TOP STORIES

New Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Medical School

We are delighted to welcome Professor Richard Smith to his role as Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Medical School.

Professor Smith is a world-leading expert in the economics of health and joins Exeter from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Public Health and Policy. His appointment will further strengthen the Medical School's Health Economics Group, which is planning further expansion. Read more here.

Interim Vice-Dean Education

We are delighted to announce that Dr Ian Fussell, has been appointed as Interim Vice Dean Education for the Medical School. Ian is currently the Clinical Sub-Dean and Special Study Unit Clinical Lead for the Medicine programme in Truro and has taught on and worked with our Medicine programme since the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry days in 2005.

Freshers' table tennis with the Dean!

We are very much looking forward to welcoming all our new students joining the Medical School from next week.

We will be holding our annual Information Fair with the Student Guild on Thursday 20 September from 10.00-14.00 in the Sports Hall on St Luke's Campus. We'd encourage all staff to take the opportunity to attend and meet our new students. There will also be an excellent opportunity to take on Clive Ballard in a doubles table tennis match from 10.00-11.30. We hope you will join us!

Congratulations

Congratulations to:

Professor Matt Whiteman, Dr Chris Scotton and Dr Mark Wood, who have been awarded a grant of almost £1 million by the Medical Research Council to develop new compounds which could treat the UK's second most common lung disease. Read more here.

PhD student, Catherine Talbot, who has been shortlisted for Elsevier's Researchers' Choice Communication Award for her research which has helped to raise awareness of how social media affects people's attitudes to body image. Read more here.

Dr David Llewellyn and the DECODE Dementia team, whose software has been highly commended in the AXA's 'Innovations in the early diagnosis of dementia' category. DECODE is an app that enables GPs to identify patients with dementia more effectively.

Postgraduate research successes:

Congratulations to the following on being awarded their PhD/Masters degrees:

Rachel Dbeis
Philip Mitchelmore
Ross Watkins

Welcome to:

Welcome to the following staff joining us or moving to new roles:

Dr Fred Roberts - Senior Lecturer in Medical Education
Dr Talitha Kerrigan - Lecturer (E&S)
Miss Susannah Tooze - Senior Lecturer (E&S)
Dr Hope Gangata - Senior Lecturer (E&S)
Dr Dyan Ankrett - Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Hannah Leaver - Clinical Fellow
Dr Drew Davies - Clinical Teaching Fellow
Dr Dan Couchman - Clinical Teaching Fellow
Dr Philip Mitchelmore - Clinical Lecturer
Dr Sam Merriel - Discovery Group
Miss Ling Li - Postdoctoral Research Associate
Mr Joe Leslie - Graduate Research Assistant
Dr Catherine Wilson - Clinical Research Fellow
Professor Richard Smith - Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor
Dr Helen Rogers - GP Education Fellow (E&S)
Mr Hugh Ben Waterson - Clinical Lecturer (E&R)
Dr Maria Tejerina-Arreal - Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Mrs Naomi Shaw - Information Specialist PenTAG
Mrs Helen Wavish - Administrator (South West RDS)
Professor Claire Hulme - Professor (E&R)

STAFF OPPORTUNITIES

QUEX Accelerator Grant Scheme

The first round of the QUEX Institute Accelerator Grant Scheme is open for applications, with a closing date of 30 September 2018.

Bids for up to £30,000 / AUD $50,000 are welcomed, and should be submitted to both institutions: QUEX@exeter.ac.uk (Exeter) and globalstrategy@uq.edu.au (UQ) for consideration.

Applications will be sought from the three current themes of the partnership:

• Healthy Ageing
• Physical Activity and Nutrition
• Environmental Sustainability

Full information and how to apply can be found here.

RESEARCH NEWS

Exeter in new UKRI Mental Health Networks

The University of Exeter is involved in two of eight new Mental Health Networks to be announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The networks will bring researchers, charities and other organisations together to address important mental health research questions.

Exeter is involved in two of the Networks: Promoting Young People's Mental Health in a Digital World and Social, Cultural and Community Assets for Mental Health. Read more here.

Landmark textbook showcases Exeter's expertise in realist research methods

A newly published definitive guide to using realist research methods counts four researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School among the international list of top authors.

The new book, Doing Realist Research, includes a chapter on using realist approaches for assessing cost and cost-effectiveness that was written by Rob Anderson, Rebecca Hardwick, Richard Byng, and the chapter on scoping and searching to support realist research was co-authored by information specialist Simon Briscoe.

Women in fisheries website launched

A new website exploring women's roles in fishing families has been launched.

The Women in Fisheries project, led by Dr Madeleine Gustavsson, a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health (ECEHH), is examining how women contribute to the survival of both fishing families and the fishing industry, and will shed light on women's roles, identities and wellbeing. Read more here.

In the news

Medical School research has made headlines this month, including:

Research involving Dr David Llewellyn and Dr Ilianna Lourida which found that having a stroke can double the risk of developing dementia, appeared in The Guardian and The Times.

Research involving Professor Matt Whiteman and Dr Eva Latorre which found that ageing in human cells could be reversed, appeared in The Conversation, The Express and The Metro.

EDUCATION NEWS

Student medics perform at Reading Festival

Seven Truro-based student medics put their training into practice by manning the first aid tent and responding to incidents at Reading Festival, one of the biggest festivals in the UK.

Matt Saint, Dan James, Hannah McAndrew, Juliet Sebastian, Cat Farrelly, Toby Charge-Thornton, Olivia Eguiguren Wray undertook four days of special training to prepare them for the extremities of the festival. They were expected to respond to minor injuries and other illnesses at the 191-acre site, which accommodated more than 100,000 music fans. Read more here.

EQUALITY & 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. Please note that incidental childcare costs (costs that would have been normally incurred without the conference) are not reimbursable. Only costs paid to registered childcare or adult care providers can be reclaimed. More information is available in the Expenses Policy under 'Other Business Expenses'.

STAFF INFORMATION

T1 finance system - drop-in support sessions

If you would like to ask a question or get some help with the new t1 finance system, Finance Services are running a number of drop-in sessions for staff and PGR students. These sessions are to help answer questions about common T1 tasks such as claiming expenses or ordering goods and services. The next drop-in sessions are:

• Thursday 13 September, 9.30-17.00 - Queen's E, Streatham Campus
• Friday 14 September, 9.30-17.00 - Hatherly Labs B12

Pop-up surveys on the website

As part of a project to improve our Undergraduate student recruitment website the Digital Team is collecting data on how prospective students use the website. As part of this you will notice that on certain pages a pop-up survey will appear to enable us to collect information from users on what they are doing and whether they were able to find the information they need. These responses will feed into a wider data collection exercise that will help us make informed changes on our website. These surveys will on the site for the next two months.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Cross Keys refurbishment update

As you will be aware, an exciting project has been underway to refurbish the Cross Keys area of St Luke's over the last few months.

The ground floor of Cross Keys will open on Monday 17 September. This will offer a similar number of seats as previously, as well as a coffee pod offering hot drinks, sandwiches, snacks, fruit, and soft drinks. Additional food, including a flexible menu and a variety of world cuisine, will be on offer in a new mobile catering facility, which will open on the Quad on Monday 17 September, providing an uninterrupted service until November.

EVENTS

Developing theory and logic models for process evaluations
Wed 19 Sep, 10.30
WK Norman, Medical School Building, St Luke's Campus

APEx Workshop: Patient Safety
Wed 26 Sep, 9.30
JS07, Smeall Building, St Luke's Campus

APEx Semniar: Making a difference with your research: towards improving patient safety in primary care
Wed 26 Sep, 13.00 - 14.00
JS07, Smeall Building, St Luke's Campus

To see more future events, please visit our Events page.