Dr Barton is a senior lecturer in the Department of General Practice. He leads the departments research training program which includes skills development, supervision and mentoring to undergraduate (e.g. honours), postgraduate (e.g. Masters and PhD) and post-doctoral researchers (e.g. academic registrars, post doc research fellows) in general practice. He also oversees the delivery of a research training 'activity package' for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) to GP academic registrars participating in an academic post and RACGP Education Research Grant holders.

Dr Barton completed his PhD in epidemiology at Monash University in 2005 then gained a post-doctoral fellowship post in primary health care with the University of Adelaide, Department of General Practice. This research focused on quality of primary care management for chronic disease primarily respiratory disease. During this time he developed expertise in mixed methods and qualitative research methods for primary care research. In 2010 Dr Barton moved to Flinders University in South Australia where he gained a tenured post in the Department of Social Health Sciences. Here his research explored the social and emotional impact of chronic illness with a focus on these issues for people in the community living with asthma, COPD and multiple chronic illnesses.

His current research with the Department of General Practice focuses on understanding patient experience of care for chronic disease and GPs experience of delivering care. His focus is the relational and affective aspects of care, exploring topics such as the dr-patient relationship, communication, attitudes, stigma and trust. He has an ongoing interest in the emotional and social impact of chronic respiratory illnesses including asthma and COPD amongst primary care patients and individuals living in the community. His research also encompasses studies of smoking cessation in primary care and the community, in particular psychosocial aspects of smoking and identifying/testing strategies to support smoking cessation. He has expertise in primary care research methods and provides methodological input to a wide range of studies in primary care settings; also publishing in the areas of primary care research methods and research ethics.

Dr Barton’s research is cited in the National Asthma Handbook 2.0, the National Asthma Strategy 2018 and Asthma Australia Fact Sheets. He is an associate editor for BMC Family Practice. In 2012-2014 he participated in the Oxford Primary Care Research Leadership program (cohort 7).