Please note that the conference has now taken place for 2013; this website is an archive. The UKCRC PHRCoE 5th Annual Conference will take place in 2014 and will be hosted by the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies; more information will be announced nearer the time. If you have any questions about the 2013 conference, please contact Zoe Macdonald on [email protected].
Keynote speakers
Professor Chris Bonell
Professor of Sociology and Social Intervention, University of Oxford
Chris Bonell is Professor of Sociology and Social Intervention at the University of Oxford. His main areas of interest are social interventions to promote the health and social development of young people, particularly interventions which address the social environment of schools, and positive youth development interventions. He is also interested in basic quantitative and qualitative research on the influences on young people’s heath and development; developing methods for process evaluation; and HIV prevention in the UK and sub-Saharan Africa. He has previously worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Institute of Education, and the UK Government’s Social Exclusion Unit.
Abstract: Promoting young people’s health and education
Recently, government policy has continued to focus on improving attainment in schools but there has been a move away from promoting health. The view of Michael Gove that student health is best promoted by maximising attainment is to some extent supported by research but it should also be stressed that a strict separation between promoting health and promoting attainment is not meaningful. Systematic reviews suggest that school-based health promotion can bring significant improvements in educational as well as health outcomes. Conversely, there is a risk that schools focusing on attainment with no focus on health and social development can harm students’ mental and physical health via pathways involving anxiety among high achievers, and decreased engagement of less able students leading to engagement with anti-school peer groups and risky behaviours. Policy might help break these cycles by: addressing students’ health and social development, not only their attainment; ensuring broader forms of achievement are rewarded; and enabling students to develop vocational skills where appropriate.
Abstract: Promoting young people’s health and education
Recently, government policy has continued to focus on improving attainment in schools but there has been a move away from promoting health. The view of Michael Gove that student health is best promoted by maximising attainment is to some extent supported by research but it should also be stressed that a strict separation between promoting health and promoting attainment is not meaningful. Systematic reviews suggest that school-based health promotion can bring significant improvements in educational as well as health outcomes. Conversely, there is a risk that schools focusing on attainment with no focus on health and social development can harm students’ mental and physical health via pathways involving anxiety among high achievers, and decreased engagement of less able students leading to engagement with anti-school peer groups and risky behaviours. Policy might help break these cycles by: addressing students’ health and social development, not only their attainment; ensuring broader forms of achievement are rewarded; and enabling students to develop vocational skills where appropriate.
Professor Carol Brayne
Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Cambridge
Carol Brayne is Professor of Public Health Medicine in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care in the University of Cambridge. She is a medically qualified epidemiologist and public health academic. She graduated in medicine from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London, and went on to train in general medicine. After gaining membership she moved on to training in epidemiology with a training fellowship with the Medical Research Council. The research area for this fellowship was ageing and dementia. Since the mid-eighties her main research area has been longitudinal studies of older people, following changes over time in cognition, dementia natural history and associated features with a public health perspective. She is lead principal investigator in the group of MRC Cognitive Functioning and Ageing studies, which have informed and will continue to inform national policy and scientific understanding of dementia in whole populations. She has been responsible for training programmes in epidemiology and public health for under- and postgraduates since the early nineties. She is Director of the Cambridge Institute of Public Health at the University of Cambridge.
Abstract: Public health research for ageing populations: contributions and challenges
The continued ageing of the global population is likely to continue given current trends and is recognised alongside other major contemporary challenges to human societies. This presentation will focus on particular issues presented by increasing ageing in the population, particularly the UK and the area of dementia as an example, and the way in which policy responses, including public health research initiatives, evolve.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond FBA FRSE AcSS
Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen
Professor Sir Ian Diamond is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, an appointment he has held since 1 April 2010. He was previously Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council. He was also Chair of the Research Councils UK Executive Group (2004-2009), the umbrella body that represents all seven UK research councils. Sir Ian chaired the UKCRC Public Health Research Strategic Planning Group, whose report, 'Strengthening Public Health Research in the UK', led to the creation of the five UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence. Before joining the ESRC, Sir Ian was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Southampton, where he had been for most of his career.
In his research career, Sir Ian’s work crossed many disciplinary boundaries, most notably working in the area of population but also in health, both in the developed and less developed world, in environmental noise and with local authorities. His research has involved collaboration with many government departments including the Office for National Statistics, the Department for International Development, the Department of Transport and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Sir Ian is Chair of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales and a trustee of the World Wildlife Fund UK and the Iona Cathedral Trust. He is Chairman of the Universities UK Research Policy Network Committee, Chair of the Universities UK Group on Efficiency, and a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council, the Council of CBI Scotland and the British Council Scotland Advisory Committee. Sir Ian was elected to the UK Academy of Social Sciences in 1999, is a Fellow of the British Academy (2005), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2009) and holds honorary degrees from the universities of Cardiff and Glasgow. Sir Ian was knighted in the New Year’s Honours 2013.
Abstract: The role of government in public health
This paper will look at the way government can play a role in encouraging healthy behaviour and in helping to reduce health inequalities.
In his research career, Sir Ian’s work crossed many disciplinary boundaries, most notably working in the area of population but also in health, both in the developed and less developed world, in environmental noise and with local authorities. His research has involved collaboration with many government departments including the Office for National Statistics, the Department for International Development, the Department of Transport and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Sir Ian is Chair of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales and a trustee of the World Wildlife Fund UK and the Iona Cathedral Trust. He is Chairman of the Universities UK Research Policy Network Committee, Chair of the Universities UK Group on Efficiency, and a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council, the Council of CBI Scotland and the British Council Scotland Advisory Committee. Sir Ian was elected to the UK Academy of Social Sciences in 1999, is a Fellow of the British Academy (2005), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2009) and holds honorary degrees from the universities of Cardiff and Glasgow. Sir Ian was knighted in the New Year’s Honours 2013.
Abstract: The role of government in public health
This paper will look at the way government can play a role in encouraging healthy behaviour and in helping to reduce health inequalities.
Dr. Ruth Hussey OBE
Chief Medical Officer Wales, Welsh Government
Ruth commenced as Chief Medical Officer for Wales in Sept 2012. From 2006 she was Regional Director of Public Health/ Senior Medical Director at NHS North West and led the Department of Health in the North West region. From April 2011 she was seconded to the Public Health England Transition Team at the Department of Health, leading transition of the public health function from the NHS to local government.
Previously, Ruth held the posts of Director of Health Strategy/Medical Director at Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (April 2002 – July 2006) and between November 2005 and June 2006, Ruth was also the Acting Director of Public Health /Medical Director at Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority. Prior to this Ruth held the post of Director of Public Health for Liverpool (1991 - 2002).
She also coordinated the establishment of a Masters of Public Health degree course whilst a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the late 1980s and continues to have links with several universities in the north west of England. Ruth is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and Royal College of Physicians. Ruth has been committed to reducing health inequalities throughout her working life. She established a strong partnership based approach to this work in the north west and is an advocate of integrated approaches to improving health and delivering high quality health and social care. She has a strong commitment to public involvement in their health and health care as well as supporting effective clinical leadership to ensure the development of innovative approaches to meet 21st century health challenges.
Abstract: Translating evidence into policy and action: thoughts from Wales
Wales has a strong tradition of using evidence to support policy action. There is ongoing interest in developing Wales as a public sector leader and a ‘policy’ lab. If we are to turn this aspiration to reality it is essential that we have the right components, the right academic skills and an appetite from policy makers. I will consider contemporary issues in translating evidence into policy and actions and the challenges and opportunities in promoting this approach.
The full conference programme can be viewed and downloaded on the 'Programme' page. All abstracts on this page will be included in the conference brochure.
Previously, Ruth held the posts of Director of Health Strategy/Medical Director at Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (April 2002 – July 2006) and between November 2005 and June 2006, Ruth was also the Acting Director of Public Health /Medical Director at Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority. Prior to this Ruth held the post of Director of Public Health for Liverpool (1991 - 2002).
She also coordinated the establishment of a Masters of Public Health degree course whilst a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the late 1980s and continues to have links with several universities in the north west of England. Ruth is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and Royal College of Physicians. Ruth has been committed to reducing health inequalities throughout her working life. She established a strong partnership based approach to this work in the north west and is an advocate of integrated approaches to improving health and delivering high quality health and social care. She has a strong commitment to public involvement in their health and health care as well as supporting effective clinical leadership to ensure the development of innovative approaches to meet 21st century health challenges.
Abstract: Translating evidence into policy and action: thoughts from Wales
Wales has a strong tradition of using evidence to support policy action. There is ongoing interest in developing Wales as a public sector leader and a ‘policy’ lab. If we are to turn this aspiration to reality it is essential that we have the right components, the right academic skills and an appetite from policy makers. I will consider contemporary issues in translating evidence into policy and actions and the challenges and opportunities in promoting this approach.
The full conference programme can be viewed and downloaded on the 'Programme' page. All abstracts on this page will be included in the conference brochure.