Alex Novak

I am a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Ambulatory Care at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, having previously worked as a General Practitioner, and have nearly 20 years experience of experience working across three clinical specialties.  Much of my non-clinical time is spent working to develop research in the acute healthcare sector, which has historically been underrepresented and underexplored in academic terms, and my strategic work seeks to offer an alternative paradigm to the disease/organ centered outlook which has hitherto dominated clinical research. My own main research interests are based primarily around the use and development of diagnostic technology in acute healthcare settings, in particular the evaluation of Artificial Intelligence-enhanced imaging, and the broad and varied scope of presentations combined with the high intensity of the Emergency Department workflow provide a fertile ground for innovation within this vast sphere of clinical activity.

I am currently a Clinical Specialist Advisor for clinical medical students in Trinity College, with a specialist interest in Emergency and Acute Medicine. In the wider University I am a Medical Undergraduate Educational Supervisor for clinical students, having previously taught undergraduate medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. I am a supervisor for 5 EMROx Research Fellows (3 current, 2 previous), and previously co-ordinated the departmental i3EM CPD programme for middle grade Emergency Medicine doctors.

I have been the Consultant lead for Emergency Medicine Research Oxford (EMROx) since early 2020, and hold a number of strategic research roles across the national, regional and local acute healthcare sector, including Chair of the Thames Valley Emergency Medicine Research Network, and Acute Critical and Emergency Care Research Oversight Committee. I am a member of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Research Committee and was awarded RCEM Principal Investigator of the Year in 2020. I have a broad portfolio of research projects, including a strong interest in the development and evaluation of AI-enhanced imaging in acute healthcare settings, and am Chief Investigator for the both the GE Critical Care Suite Reader Studies and Simulation Training in Emergency Department Imaging (STEDI) trials.

Novak A, Hollowday M, Espinosa Morgado AT, et alEvaluating the impact of artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis on the diagnostic accuracy of front-line clinicians in detecting fractures on plain X-rays (FRACT-AI): protocol for a prospective observational studyBMJ Open 2024;14:e086061. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086061

Novak A, Ather S, Gill A, et al. Evaluation of the impact of artificial intelligence-assisted image interpretation on the diagnostic performance of clinicians in identifying pneumothoraces on plain chest X-ray: a multi-case multi-reader study. Emergency Medicine Journal Published Online First: 15 July 2024. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2023-213620

Lip G, Novak A, Goyen M, Boylan K, Kumar A, Adoption, orchestration, and deployment of artificial intelligence within the National Health Service—facilitators and barriers: an expert roundtable discussion, BJR|Artificial Intelligence, Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2024, ubae009, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjrai/ubae009

Vimalesvaran K, Robert D, Kumar S, et al. Assessing the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) in prioritising CT head interpretation: study protocol for a stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial (ACCEPT-AI). BMJOpen 2024;14:e078227. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-078227

Metcalfe D, Novak A, Paul I, et al. Ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca blocks for hip fracture: is the juice worth the squeeze? Emergency Medicine Journal 2024;41:361-362

Fu H, Novak A, Robert D, et al.AI assisted reader evaluation in acute CT head interpretation (AI-REACT): protocol for a multireader multicase study. BMJ Open 2024;14:e079824. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079824

Metcalfe D, Hoeritzauer I, Angus M, et al. Diagnosis of cauda equina syndrome in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Journal 2023;40:787-793

Lowe D, Novak, A , Newcombe V, Hunt P, France J. Artificial Intelligence in the Emergency Department. Emergency Medicine Journal 2023;40(8):Supplement

Gibbs VN, Geneen LJ, Champaneria R, Raval P, Doree C, Brunskill SJ, Novak A, Palmer AJR, Estcourt LJ. Pharmacological interventions for the prevention of bleeding n people undergoing definitive fixation or joint replacement for hip, pelvic and long bone fractures. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2023, Issue 6

Coventry L, Oldrini I, Dean B, et al.Which clinical features best predict occult scaphoid fractures? A systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy studies. Emergency Medicine Journal Published Online First: 11 May 2023. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2023-213119

Novak A, Lowe D, Newcombe V et al. Royal College of Emergency Medicine Position Statement on Artificial Intelligence in the Emergency Department. Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Published 15th December 2022

Oldrini I, Coventry L, Novak A et al. Clinical predictors of fracture in patients with shoulder dislocation: systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy studies Emergency Medicine Journal Published Online First: 30 November 2022. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2022-212696

Vasey B, Novak A, Ather S, Ibrahim M, McCulloch P. DECIDE-AI: a new reporting guideline and its relevance to artificial intelligence studies in radiology. Clinical Radiology. Accepted for publication November 2022