Reporter

Fenwick’s honorary membership

30 July 2012

Alan Fenwick, Professor of Tropical Parasitology (Public Health), has been elected as an honorary member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Honorary membership is conferred in recognition of outstanding accomplishment by “an individual not an American citizen who has made eminent contributions to some phase of tropical medicine and hygiene”. Professor Fenwick directs the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) at Imperial. The SCI is a collaborative project to help countries in sub-Saharan Africa control schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms, and other neglected tropical diseases.

Tags: Awards and Honours, Public Health
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Improving healthcare experiences health inequalities faced by patients with

30 May 2012

On 7 March, two final year medical students, Zainab Oseni and Amanda Owusu-Agyei, hosted an event called Learning Disability: Challenging our Understanding, attended by Imperial medics. Zainab explains why she decided to organise the event and shares her highlights of the day.

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Tags: Public Health
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Medical researchers honoured with prestigious Fellowship

28 May 2012

Imperial researchers who are preventing brain injuries in newborn babies, fighting tuberculosis, improving the effectiveness of clinical trials and combating heart disease have been awarded prestigious Fellowships from the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Professor Denis Azzopardi, Professor of Neonatal Medicine (Clinical Sciences), Professor Deborah Ashby, Chair in Medical Statistics and Clinical Trials (Public Health), Professor Jaspal Kooner, Professor of Clinical Cardiology, and Professor Ajit Lalvani, Chair in Infectious Diseases (both NHLI), are among 46 leading scientists honoured with Fellowships.

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Tags: Institute of Clinical Sciences, National Heart and Lung Institute, Public Health
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Living below the line

4 May 2012

Between 6–10 May, Alexandra Weldon, Advocacy and Relations Manager (Public Health) at the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), has taken on the challenge to live off just £1 per day for food, reflecting the experiences of the 1.4 billion people currently living in extreme poverty around the world. Alix explains why she is taking part in the annual Live Below the Line fundraising initiative.

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Tags: Public Health
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Faulty fat sensor implicated in obesity and liver disease

19 March 2012

Defects in a protein that functions as a dietary fat sensor may be a cause of obesity and liver disease, according to a study published in the journal Nature on 20 February 2012, led by researchers at Imperial.

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Tags: Public Health
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Patients’ online hospital reviews reflect data on hospital outcomes

28 February 2012

Patients’ ratings of hospitals tally with objective measures of the hospital’s performance, according to an independent study published on 13 February in Archives of Internal Medicine.

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Tags: Medicine, Public Health
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Metabolic profiling in Ivory Coast

27 February 2012

From 12–14 January, Dr Jasmina Saric, a lecturer in biomedical parasitology in the Department of Surgery and Cancer, held a workshop about metabolic profiling hosted by the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and supported by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the Wellcome Trust. She reports on her experience.

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Tags: Medicine, Public Health, Surgery and Cancer, Wellcome Trust
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New approach to lung disease attracts international delegation

9 February 2012

International health delegates from the State of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Cuba, Barbados, Bahrain, El Salvador, Columbia, and Sudan visited Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 7 February to hear about innovations in the treatment of chronic lung disease.

Staff from the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education & Training at Imperial, led by Professor Salman Rawaf (Public Health), learned how a new “care bundle” has helped patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the fifth leading cause of death worldwide.The theme was evidence based implementation support evidence based medicine.

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Tags: Medicine, Public Health, World Health Organisation
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Royal Society MP/Civil Servant Pairing Scheme

6 December 2011

Last month, Dr Kath O’Reilly (Public Health) took part in the Royal Society MP/Civil Servant Pairing Scheme, which is designed to encourage communication between scientists and government. Kath shares her experience of spending two days in Westminster and two days in the Department of Health shadowing Dr Ailsa Wight, Deputy Director and Head of Programme for Infectious Diseases and Blood Policy.

“The scheme was a real eye-opener for me. Westminster Palace was continually abuzz with activity, ranging from the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions and meetings of Parliamentary Select Committees, to launches of campaigns by stakeholders. One launch I attended was ‘Antibiotic Action: the arms race’ where interested groups have joined forces to raise awareness of the need for new antibiotics. We also spent time with civil servants who facilitate the Science Advisory Groups during emergencies. As an example we revisited the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) meeting that was formed in response to the Japanese tsunami and damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant.

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Tags: Public Health
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Mini profile: Dr Lesley Drake

28 November 2011

Dr Lesley Drake, Executive Director of the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) in the School of Public Health, spoke to Reporter from Kenya about her efforts to improve the general health of children in low and middle income countries.

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Tags: Public Health
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Frog trade linked to emergence of killer fungus

28 November 2011

The global trade in frogs, toads and other amphibians may have accidentally helped create and spread the deadly fungal disease, chytridiomycosis.

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Tags: Public Health
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Media mentions

28 November 2011

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Tags: Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Public Health
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Genetic study of liver function could lead to new treatments

1 November 2011

An international collaboration, led by researchers at Imperial, has identified a large number of areas in the human genetic code that are involved in regulating the way in which the liver functions. The new study involved over 61,000 people and was published in October in the journal Nature Genetics.

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Tags: Public Health
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Media Mentions

31 October 2011

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Tags: Business School, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Physics, Public Health
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Run to the Beat

28 October 2011

On 25 September, Alexandra Williams, Dr Shamini Gnani, and Dr Adrian Raby (all Public Health) competed in the Run to the Beat half marathon challenge to raise money for charity. Adrian reports on their experiences.

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Tags: Public Health
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