Theme lead: Dr Leta Pilic
Why
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer are incredibly widespread, and they account for around 71% of all deaths globally (World Health Organization, 2022). These NCDs are strongly affected by modifiable lifestyle factors and for that reason, health promotion and disease prevention are always in the centre of scientific inquiry and exploration. For health promotion to be able to support governments, communities, and individuals to address health challenges, it is important that individualised approaches and population-wide interventions work in harmony and support each other.
Major stakeholders, such as the Department of Health and Social Care have been actively promoting a focus on personalised healthcare in addition to broader public health approaches. The government consultation document “Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s” goes beyond the “one size fits all” approach and prioritises health promotion and disease prevention through targeted support, tailored lifestyle advice and personalised care. Although personalised healthcare would allow a more efficient use of resources and deliver better quality health-preserving care (Horgan et al. 2020), it is essential that it is implemented alongside more traditional health promotion initiatives.
What
The aim of the Health of Individuals and Populations Research Theme is to facilitate research that targets the health and wellbeing on a personalised and population level and promote the translation of such research into practice. Objectives include:
- Support research that addresses health and wellbeing either on individuals or populations with particular focus on collaborative projects that provide a more complete approach to complex questions.
- Support early career researchers with guidance and opportunities to conduct research in this area.
- Facilitate dissemination and promotion of research outputs to raise awareness of existing achievements.
How
- The Theme will act as a hub to bring scientists together to exchange ideas and combine expertise and skills.
- The Theme will act as a facilitator to bring scientists and industry together with the aim to create collaborative projects that stakeholders identify as important.
- The Theme will support (financially and otherwise) research that is aligned with our aim and objectives
- The Theme will use a dedicated space (e.g., webpage, newsletter etc.) to promote and publicise ongoing research and achievements.
Who
Internally, co-ordination of the Theme is the responsibility of the Theme Lead with the support of the Director of the Research Centre, the Associate Dean of Research of the Faculty and the University Research Office. However, it is imperative that the heart of the theme is the researchers themselves who will be asked to be involved in the activities of the Theme.
Externally, there is a number of important collaborations that are currently active within our faculty (eg AgeUK, the NHS, Cereneo Foundation etc) and we aim to firstly capture all of them and showcase them and secondly to expand them.