemput, I, Muller, M, Oliveri, S, Simons, G, Strammiello, V, Huys, I & Falahee, M 2023, 'Patients as research partners in preference studies: Learnings from IMI-PREFER', Research Involvement & Engagement, vol. 9, no. 1, 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-023-00430-9

Comment/debate

Falahee, M 2026, 'Patient and public involvement in research: Make it matter', The Lancet Rheumatology.

Review article

Dobson, R, Kreft, KL, Jacobs, BM, Brown, JWL, Thomson, A, Nicholas, R, Walton, C, Narendran, P & UK MS Prevention Taskforce 2025, 'Towards primary prevention of multiple sclerosis', Nature Reviews Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-025-01164-w

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