Two SPHSU projects have gained awards in the first ever round of funding by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP). 

Ruth Dundas leads MatCH-Net (Maternal and Child Health Network) which aims to lay the groundwork to develop research programmes to exploit linked, population-level administrative data to evaluate the impact of policies and determinants of maternal and child health across the four UK nations.

Professor Laurence Moore leads PHASE: The Population Health Agent-based Simulation Network. PHASE will focus on the application and use of agent-based models among researchers and decision makers in order to develop insights into the interdependent and interacting processes that result in non-communicable diseases and health inequalities.

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Children from the most income deprived areas experienced similar exposure to tobacco retailing in one day, as children from the least deprived areas experienced in one week. This was the finding of new collaborative research between the SPHSU and the University of Edinburgh. Dr Fiona Caryl and colleagues used GPS-trackers to follow a group of almost 700 10-and-11-year-olds from across Scotland. They found that children from the most deprived neighbourhoods encounter a shop selling tobacco 149 times a week, compared to just 23 times a week for the least deprived.

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A new study by the SPHSU has found that White Scottish, Pakistani and those of mixed and other ethnicity are most likely to rate their health poor and report a long-term condition that limits their day-to-day activities, while those of White Polish, Chinese and African background are least likely to report health problems. The study used the 2011 Scottish Census to calculate rates for two self-rated health outcomes: poor general health and limiting long-term illness by ethnicity, age and deprivation.

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Professor Rich Mitchell's work has been featured as one of the University of Glasgow's Research Beacons. As an epidemiologist and geographer, Professor Rich Mitchell is interested in the way physical and social environments are linked to the health of communities. A key factor his research has identified is that all else being equal, “people who have more green space in their neighbourhood tend to be healthier – even if they don’t actually make use of that space.”

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The SPHSU has led the development of a new MSc which aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to develop programmes in a logical, evidence-based way to maximise their likely effectiveness, and evaluate them robustly so precious resources are not wasted on programmes that don't work. It is suitable for both recently graduated students who seek to develop their knowledge and skills in programme development and evaluation, and existing professionals in these fields who require further professional training. The programme starts in September 2019 and is open for applications now.

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We bid a fond farewell to Professor Lisa McDaid who has left the Unit after almost twenty years to take up the position of Professor of Social Sciences and Health, and leader of the Health Research Group in the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland, Australia. Professor Kirstin Mitchell has taken over from Lisa as leader of our Social Relationships research programme. Read more about Kirstin below.

Kirstin Mitchell leads our Social Relationships and Health Improvement research programme. Kirstin is a social scientist and inter-disciplinary researcher, drawing primarily on sociology, psychology, and anthropology to inform the questions she asks, and the methods she employs. She is interested in human relationships and health, with a particular focus on the ways in which intimate relationships shape, and are shaped by, experiences of wellbeing, health, risk and illness.

Kirstin's research seeks to identify relationship-focused solutions to key public health priorities, as well as to address harms to health caused by dysfunctional relationships. She is committed to working in partnership with patients, public and practitioners to co-design interventions and co-produce expertise and knowledge. 

She is Co-Investigator on the Wellcome/NIHR funded Fourth British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-4), and leads on the sexual function and wellbeing component of the survey. Her current research portfolio also includes an NIHR funded exploratory trial of peer-led delivery of sex education in schools, a systems-based evaluation of a whole-school approach to gender based violence, and a study of condom and contraceptive use in young people. 

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The acceptability of addressing alcohol consumption as a modifiable risk factor for breast cancer: a mixed method study within breast screening services and symptomatic breast clinics

Defining health and health inequalities

What are the barriers and challenges faced by adolescents when searching for sexual health information on the internet? Implications for policy and practice from a qualitative study

Media framing of childhood obesity: a content analysis of UK newspapers from 1996-2014

The impact of implementation of a national smoke-free prisons policy on indoor air quality: results from the Tobacco in Prisons study

The increasing lifespan variation gradient by area-level deprivation: A decomposition analysis of Scotland 1981-2011

Evaluating possible intended and unintended consequences of the implementation of alcohol minimum unit pricing (MUP) in Scotland: a natural experiment protocol