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University of Exeter
 

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

Wednesday 19 December 2018

 
 

Top Stories

Message from PVC Clive Ballard

I’d like to wish Happy Holidays to all staff. The College has seen a brilliant year. To name just a few successes, we entered the top 30 for Biomedical and Health Sciences research. We congratulated our first BMBS Medicine graduates and got permission to expand our programme. We secured excellent rankings yet again in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide for the incredible teaching delivered across the College. 2019 is looking to be even more exciting as we continue to expand. I really appreciate all your hard work and contributions –  thank you all, and Happy New Year!

Celebrating the Exeter Hip

The Exeter Hip was listed as one of UniversitiesUK's 100 best breakthroughs for its life-changing impact on nearly two million lives across half a century.

The Exeter hip was designed in 1969 as a collaboration between NHS surgeon Professor Robin Ling and Dr Clive Lee, an engineer at the University of Exeter.

Read more here.

Exeter 10,000

Earlier this year the Exeter 10,000 project reached a milestone: 10,000 people provided their data and samples of blood and urine, to be used anonymously for health research.

Already, a wide range of studies benefiting from the Exeter 10,000 project have published results on areas including diabetes, obesity, addiction and genetic patterns in ageing.

To sign up, visit this website.

Read more here.

Record £12 million raised from philanthropy

The Medical School has had its best year yet in raising income from philanthropic sources. Academics have generated £12.02 MILLION in philanthropic income and in addition to that, we have had more than £1 million pledged from a retired surgeon in Truro towards supporting full scholarships for WP students from Devon and Cornwall.

A brief summary of Medical School philanthropic income in 2018 (working with our philanthropy lead Tania Hutt and colleagues Susanna Bennett and Marie-Joelle West):

  • Additional £10 million from The Dennis and Mireille Gillings Foundation to fund the Mireille Gillings Neuro-Imaging Centre at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital; a ground breaking trial for improved cancer diagnosis in GP surgeries and the support of two new Professorial Fellowships in the Medical school promoting the leadership of women in translational science. (Angela Shore, Clive Ballard, Willie Hamilton)
  • £750K for research into autism from the Simons Foundation (Jon Mill)
  • £372K to fully fund 4 PhDs in Epigenetics in Dementia (BRACE, The John Slate Studentship, The Thomas/Crooke Studentship, The Charles Wolfson studentship) (Katie Lunnon)
  • £325K for a Phase 1 stem cell trial in Alzheimers from an alum and The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust (Clive Ballard)
  • £265K for a clinical trial around vitamin D from the JP Moulton Foundation (David Llewellyn)
  • £60K phd from the Ruskin Mill Land Trust (Victoria Wren)
  • £60k PhD from NORCHI (Daphne Yau)
  • £55K from Royal Horticultural Society (Becca Lovell)
  • £37K from Big Lottery Fund (Chris Morris)
  • £50K anonymous gift for leadership training for doctors
  • £48K for a post-doc from Hospiscare (Rose McCabe)
  • £20K Halpin Trust (Andrew Crosby)
 

Congratulations to...

Dr David Llewelyn and the DECODE Dementia team, who have won a Landmark Futures award. They intend to use this opportunity as a research retreat to reboot their research priorities.

Sarah Bradley, who has been appointed a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

Gordon Taylor, who has agreed to take over the Chair of the NIHR Strategy Group.

Helen Quinn, who has been appointed as the Director of the new NHS/University Joint Office for Clinical Research.

Jeremy Hughes of Alzheimer's Society, who received the honorary title of Doctor of Science in the Winter Graduation ceremony.

 

Staff Information

Gifts and hospitality

As we’re in the midst of the festive season, this is a timely reminder that it is a requirement that offered/accepted entertainment, hospitality and gifts (both given and received) are recorded in the Record of Entertainment, Hospitality and Gifts.

This is for both transparency in meeting the requirements of the bribery act and to ensure that any benefit is reported to HMRC and resulting tax liability paid.  Full details of the entertainment, hospitality and gifts policy can be found here.

 

In the news

The National Survey “Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017” involving Professor Tamsin Ford was widely reported this month, featured in The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mail.

Both the Daily Mail and the BMJ covered a study authored by David Llewelyn which found biases in widely used dementia ID tests.

Research demonstrating that improving dementia care can save thousands of pounds was covered in BMJ and MedicalXpress.

Living near 'blue spaces' in Hong Kong can improve well-being and lower risk of depression, Science Daily reports.

The Medical News and Science Daily covered Exeter research which moved one step closer to a new way to diagnose, treat and protect against stealth fungal infections that claim more than 1.5 million lives per year.

 

Equality and Diversity

Childcare costs for attending conferences

The University recognises that attending conferences may involve extra financial burden for staff with parental or adult caring responsibilities, where they are the primary carer.  In accordance with HMRC regulations, staff in that situation may claim up to £200 for additional costs incurred to enable them to attend the conference.

More information and conditions are available in the Expenses Policy under ‘Other Business Expenses’.  As part of our Athena SWAN submission we’d be interested to hear from anyone who has benefitted from this policy – please contact Sarah Downing.

 

Research News

Improving parent carer wellbeing

A support programme run by PenCRU, designed to help parents of disabled children stay healthy in mind and body, will begin its first trial in the coming months, and is looking for participants.

The trial is recruiting in Plymouth and Torbay now, and after New Year around Dawlish, Bideford, St Austell and Minehead.

Read more here.

Transferring from child to adult services for ADHD

Professor Tamsin Ford and her team have released a map put together from the results of a national survey. The new map aims to help identify existing services and gaps in provision for young adults with ADHD. You can view the map here.

Read more here.

 

Education News

Renovation for nursing programme

A disused dental training room on the Heavitree hospital site is being renovated to create a seven-bed simulation ward to support teaching of the new Nursing degree programme, starting in September 2019.

The scheduled construction completion date is December 21 2018. The ward will be opened February 12 2019.

 

Student Stories

T1D&Me

PhD student Alice Carr has started an Instagram Blog, T1D&Me, to combat myths surrounding type 1 diabetes. Alice, who was diagnosed with the condition herself, is working with Dr Richard Oram. Read more here.

“Up the Creek – Teaching in Challenging Environments"

5th year student Gerens Curnow has been awarded an Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) Educator Development Award, which funds his application “Up the Creek – Teaching in Challenging Environments."

This also gives him the opportunity to present his experiences at the 2019 ASME Annual Scientific Meeting in Glasgow next summer.

 

Events

Clinical Education Seminar by Eliot Rees, UCL Medical School

'How do applicants from different social backgrounds choose which medical schools to apply to?’

Wed 19 Dec, 15.00-16.00

South Cloisters, St Luke's

Book here.

Prof Stokes-Lampard: A future vision for general practice

Tue 22 Jan, 13.00-14.00

Room TBC, St Luke's

Please email Joy Choules to book a place.

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