Forthcoming events and guest speakers
Wednesday 19 February 2025, 3-5pm
IPHW Annual Lecture: From Inequality to Wellbeing
Professor Kate Pickett, University of York
From Inequality to Future Wellbeing: unlocking human flourishing and planetary health - Professor Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of York, will give the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing (IPHW) Annual Lecture.
There will be time for Q&A after the lecture, followed by a reception, to allow further time for discussions and networking.
Venue: Colchester Campus; and online
Register on Eventbrite to attend
Reflections on the IPHW Christmas Lecture
"Implementation Science and Chronic Disease Prevention and Management for Sustainable Health Solutions"
The IPHW is delighted to formally initiate the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) theme, an international and multidisciplinary forum that bridges research and policy initiatives to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and their inequities both locally and abroad.
The NCD theme was set in action through the IPHW Christmas Lecture given by Professor Jaime Miranda on 28 November. Professor Miranda is Head of the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney in Australia; as well as Research Professor at the School of Medicine, and Director of the CRONICAS Centre of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, both at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru.
Professor Miranda spoke on sustainable and innovative solutions for implementation science and chronic disease prevention and management given Peru’s unique population and the social care and health system-related context that they live in. He also presented on global policy and advocacy efforts to address NCDs, including his most recent work as co-Chair of the Independent Group of Scientists tasked to draft the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report for the United Nations.
On 29 November, Professor Miranda met with early career NCD researchers at Essex for an informal walk and talk around Wivenhoe Park, where he shared thoughtful insights and reflections about working on this area of research and policy.
The NCD theme is one of six being launched by IPHW as a pan-university network welcome to everyone at Essex. We invite individuals at all career stages and from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and professional contexts to take part in the NCD theme. Please get in touch with us (institutepublichealthwellbeing@essex.ac.uk) to get involved in future events and activities.
- Dr Milagros Ruiz, lead for the NCD theme
Research Groups and Networks
Wednesday 11 December, 4-6pm
Medical Humanities Network - Autumn meeting
In this talk, Natasha Ruiz-Gómez, Senior Lecturer in Art History in the School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (PHAIS), will discuss her new book, Pathology and Visual Culture: The Scientific Artworks of Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot and the Salpêtrière School.
Venue: EBS.1.1
Register on Eventbrite to attend
Save the date!
Thursday 6 February 2025, 2-3pm
Mental Health Research Group and Medical Humanities Network joint seminar - Social Determinants of Mental Health
With the King's College London ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health
Venue: STEM 3.1
Register on Eventbrite to attend
Health Inequalities and Health Systems Research Group
Reflections on "Success in health care from the UK to Nigeria"
The IPHW is thrilled to introduce the Health Inequalities and Health System (HIHS) theme, a dynamic initiative with a global reach. This theme brings together academics, practitioners, and policymakers worldwide to tackle pressing issues in health systems and devise impactful solutions.
The inaugural event, held on 15 October 2024, established this initiative's strong foundation with diverse perspectives. Dr Aliko Ahmed, Regional Director of Public Health at NHS East of England, outlined the UK's ten-year health transformation plan, emphasizing strategies to enhance equity and resilience. Meanwhile, Dr Gafar Alawode, Managing Partner at DGI Consult, presented Nigeria's progress in improving financial efficiency and achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Despite differing national contexts, the discussions revealed striking parallels in challenges and shared lessons, offering valuable insights for health systems improvement.
We invite researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to engage with the HIHS theme and contribute to its success. We'd love to hear from you if you are interested in presenting a topic. Please get in touch with us (institutepublichealthwellbeing@essex.ac.uk) to get involved. Join us in bridging health inequities through shared learning and innovation.
- Prof Reza Majdzadeh, lead for the HIHS theme
Advanced Research Methodologies in Health and Biomedical Sciences (ARMS) seminar series
Monday 10 February 2025, 12-1.30pm
ARMS Spring seminar - new speaker announced!
Professor Mike Daniels, University of Florida, and Dr Oludare Ariyo, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science (University of Essex), will discuss the use of auxiliary information (covariates) in clinical trials and observational studies to help reduce bias from incomplete data.
Venue: Colchester campus
Register on Eventbrite to attend
Centre for Coastal Communities
Thursday 12 December 2024, 2-3pm
Professor Avril Keating and Dr Sam Whewall, from University College London, will present, ‘The push and pull of place: the role of local employment opportunities in youth mobility aspirations in coastal towns in England'.
Venue: Online
Register on Eventbrite to attend
23 January 2025, 2-3pm
Dr Paul Mee from the Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health (LIRCH) at the University of Lincoln, will be speaking on ‘Exploring Health in Rural and Coastal Communities: Harnessing Data Science and Geospatial Research in Lincolnshire, Essex, and Beyond.’
Venue: STEM 3.1; and on Zoom
Register on Eventbrite to attend
Centre for Global Health and Intersectional Equity Research
12 December 2024, 12-1.30pm
This International Universal Health Coverage Day, join the Global Health Perspective Webinar on The Impact of Polycrises on Universal Health Coverage: Challenges to Health Equity, with Professor Reza Majdzadeh (HSC); Dr Andre Griekspoor, Senior Policy Advisor on Humanitarian and Emergency Interventions, World Health Organisation; and Professor Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.
Venue: Online
Register on Eventbrite to attend
Recent events
- On 25 November we launched our Global Health Perspectives Webinar series. The first webinar ‘Violence & Mental Health of young people: vulnerability, crisis and solutions’ hosted Dr Franziska Meink from University of Edinburgh and Dr Aparna Joshi from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.
- On 3 December we welcomed Dr Shabnum Sarfraz, as part of the Global Health Experts in Spotlight Series. Dr Sarfraz discussed Global Health Careers and Futures, and spoke about the core skills needed to navigate policy and programmatic roles in global health, adapt to the rapidly evolving global health landscape, and curate impactful careers.
- On 5 December, we co-hosted with the Centre for Global South Studies and the Human Rights Centre an exciting roundtable series on Decolonising Human Rights. The event was co-hosted by Prof Anuj Kapilashrami (CGHIER), Professors Paul Hunt & Carla Ferstman (Human Rights Centre) and Professor Sandya Hewamanne (Centre for Global South Studies), featuring human rights students as guest speakers on the session.
Save the date!
Eastern ARC Health Conference for Early Career Researchers (and research students)
From the universities of Essex, East Anglia, Kent, Sussex.
- Tuesday 8 July 2025
- Venue: University of Essex, Colchester Campus (EBS building)
- Format: Plenaries, parallel sessions and networking opportunities
Further details and a call for abstracts will be circulated shortly
Call for Abstracts
8th Biennial Occupational Science Europe Conference
The University of Essex is proud to be hosting this conference in August 2025. The call for abstracts is now open, and closes on 3 February.
This is an international inter-disciplinary conference that will bring together leading experts, researchers, and practitioners from a diverse range of fields, who share a common interest in what people do and how this relates to their health and wellbeing.
News!
IPHW Research Fund - Amazon vouchers
We are pleased to announce two recipients of the IPHW Research Fund Amazon vouchers.
The first recipient is the CoastGEM project who will be using the vouchers to reimburse community members for participating in their research advisory group. This will reinforce the embedding of co-production in the project, by including community members with lived experience of stroke and/ or their partners or carers in the project's advisory group.
The second recipients are colleagues in the School of Sport Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, who are researching how movement is impacted by mental ill-health. The vouchers will be used to reimburse participants who are taking part in their study of how walking and balance are affected by trait anxiety.
Further updates on these projects will be provided as they develop.
Recent publications
Funding news
- HomeStart Essex - Supporting Happy, Healthy, Connected Families Project: We're very pleased to announce that the evaluation service has been awarded a grant to evaluate this important project, which provides localised support for families with young children via a range of services.
- Southend-on-Sea City Council -Social marketing for weight management: Funding has also been awarded to conduct important community research aimed at improving access to and use of weight management services, particularly among hard to reach and minority groups.
- And congratulations to Emily Murray, Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities, who is leading part of the newly-awarded ESRC Centre for Lifecourse Health Equity (Equalise) grant. Emily is co-leading the place-based inequalities theme, focused on tackling and reducing health inequalities in the UK.
Team news!
Farewell
We are very sad to be saying farewell to Honor Bixby and Nidhi Koya from our team, who are both moving on to exciting new opportunities.
And welcome!
We would like to introduce Dr Katie Peterson who recently joined the IPHW team. Katie is working in collaboration with Essex County Council on an exciting new project around substance use. Katie is a clinical psychologist and post-doctoral researcher, and this highlights the novel approach being taken by Essex County council to addressing the need for increased psychological provision.
We are here to answer any questions you have about the IPHW.
Please email institutepublichealthwellbeing@essex.ac.uk if you have any query.
