Kent Health News and Events

A rapid evaluation by Erica Wirrmann Gadsby, Linda Jenkins, Stephen Peckham

In November 2012, the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent was commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway to conduct a rapid (23 day) appraisal of the SHREWD system and the way it was currently operating across Kent and Medway. SHREWD – Single Health Resilience Early Warning Database – is an “online, real-time early warning and decision support tool”, developed by Transforming Systems (a human systems focused software development company) in collaboration with NHS Kent and Medway, partners within the Medway health system, and the University of Greenwich, with financial support from the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority. It is a system designed to be accessed and updated by partners within a local health system in order to share ‘system critical’ information.

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5th August 2013
The Autism Research at Kent (ARK) team would like to invite you to a networking and information event on 19 Sep 2013 from 12.30pm onwards in Keynes Lecture Theatre 4.

ARK (Autism Research at Kent) is a collaboration recently set up by researchers at the School of Psychology and Tizard Centre. Our aim is to develop a single identity for conducting excellent research on autism at the University of Kent. This will be facilitated through the development of a website (see: www.autismresearchkent.co.uk [1]), a database of willing participants in the Kent area and beyond (across the spectrum and ages), and a coordinated recruitment and dissemination agenda.

To kick things off, we are organising a networking and information event for UoK staff and PhD students, in order to establish a network of researchers across the University of Kent and other health-related groups, with shared interests in ASD research on 19 September. The ARK team will introduce the new website and database, and invite you to become a part of the collaborative venture. To help us get to know each other, we invite you to join us in sharing your experiences in the field, through a short 10-minute presentation on your current/future research interests and plans, and as part of a group discussion regarding ideas/suggestions/requests for the website, database and recruitment. We have also invited a few representative ‘users’ (including individuals with ASD and their carers, and local ASD support groups) to tell us what they want from our research and database. We hope that this event will inspire our new venture to put the University of Kent ‘on the map’ as an innovative centre for ASD research.

A proposed timetable of the day’s events is:

12.30pm Buffet lunch (supplied)
1.30pm Welcome by ARK team
1.45pm Short presentations
3 pm Coffee break
3.30pm Open group discussions/networking

We will send on a final schedule nearer the time, with details of speakers etc. You are welcome to attend either the full event or stay for a shorter period.

At this stage, we would like to hear from you if you would like to attend the event on 19 September. Please let us know if you will join us for lunch, and whether you would like to contribute with a 10-minute presentation outlining your interests and/or your (proposed) research with ASD populations.

Thank you for your interest, we look forward to seeing many of you there.

Medway School of Pharmacy’s Urinary System Physiology Group have recently been awarded two research grants from Kidney Research UK
1st September 2013

Medway School of Pharmacy’s Urinary System Physiology Group have recently been awarded two research grants from Kidney Research UK, the leading UK charity dedicated to funding research aimed at finding better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for kidney disease.

Dr’s Claire Peppiatt-Wildman and Scott Wildman, in collaboration with clinicians at The Kent and Canterbury Hospital, have been awarded funds totalling £229,000 for the following projects:

Kidney Research UK Research Project (£199K, 3 years) ‘Delineating the cellular mechanisms of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity’.

Kidney Research UK Innovation Research Project (£29K, 2 years) ‘A proof of concept, longitudinal, comparative, observational study of urinary epithelial cell infection in renal transplant patients and asymptomatic controls’.

kidney research uk logo

Dr Joan B. Wolf, US author of controversial book Is Breast Best? Taking on the Breastfeeding Experts and the New High Stakes of Motherhood, will give an open lecture at the University on Wednesday 13 February.

Dr Wolf’s lecture will consider issues raised by the response to her book since its publication. She will review the book’s central arguments, examine how the public and academics have reacted to its publication, and then pose some broad questions about what the book and its reception tell us about carework in the 21st century.

In a recent interview, Dr Wolf said some commentators have responded to her by placing her ‘in the same camp as Holocaust deniers and advocates of cold fusion’.

She said that the academic community had been ‘less churlish but equally unequivocal’ in their reaction to her book.

‘Those who consider themselves scientists accuse me, sometimes with bemusement, of being completely unqualified to judge breastfeeding research even though, as a PhD in political science, I have been trained in the very methods breastfeeding studies use,’ she said.

‘Those who write from the humanities dismiss me as part of a broad feminist conspiracy against motherhood. Mostly critics think I’m just plain daft.’

Dr Wolf has been invited to deliver the lecture by Dr Ellie Lee, Reader in Social Policy at the University’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research and Director of its Centre for Parenting Culture Studies.

Dr Lee said: ‘This promises to be a fascinating lecture. Joan’s book, and the reaction to it, reveal a great deal about the intolerance of our present public discourse on breastfeeding.

‘They also raise critical questions about how the dynamics of science and the communication of its findings, and cultural precepts about what it means to be a ‘good parent’, work together to create a moralised environment in which it becomes harder and harder to develop constructive discussion about how we as adults best care for children.’

Dr Wolf’s lecture at the University of Kent is titled Is breast really best? Breastfeeding, motherhood, and the politics of care. The lecture, which is free and open to all, will take place on Wednesday 13 February at 6pm in the University’s Grimond Lecture Theatre at its Canterbury campus.

Justyna Miszkiewicz – Pollitzer Travel award winner: Image courtesy of Dr Wei-Feng XueA University of Kent student from the School of Anthropology and Conservation has won the international Pollitzer Travel award for the second consecutive year for her paper on evolutionary medicine.

Justyna Miszkiewicz, a third year PhD research student, won the highly-regarded award – open to all physical anthropology undergraduates and postgraduates worldwide – for her submission which encouraged collaboration between physical anthropologists and clinicians.

Evolutionary medicine seeks to explain certain human conditions from an evolutionary perspective.

This year applicants were asked to submit a paper to convince the US president and congressional leaders why the next federal budget should include additional funding for physical anthropology. Justyna’s submission titled: ‘How Evolutionary Medicine can help us battle obesity and type 2 diabetes’ also explained the benefits of adopting healthcare programmes that incorporate evolutionary explanations of health and disease. She argued that these programmes could encourage patients to take a fresh look at their biology.

The competition is named in honour of William S Pollitzer, a human biologist and a Darwin Lifetime Achievement Awardee. It is run by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) – the world’s leading professional organisation for physical anthropologists.

Commenting on Justyna’s success, her PhD supervisor Dr Patrick Mahoney, of the University’s School of Anthropology and Conservation, said: ‘The AAPA reported that they received an unprecedented number of submissions for the competition this year. So to be chosen as one of the international recipients of the award is a great achievement for Justyna. I am very pleased for her.’

Justyna said: ‘I was delighted to hear the news. I am a huge proponent of explaining certain human conditions by using modern evolutionary biology framework so to receive this award for my essay is a fabulous achievement. The money, of course, is also a great help.’

Justyna’s prize includes $500 to enable her to attend the AAPA conference, being held in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Emel GivenA PhD student at the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies (BSIS) is aiming to fund 70 operations for women in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suffering from childbirth injuries by participating in the Galveston ‘Ironman 70.3’.

This event, which takes place on 7 April, will entail a gruelling 70 miles of swimming, running and cycling but for Emel Given the end result will be more than just her competition time or finishing position.

‘For me, it’s all about raising awareness and funds for a non-profit organisation named SOLFA,’ she said. ‘Based in Belgium, SOLFA – Solidarity with African Women – works to raise awareness and prevent, as well as repair, obstetric fistulas, one of the most serious childbirth injuries and a consequence of a woman’s lack of access to emergency obstetric care.’

Emel, whose research focusses on sexual and reproductive healthcare in DRC, Burundi and Sierra Leone, continued: ‘For many women in a lot of places the lack of advanced medical care is a very real concern. Obstetric fistulas are something we don’t hear much about in the US and Europe anymore because of our improved access to obstetric care, but approximately two million women and girls in other parts of the world continue to face this serious health and social issue.’

Prior to her PhD, Emel studied for an MA in International Conflict and Security at BSIS specifically focussing on HIV/AIDS in Burundi.

Alastair Ross, Head of Administration at BSIS, said: ‘This is an admirable initiative by Emel and we wish her every success.

‘We have research being undertaken here at BSIS around areas of gender and conflict and also run MA programmes in International Development and Conflict and Security, and are therefore delighted to able to support this project through sponsorship.’

She can be sponsored at: http://www.gofundme.com/tri4her

A £5.2 million package of renewed funding for health and social care researchers in the South East has ensured that they will receive valuable support and advice for the next five years.

Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the award will be made to the member universities of the NIHR Research Design Service South East (RDS South East). Formed in 2008 to increase the quality and quantity of successful grant applications from researchers, the organisation includes the universities of Kent, Brighton and Surrey. Its services are open and offered to individuals seeking funding for applied health and social care research from open national peer reviewed funding programmes.

Kent’s Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) works in collaboration with the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at the University of Brighton and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey to run the RDS South East.

CHSS’ Bridget Carpenter, Business Director for the RDS South East, said: ‘The NIHR RDS makes a vital contribution to our national health and economy. The renewal of this contract means that health and social care researchers in the South East can continue to benefit from the specialist, free support in formulating research proposals. This includes advice on identifying an appropriate funding stream, statistics, health economics, qualitative methodology, and support for patient and public involvement in research.’

Professor Dame Sally C Davies, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health, said: ‘The NIHR is transforming research in the NHS to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. It is very important that researchers applying for NIHR funding access the services provided by the RDS so that they can submit their best applications to the NIHR and others for funding.&rsquo

Valerie Hall, Director of RDS South East and Professor of Midwifery at the University of Brighton, said: ‘The award is great news. Over the last five years, we have built an excellent team who deliver really effective support. Advice is informed, confidential – and completely free. The new contract provides an opportunity to carry on working with academics and clinicians to develop high quality research applications that will ultimately benefit patients and improve health.’

RDS South East is one of a national network of ten NIHR RDS centres in England.

CHSS is a research unit within Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR).