Building your best day: combining compositional analysis and optimisation theory
2017-11-08 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Professor Tim Olds, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia
Building your best day: combining compositional analysis and optimisation theory
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
The foundational principle of behavioural epidemiology is that the way we use our time— physical activity, sleep, sitting, social interactions — affects our health, everything from asthma to eczema. Typically these studies have been done by regressing a health outcome (say depression) against a behavioural domain, such as physical activity. However, because time use data are co-dependent, any change in time allocated to one domain must be matched by an equal and opposite allocation to the other domains collectively. This presentation will show some examples of the application of compositional data analysis (CoDA) as a new approach to time-use data. By combining CoDA with optimisation theory, we can move towards specifying the best possible 24-hour day for any given health outcome or set of outcomes.
About Prof Olds
Tim Olds is a professor of behavioural epidemiology at the University of South Australia. After completing a PhD in French Studies at the University of Sydney, Tim went on to study exercise science, receiving a second PhD in 1997. His research interests have been in mathematical modelling of cycling performance; population and sports anthropometry; secular trends in the sleep, fitness, fatness, physical activity and food intake of children and adolescents; and the relationship between how people use their time and health. Tim has $27m in grants and 292 publications. http://people.unisa.edu.au/timothy.olds

Seminar - The supermarket food environment and the promotion of healthier purchasing behaviour
2018-01-04 12:00 - 13:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Adrian Cameron, Senior Research Fellow at the Deakin University Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE).

The supermarket food environment and the promotion of healthier purchasing behaviour

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
The retail food environment is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of purchasing and eating behaviours. Large supermarkets are the major source of food for the majority of households and enjoy market domination in food/grocery retail expenditure in most high income countries. Here, I will discuss several international audit studies of the supermarket food environment we have undertaken over the past five years as well as a number of controlled trials that we have conducted in Australia to use marketing techniques (involving product, placement and promotion) to promote healthier purchasing behaviour in the supermarket setting.
About Dr Cameron

Dr Adrian Cameron’s research is focused on improving the food environment to encourage healthy eating and obesity prevention. Together with colleagues at Deakin University’s Global Obesity Centre, he is conducting supermarket-based trials to generate the evidence required to influence retailers, advocates and policy makers. He has received several research awards for his work including the 2016 VicHealth Award for Healthy Eating and is a section editor for BMC Obesity. He is currently supported by grants and fellowships from VicHealth, NHMRC and ARC.
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Seminar - Implications of Brexit on the effectiveness of the UK soft drinks industry levy upon coronary heart disease in England: a modelling study
2018-01-18 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Evi Seferidi, Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London.

Implications of Brexit on the effectiveness of the UK soft drinks industry levy upon coronary heart disease in England: a modelling study

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Approximately a year after the implementation of the soft drinks industry levy, the UK plans to leave the European Union. The trade arrangements that the UK will adopt after Brexit are likely to influence the price of food and food ingredients including sugar, which currently follows European regulations under the Common Agricultural Policy. This could potentially interfere with the effectiveness of the planned soft drinks industry levy. We used the IMPACT Food Policy model to estimate the implications of Brexit on the price of sugar and the impact of the proposed soft drinks industry levy on cardiovascular mortality and inequalities in England.
About Evi Seferidi

Evi is a PhD student in the Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London. She has a background in nutrition with a particular focus on epidemiology and public health. Currently, her research involves the evaluation of fiscal and trade policies to assess their impacts on diet and health outcomes using modelling techniques.
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Seminar - Pathways to healthy urban living
2018-01-23 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Professor Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, ISGlobal, The Barcelona Institute for Global Health.
Pathways to healthy urban living

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Over 50% of the world´s population is living in cities and this is expected to rise to 70% over the next few decades. Cities are society’s predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, but also main sources of crime, pollution, and disease. Partly due to poor urban and transport planning, or the lack thereof, we have cities that are too car dominated. All the urban planning in the world seems for cars; People do not matter. This has led to high air pollution and noise levels, heat island effects and lack of green space and physical activity that are all detrimental to health. For example, a recent health impact assessment in Barcelona estimated that 20% of premature mortality was due to urban and transport related exposures. Electric cars and/or autonomous vehicles have been mentioned as possible solutions, but they are unlikely to be, and solutions need to be sought elsewhere.
A new long term visioning of healthy urban future is needed that bring health, sustainability and livable at the forefront of urban and transport planning. Systemic approaches to the current problems and e.g. a shift away from our grey car centric cities towards cities with more public and active transportation and green space are urgently needed. Collaboration between e.g. urban and transport planners, environmentalists and public health professionals is essential to create healthy sustainable and livable cities.
About Professor Nieuwenhuijsen

Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen PhD is a world leading expert in environmental exposure assessment, epidemiology, and health risk/impact assessment with a strong focus and interest on healthy urban living. He has experience and expertise in areas of all cause mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, mental health and cognitive function, cancer and reproductive health, and exposure measurement and modelling of indoor and outdoor air pollution, green space, UV exposure, noise, temperature and physical activity, using new technology such as GIS, smartphones, personal sensors and remote sensing. He is currently PI on the EC funded HELIX, that examines the early life exposome and childhood diseases, EC funded EXPOsOMICs that examines the air pollution and water exposome and health, the EC funded PASTA study, which promotes active transportation through sustainable transport, and the EC funded BlueHealth project evaluating the relationship between blue space and Health. He worked at the University of California, Davis, USA and Imperial College London, UK, and is now professor at ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain. He edited 3 textbooks on exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology and has coauthored more than 350 peer reviewed papers.
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Seminar - Dr Alison Tedstone
2018-01-31 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Alison Tedstone, Chief Nutritionist Public Health England (PHE).

Tackling obesity in England: a policy journey

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
In the seminar I will reflect on the key steps in developing current policy on obesity, with a focus on evidence to action including how evidence from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and Public Health England (PHE) was used. The importance of NGO’s, academics, media and other stakeholders as well as public opinion will be considered. The implementation policies that PHE is responsible for will be reviewed and what might be impactful in the future.
About Dr Tedstone

Dr Alison Tedstone is Deputy Director with responsibility for diet, nutrition and obesity in the Health Improvement Directorate of Public Health England (PHE). Her teams work areas include the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, nutrient composition of foods, scientific advice on nutrition (including the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition), and advice on nutrition and actions to improve diet, including work underpinning the government’s Childhood Obesity Plan with the food industry to reduce the sugar, salt and calorie content of everyday foods. The division also coordinates, across PHE, a programme of work aimed at tackling the nation’s obesity problem which supports national and local level delivery, including actions aimed at improving systems leadership and addressing the environmental causes of obesity.
Alison transferred with other nutrition colleagues from the Department of Health in 2013 and before that from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2010. Before joining the FSA, in 2001, Alison was an academic at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Alison completed post doctorate research in Oxford and is a registered public health nutritionist.

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Seminar - The Cambridge Sustainable Food Hub
2018-02-07 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Duncan Catchpole, founding committee member of Cambridge Sustainable Food.

The Cambridge Sustainable Food Hub

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
This talk will be an overview of the project to create a sustainable food hub for the Cambridge area and the impacts it will bring about. As well as being a food distribution centre, the Food Hub is being created with the intention of being a ‘working laboratory’ for testing new innovations and for studying the impacts of a Food Hub on the health of the local populace. The talk will include a report on the outcomes of the ‘Good Food for All’ workshop; a scheme designed to address food poverty and health inequality locally. The talk may help identify opportunities for research collaborations.

About Duncan Catchpole

Duncan Catchpole is the founder and owner of the Cambridge Organic Food Co., and a founding committee member of Cambridge Sustainable Food; the organisation responsible for Cambridge’s inclusion in the Sustainable Food Cities network.
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Seminar - Why do policymakers seem to ignore your evidence?
2018-02-21 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Professor Paul Cairney, Department of History and Politics, University of Stirling.

Why do policymakers seem to ignore your evidence?

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Watch Professor Cairney’s presentation on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making challenges scientists to understand the policy process before they describe it as pathological and politicians as biased or ineffective. Policy studies are at the heart of such endeavours, identifying the mechanisms of individual choice in a complex policymaking environment, to explain the ‘evidence-policy gap’. Yet, we cannot expect scientists trained in one discipline to retrain in policy studies. Instead, we need to find a way to explain key insights in a way that captures their imagination, identifies the payoffs to studying policymaking from a political science perspective, and encourages them to learn more. I identify a three step plan. First, show how policy theories explain the policy process and the role of evidence in it. Second, identify the conditions under which evidence ‘wins the day’ in policymaking, Third, identify the profound dilemmas that arise when we seek to maximise the use of scientific evidence in policy.
About Professor Cairney

Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling. His research interests are in comparative public policy, including: policy theories (Understanding Public Policy, 2012), methods to study complexity (Handbook of Complexity and Public Policy, 2015, co-edited with Robert Geyer); the use of evidence (The Politics of Evidence Based Policymaking, 2016); and public health policy outcomes in different countries (Global Tobacco Control, 2012, with Donley Studlar and Hadii Mamudu). He has been funded by the ESRC and Horizon2020 to research devolved policymaking processes, focusing on areas such as preventive spending.
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Seminar – Gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, mothers, and fathers
2018-03-14 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Associate Professor Kaberi Dasgupta, McGill University and Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
Gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, mothers, and fathers

IMS level 4 meeting room 1 and 2
Abstract
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is an established risk indicator for type 2 diabetes in mothers that provides a window of opportunity for diabetes prevention. We will discuss its associations with diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, both alone and in combination with gestational hypertension. We will review recent studies demonstrating its association with diabetes in fathers and diabetes in offspring. We will examine recent intervention studies in family-based diabetes prevention in the context of a maternal GDM history
About Dr Dasgupta

Dr Kaberi Dasgupta is a physician scientist based in Montreal, Canada. She holds operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Diabetes Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Lawson and Medavie Foundations. She and her team focus on self-management support in type 2 diabetes, GDM, and type 1 diabetes, with an emphasis on health behaviour change and patient engagement. Her epidemiological studies in diabetes have informed the interventions that she has developed.
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Seminar - Using fiscal policies to improve the food supply and demand
2018-04-12 12:30 - 13:30 | Lecture Theater 2 clinical school, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road,, Cambridge, CB2 0SP
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Associate Professor Shu Wen Ng, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Using fiscal policies to improve the food supply and demand

Lecture Theatre 2, School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Efforts to improve overall nutrition and health outcomes as well as narrow the gap across subpopulations will require a spectrum of micro- and macro-level approaches. These range from regulatory policies to more “nudge-like” designs that changes incentives to encourage consumers to make healthier choices, and the food/beverage industry to offer and promote healthier options. This talk will focus on fiscal policies as examples of how monitoring efforts, model-based approaches and evaluation studies help us understand mechanisms to inform on public health nutrition policymaking and help set improvements on nutrition and health outcomes on an upward spiral for all.
About Dr Ng

Dr Ng studies individual and household-level decisions about diet and activity behaviours made under monetary, time and biological constraints, within a broader environmental and policy context, and their resultant health impacts (focusing on obesity and nutrition-related chronic diseases). Dr Ng is involved in several studies that use ‘big-data’ on household food and beverage purchases alongside dietary intake and nutrition databases. She has used these data to evaluate several voluntary industry initiatives, as well as how regulatory policies such as taxation, quotas or nutrition labelling may impact consumer purchases, diet and nutritional outcomes, and alleviate or worsen health disparities.
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Seminar - Cardiovascular disease prevention in India
2018-05-24 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Shifalika Goenka, Indian Institute of Public health, Delhi, and Head of Physical Activity and Obesity prevention at the Centre for Chronic Disease Control
Cardiovascular disease prevention in India.

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
Dr Goenka will start by discussing the public health challenges faced in India. This will be followed by an overview of some of the key initiatives/projects completed, those being done by the Centre for Chronic Disease Control and how she is involved in it. She will conclude by highlighting potential opportunities for researchers at Cambridge and future collaborations.
Download Dr Goenka’s presentation.
About Dr Goenka

Shifalika Goenka, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Public health, Public Health Foundation of India, Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi. She brings with her a strong commitment to enhance population levels of physical activity, decrease obesity and prevent non-communicable diseases especially cardiovascular diseases and diabetes through multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary and multi-level approaches. She is working towards a Centre Of Excellence in Physical Activity. She wants health to be the litmus test in all local, state and national policies. She believes that a supportive built environment can provides the triple boost towards health, equity and the environment.
Orchid ID : orcid.org/0000-0001-6993-2883
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Seminar - Evidence for healthy and equitable population food policies
2018-06-20 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Kathryn Backholer, Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Australia.
Evidence for healthy and equitable population food policies

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
Poor diet is a leading cause of disease burden in Australia and globally. Adults and children who experience greater socioeconomic disadvantage, whether from a lower income, education or from living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, are more likely to consume poorer diets. Population-wide, or “Universal” policies are designed to affect all people regardless of risk or circumstances. These types of policies have the potential to influence overall population diets and health and also health inequalities. However, health equity effects depend on an impact for higher risk population subgroups in proportion to need.
In this presentation I will discuss our research examining the health equity impact of key population food policies. With a focus on price manipulation for healthy eating, I will draw on a range of epidemiological studies to present evidence on how actions can be taken to rebalance the price of foods towards healthier options, thereby improving population health and health inequities.
About Dr Backholer

Dr Kathryn Backholer is a Senior Research Fellow within the Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for the Prevention of Obesity at Deakin University, Australia. She leads a research group that works to build the evidence to support the equitable prevention of diet-related ill-health through policy and practice, with a recent focus on price manipulation for healthy eating. Dr Backholer is the Co-Convener of the Australian Public Health Association Food and Nutrition Special Interest Group and contributes to capacity building and food systems strengthening for the FAO and WHO in the Western Pacific region.
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Seminar - Chris Holmes, Shift Design
2018-07-24 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Chris Holmes, Shift Design, UK.
Food Behaviours – not a lot to do with food but pretty much a symptom of everything else
Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Download Chris Holmes’ presentation
About Chris Holmes

Chris heads up Shift’s Healthy Food programme, developing products and services that catalyse changes in existing food categories that lead to better diets. The team are currently focused on fast food with programmes underway in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Birmingham. This work builds on the success of ‘Box Chicken’, Shift’s development of a healthier fried chicken outlet.
Following a 15-year commercial career in the food industry, most latterly as Marketing Director for Kraft Foods (now Mondelez), Chris has spent the last 12-years applying behavioural science to a variety of social issues with a focus on public health. His particular interest is in childhood obesity and how to harness the competitive dynamics of consumer markets to deliver pro-social outcomes.
When not being ‘Shifty’, Chris can be found in the outdoors and, with his partner, is currently developing a love of sea kayaking with a view to one day touring the West Isles Whisky Distilleries by kayak.
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Seminar - Walking on sunshine: What is the evidence for the effects of walking on mental health?
2018-09-26 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Paul Kelly, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Walking on sunshine: What is the evidence for the effects of walking on mental health?

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Watch Dr Kelly’s presentation on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
The evidence base for the beneficial health effects of walking is well established. However, it is generally focussed on physical health and diseases such as cardiovascular disease or outcomes such as all-cause mortality.
This seminar will look at the evidence base for the mental health benefits of walking. In a recent Scoping Review we found that this evidence base has grown over the last 20 years, but remains fragmented and conflicting on some important outcomes.
In their seminal “Walking to Health” paper in 1997 Morris and Hardman stated that “The pleasurable and therapeutic, psychological and social dimensions of walking, whilst evident, have been surprisingly little studied”. This seminar will discuss the extent to which this statement still holds in 2018.
About Dr Kelly

Paul has been a Lecturer in Physical Activity for Health at the University of Edinburgh since August 2014 is based at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC) led by Prof Nanette Mutrie MBE.
His primary research focus is the measurement of physical activity and the evaluation of physical activity interventions. Paul is a member of the Communication and Surveillance Expert Group for the 2018 Chief Medical Officer Physical Activity Guidelines update – if you have any thoughts on communicating physical activity for health to the public please get in touch!
Paul previously worked at the University of Oxford, where he completed a PhD (2010-2013) in using wearable cameras to measure active travel.
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ISPAH Conference – Sedentary Behaviour Mechanisms Satellite 2018
2018-10-13 09:00 - 16:00 | Moller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, CB3 0DE, United Kingdom
Sedentary behaviour mechanisms: biological and behavioural pathways linking sitting to adverse health outcomes
The Moller Centre, Cambridge, Saturday 13th October 2018

***** NEW! Registration is open – register here

#ispahSBC2018

The ISPAH Sedentary Behaviour Council will run a one day workshop in Cambridge on Saturday 13 October, just prior to the ISPAH Congress in London.
During the course of the day we will examine established and emerging evidence on the biological mechanisms via which sedentary behaviour may affect disease risk. Understanding biological pathways is critical for causal inference. Better mechanistic understanding may also provide insight into the best way to alter sedentary behaviour (reduce total duration vs ’break up’ extended bouts) in order to optimise disease prevention.
We have assembled an exciting programme, which includes Professor Nick Wareham as our keynote speaker. Our morning session will feature talks from distinguished and emerging researchers who will share new findings from mechanistic studies. In the afternoon, we will highlight new methods that can help extend this field of enquiry. Confirmed speakers include:

Professor David Dunstan, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne
Dr Thomas Yates, University of Leicester
Dr Audrey Bergouignan, University of Colorado, and CNRS IPHC – University of Strasbourg

The meeting starts at 09:00 and finishes at 16:00, making it possible to travel from and to London for the day (50 minutes by train).
Registration fee will be £110 for Sedentary Behaviour Council members, and £140 for non-members. Registration includes morning and afternoon tea, lunch and lunchtime games on the lawn.
Only 65 spaces are available for this workshop.
Click here to register to attend the meeting.

View the draft programme
Venue and travel
Accommodation options if required

Please send any questions to SBCsatellite2018@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk

ISPAH Conference - Physical Activity Data Harmonisation Satellite 2018
2018-10-18 09:00 - 17:30 | Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ, United Kingdom
Using existing data for a better future
Opportunities and challenges of harmonising activity data
Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Thursday 18 October 2018
******
Sorry, registration has now closed and we are fully booked.
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#ispahDataCam18
Following the main 2018 ISPAH Conference in London 15-17 October, this one day meeting in Cambridge will create a platform for discussions about retrospective harmonisation of physical activity and sedentary behaviour data globally.
Retrospective harmonisation enables researchers to bring together activity data acquired using diverse methods, settings or populations for co-analysis. Combining data in this way can provide greater heterogeneity, increased statistical power to investigate weak or complex associations, and extended scientific impact relative to individual study analyses.
Visit the main conference web-page: www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/ispahdata18/

Seminar - Can we promote physical activity at the population level? Findings from a community-based cluster randomised trial and a sport fandom-based app study.
2018-10-19 11:00 - 12:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Masamitsu Kamada, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Can we promote physical activity at the population level? Findings from a community-based cluster randomised trial and a sport fandom-based app study.

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
Effective population strategies to promote physical activity are needed to reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases stemming from physical inactivity. However, evidence from a few short-term trials has highlighted the difficulty of achieving population-level improvements in physical activity through multi-strategic community-wide interventions. In this talk, I will introduce the findings from 1) a community-based 5-year cluster randomised trial and 2) a quasi-experimental study of a sport fandom-based app developed by the Japanese Professional Baseball League (Pacific League) and discuss key strategies to achieve population-level improvements in physical activity.
About Dr Kamada

Masamitsu Kamada, MEd, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Social Behavior at the School of Public Health, the University of Tokyo, Japan. His work focuses on physical activity epidemiology and implementation science. He completed both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Physical and Health Education at the University of Tokyo, and a doctoral degree in Environmental and Preventive Medicine at the Shimane University before completing JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA.
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Improving our diets: more freedom or more control?
2018-10-23 17:30 - 19:00
A Cambridge Festival of Ideas event

23 October 2018, 5.30pm – 7.00pm
McCrum Lecture Theatre, Corpus Christi College
Please note that booking is required for this event. You can book here now.
#freedomorcontrol #cfi2018
Across the world our diets are often poor, damaging our health, and putting pressure on collective resources such as healthcare. And the negative effects of the unhealthy food available in our shops, restaurants and takeaways tend to hit the poorest in society hardest.
Governments, public health agencies and commercial companies have attempted various measures to get us to eat more healthily, including food labelling, taxes, changing the recipes of processed foods, and influencing what shops are on the high street. The choice of which approach to use is not only a matter of what works, but touches on fundamental questions about our responsibilities and freedoms. Do public health policies restrict our individual liberty to make our own choices? Or does the state have a duty to protect us from profiteering corporations and our own worst instincts? Are there universal answers to these questions, or are they different for different groups and individuals in a society?
Join public health and policy experts for a facilitated discussion to explore these questions and the practical and philosophical challenges they raise. Find out how evidence and ethics can help us decide when and how to intervene.
This event is co-organised by CEDAR and the Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Please note that booking is required for this event. You can book here now.
A note about directions
The McCrum Lecture Theatre is down a passage next to the Eagle Pub on Bene’t Street, so the postcode on the map below will not point you directly to it. If you walk down Bene’t Street from Kings Parade, the passage will be on your left immediately after the Eagle Pub. If you enter Bene’t Street from Peas Hill, Guildhall Street, or the Corn Exchange, the passage will be on your right after Jack’s Gelato.
Featuring:

Dr Jean Adams, Centre for Diet and Activity Research
Dr Thomas Burgoine, Centre for Diet and Activity Research
Prof Mike Kelly, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, former Director of the Centre for Public Health at the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
Prof Mike Kenny, Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Prof Jaideep Prabhu, Judge Business School
.

Programme

5.30pm: An opportunity to meet the researchers and learn about their work in dietary public health and policy
6.00pm: Facilitated discussion
7.00pm: Post-discussion refreshments and further opportunity to meet the researchers
.

Seminar - The nexus between food literacy, food security and disadvantage.
2018-11-05 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Professor Danielle Gallegos, Queensland University of Technology.
Social Networks for Health Behaviour Change

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Download presentation
Abstract
High income countries are often described as being food secure and yet sub-populations are still unable to secure sufficient amounts of food necessary to lead a healthy life. Household and community food insecurity is perceived to be an individual issue. Food literacy has emerged as a convenient way of packaging knowledge and skills that individuals need in order to ensure a diet of sufficient quality and quantity. A focus on such strategies place the responsibility for healthy eating on the individual, further marginalising disadvantaged groups and failing to acknowledge the profound impact of social and environmental determinants on food security, and the well-established impacts these have on the food supply. This paper will explore hidden hunger in the Australian context and the complex nexus between food literacy and food security along a continuum of disadvantage. It will highlight the potential benefits and limitations of the incorporation of food literacy approaches to address food insecurity at community and household levels..
About Professor Gallegos

Danielle Gallegos is a social nutritionist and Professor at Queensland University of Technology where she is the discipline leader for nutrition and dietetics and the Director for International Engagement and Recruitment. She currently coordinates Dietetic Honours students. She is a Fellow of the Dietitians Association of Australia and has worked in all areas of nutrition and dietetics including acute care, foodservice, private practice and for the last 15 years in public health nutrition. She teaches public and community nutrition and undertakes research related to the nexus between nutrition and social justice. Her special areas of interest are developing nutrition and dietetics as a profession in Vietnam, food security, food literacy and supporting breastfeeding through the use of innovative technologies. She is currently supervising 10 PhD students, three of whom are from Vietnam.
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CIPH Seminar - Improving access to primary care - evidence from a cluster feasibility trial using a realist perspective
2018-11-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Seminar Room 2, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge Seminar room 11, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the Cambridge Institute of Public Health Seminar by:

Dr John Ford, NIHR Doctoral Fellow in Public Health, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia.
Improving access to primary care – evidence from a cluster feasibility trial using a realist perspective

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

About Dr Ford
John Ford is a Public Health registrar (medically qualified) with research interests in older people’s health, inequalities, health services research, data integration and global burden of disease. He is particularly interested in research which makes a difference to patients and the public, and his research skills include evidence synthesis, meta-analysis, indirect comparison, cohort analysis and service evaluation.
He is currently a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, and his fellowship looks at how disadvantaged older people from rural areas access primary care. The first two years has been spent generating theory based on a realist review, cohort analysis of ELSA using structural equation modelling and semi-structured interviews/focus groups. He is currently undertaking a feasibilty study to improve access to primary care for older people. More information can be found here.

Seminar - Social Networks for Health Behaviour Change
2018-11-14 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Ruth Hunter, Queen’s University Belfast.
Social Networks for Health Behaviour Change

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Social networks (e.g. our friends, family, colleagues) have significant impact on our health and behaviours. However, we know little about how these networks can be utilised to influence health behaviours. The presentation will provide an overview of a programme of work investigating the use of social networks for health behaviour change.
About Dr Hunter

Dr Hunter’s research interests are in the development and evaluation of complex public health interventions for behaviour change at the community and population level.
Her research involves investigating the role of social networks, and the built and social environment for population level behaviour change. Most recently she was awarded a NIHR Career Development Fellowship to investigate the role of social network interventions for behaviour change involving collaborations with the University of Southern California, Harvard University, Yale University and the University of Cambridge.
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Using images at scale to understand environments and behaviours
2018-11-21 11:30 - 15:30 | GR06/07, Faculty of English, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DP, GR06/07, Faculty of English, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3 9DP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the Cambridge Digital Humanities Seminar:
Using images at scale to understand environments and behaviours
Wednesday November 21, 2018
GR06/07, Faculty of English
Convenors:
Dr James Woodcock – Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge
Dr Rahul Goel – Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge
Dr Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb – Reader in Applied and Computational Analysis, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
Dr Anne Alexander – Cambridge Digital Humanities
Book four FREE place online here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/using-images-at-scale-to-understand-environments-and-behaviours-tickets-50737316680
Image big data are increasingly being used to understand the built and natural environment and to observe behaviours within it. Data sources include satellite and airborne imagery, 360 street views, and fixed video or time lapse traffic and CCTV cameras. While some of these sources are newer than others what has been changing are the quality of the images, the geographical coverage, and the potential for assessing changes over time. At the same time improvements in machine learning have made it possible to turn images into quantitative data at scale.
In this workshop we will explore the challenges that researchers face when using images at scale to understand environments and behaviours, building on work at Cambridge to estimate cycling levels, using satellite data to estimate motor vehicle volume, and planned data collection in Kenya using 360 cameras. We will be using the following themes to help structure our discussion.
Data capture and access
What do researchers need to understand about how these images are created in order to interpret them accurately at scale? How do we deal with the challenge of working with ‘image data’ which no longer needs to be rendered into something that humans would recognise as an image for us to work with it? With the increasing drive towards the outsourcing of data capture to various third parties and subcontractors what questions should researchers be asking about these processes in order to build effective models?
Data analysis and triangulation
What theoretical and practical problems arise from efforts to combine heterogeneous large-scale image datasets to model human behaviours? How do we account for different kinds of temporality and spatiality in large-scale image datasets when making statistical inferences and developing models of behaviour – for example if we combine image data composed of a sequence of snapshots from fixed locations such as traffic cameras with data filmed by a drone? What methods should we use to render gaps and ambiguity in the data more visible to end-users of our results?
Identity and human rights
What methods should researchers use to protect the rights of humans who may be identifiable in these datasets? Can we reliably anonymise large-scale image datasets? Whose consent should we seek to capture, process, analyse or publish such datasets and when should we seek it?
Data management, re-use and preservation
What infrastructure do we need to manage large-scale image datasets in the present? Should we be attempting to preserve them for the future?
A sandwich lunch will be available for participants so please help us cater accurately by cancelling your ticket or letting us know if you can no longer attend. Please contact Michelle Maciejewska (mm405@cam.ac.uk) with any special dietary requirements by 14 November.
FREE booking online here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/using-images-at-scale-to-understand-environments-and-behaviours-tickets-50737316680

Lecture: Non-Communicable Disease Policy
2019-01-29 19:30 - 21:00 | Fisher Building, St John’s College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP, St John's College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP
All are welcome to the Cambridge Global Health Lecture by:

Dr Tolullah Oni, Global Public Health Research Programme, MRC Epidemiology Unit.
Fisher Building, St John’s College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP.

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer cause two in every three deaths on our planet. What are the root causes of NCDs? How can we tackle this enormous problem? Join NCD expert Tolullah Oni as we open our 2019 Students for Global Health Lecture Series to learn about the latest in NCD research, and what we can do about it.
For more information about this lecture click here, or to have a look at the full schedule of Cambridge Global Health Lecture Series events, check the following Facebook page.

About Dr Oni

Tolullah Oni is a Public Health Physician Scientist and urban epidemiologist, and a Clinical Senior Research fellow with the Unit’s Global Public Health Research programme.
She completed her medical training at University College London, postgraduate medical training in the UK and Australia, a Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the University of Cape Town, and her research doctorate in Clinical Epidemiology at Imperial College London. She spent 11 years conducting research in South Africa, where she also completed her public health medical specialty training. There, she established a Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE), conducting transdisciplinary urban health research focused on generating evidence to support development and implementation of healthy public policies in rapidly growing cities, with a focus on Africa. Research activities include Systems for Health projects: investigating how urban systems (e.g. housing, food) can be harnessed for health; and Health Systems projects: integrated heath systems responses to changing patterns of disease and multimorbidity in the context of urbanisation. She continues this focus within the GDAR network, focusing on meso- and macro-level determinants of diet and physical activity.
She has published over 40 manuscripts in high-impact journals, and has given presentations at international academic (urban health, HIV, TB) and non-academic meetings including the United Nations High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development, New York; and the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, Davos 2018. She serves on several advisory boards including Future Earth and the African Academy of Science Open Research Platform; and is an editorial board member of Lancet Planetary Health, Cities and Health, and the Journal of Urban Health. Profiled in the Lancet journal in 2016, she is a 2015 Next Einstein Forum Fellow, and Fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study.
Twitter: @drtolullah

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Seminar – Real life investigations of Sustainability Conundrums: Drawing together Human Behaviour and Living Lab approaches
2019-01-30 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Amy Munro-Faure, Living Laboratory for Sustainability, University of Cambridge.
Real life investigations of Sustainability Conundrums: Drawing together Human Behaviour and Living Lab approaches
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract

Understanding how to study theoretical empirical questions in real life scenarios with the messy data associated with it is a complex problem.
In this talk I will address this challenge from two perspectives. Firstly, my PhD research focussed on understanding how human cooperative behaviour changes when it is studied in a laboratory in comparison to large scale naturalistic observational studies.
Secondly I will talk about it from a far more applied point of view using examples of past and present Living Laboratory projects where research has been used to inform operations.

About Dr Munro-Faure

I’ve recently come to Cambridge to work in the University’s Environment and Energy Section running the Living Laboratory for Sustainability.
Prior to this I did a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh looking at Variation in Human Cooperative Behaviour. During this time I did a policy placement at the Royal Society on climate change policy. In Edinburgh I also set up an art-science collaborative and ran workshops to encourage creative and lateral thinking around hypothesis generation and communicating science.
I have a masters in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation from UCL and have worked on a number of research projects varying from conservation metrics at ZSL to bowerbird behaviour with the University of Exeter.

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Seminar - Longitudinal growth modeling: a tool for genetic discovery
2019-02-15 13:30 - 14:30 | Seminar room 2, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, CB2 0SP, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, CB2 0SP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Diana Cousminer, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Philadelphia.
Longitudinal growth modeling: a tool for genetic discovery
Seminar room 2, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, CB2 0SP

Abstract

Distinct growth patterns during adolescence correlate with adverse health outcomes such as poor cardiometabolic health and risk for osteoporosis, but the genetic mechanisms mediating differences in growth trajectories remain largely unknown. Longitudinal modeling using SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) breaks down complex growth trajectories into three components, “size”, “timing”, and “velocity.” We utilize these parameters as phenotypes for input into genome-wide association studies (GWAS), to better understand the genetic determinants of increase in bone mineral density at distinct skeletal sites and height growth.

About Dr Cousminer

Dr Diana Cousminer is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. She received her PhD in Medical Genetics from the University of Helsinki and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland. Dr Cousminer’s work focuses on the genetics of early life traits, in particular the timing of puberty and pubertal growth, and how these traits are linked to later life health outcomes such as diabetes, cardiometabolic health, and osteoporosis.

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Bradford Hill Seminar: Making evidence credible for public health policy
2019-03-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, Forvie Site, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, United Kingdom
Bradford Hill Seminar
Making evidence credible for public health policy
Dr Kathryn Oliver, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Large Seminar Room, 1st Floor, Institute of Public Health, University Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR
Abstract
Debates about the role of evidence in policymaking have tended to focus primarily on how to increase the influence of academic research evidence on policy. This approach to the role of knowledge in policy sidesteps the question of what types of knowledge are used and valued in policymaking, and how different forms of knowledge may interact with policy. Drawing on 55 interviews with policymakers and academics, I explore how personal/institutional characteristics and processes are judged to confer credibility to knowledge for policy in informal and formal contexts. Using the generation of credibility as a lens to understand the effects of these values on scientific and policy processes allows us to understand the broader strengths and limitations of different forms of knowledge within the policy arena. I explore the implications of these strengths and limitations of credible knowledge in policy practices, and place our conclusions within a discussion of current approaches to understanding the role of knowledge in policymaking. I close with some reflections on the importance of transparent and reflexive policymaking and knowledge-generation practices, and the implications of this for public health.
This talk is part of the Bradford Hill seminar series hosted by Cambridge Institute of Public Health.

Seminar - The Economics of Infectious Disease - Flavio Toxvaerd, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge
2019-03-21 11:00 - 12:00 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

The Economics of Infectious Disease
Dr Flavio Toxvaerd, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Watch Dr Toxvaerd’s presentation on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
This talk will give a self-contained introduction to the economics of infectious diseases. This is a growing field of interdisciplinary study which applies ideas from economics, mathematical optimisation and game theory to the study and management of infectious diseases. The talk will first introduce the classical epidemiological models studied in public health and biology and then show how ideas from economics can be used in conjunction with the classical models to inform public health policies.
About Dr Toxvaerd
Dr Flavio Toxvaerd is a University Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge and a fellow of Clare College. His main research interests include microeconomic theory, game theory and economic epidemiology. His research has been published in the Journal of Economic Theory, the RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and the Journal of Theoretical Biology. Outside of academia, he has acted as a consultant for both the private and public sectors. He has also served as the Senior Economic Advisor to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (set up by HM Treasury and the Wellcome Trust).
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Seminar – Responding to Revolution; Utilising new methods to explore the relationship between transport, health and urban design
2019-06-27 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Jason Thompson, University of Melbourne, Transport, Health and Urban Design Research Hub.
Responding to Revolution; Utilising new methods to explore the relationship between transport, health and urban design
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract

The last decade years has seen increasing encroachment of computer science into domains that were once solely the preserve of health, transport, and/or social scientists. Keeping up with these advancements and understanding how researchers from more traditional scientific domains can integrate new methods into their work plans is challenging.
This presentation will detail multiple innovations Melbourne University’s Transport, Health and Urban Design Research Hub is making that integrate expertise from across computer science, mathematics, engineering, epidemiology, design, and psychology to create truly novel and interdisciplinary research outputs with significant real-world application.

About Dr Thompson

Dr Jason Thompson holds a PhD in Medicine, Masters in Clinical Psychology, and a Bachelor of Science with Honours.
Dr Thompson’s work is focused on the translation of research into practice across the areas of transportation safety, public health, post-injury rehabilitation, and health system design.
Dr Thompson is a current Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Fellow. His DECRA project is focused on challenges associated with the introduction of Autonomous vehicles on the operation and sustainability of Australia’s $5b personal injury insurance market. In particular, how this transition will change injury rates and types, the operation of compensation and rehabilitation systems, and how these systems’ responses will shape the autonomous vehicle market, itself.

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Talk - Challenges and opportunities in developing technology based approaches to assessing dietary intake
2019-06-28 13:00 - 14:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to a talk by:

Clare Collins, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Challenges and opportunities in developing technology based approaches to assessing dietary intake
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

About Professor Collins

Clare Collins is a Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Professor Collins hold a prestigious NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship. She is currently Director of Research for the School of Health Sciences and is Deputy Director of the Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition.
Her research is conducted in collaboration with the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s (HMRI) Cardiovascular Program. HMRI is a partnership between the University, the Hunter New England Local Health District and the community.
Her innovative and world leading research creates new technologies to evaluate nutrition and dietary intake, and how improving nutrition, diet quality, food patterns can facilitate improved weight and health across all ages and stages of life and for those with chronic health conditions.
Professor Collins has developed technology based tools for dietary assessment, including the Healthy Eating Quiz and the Australian Eating Survey.

Seminar – Overview of Road Safety Globally - Dr Kavi Bhalla
2019-09-18 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

Overview of Road Safety Globally
Dr Kavi Bhalla, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences of the Biological Sciences Division & Faculty at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago.

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Abstract
As the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) draws to a close, it is clear that the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing global road traffic deaths by half by 2020 will not be met. In most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), traffic injuries are rising or stable at a high level. In contrast, traffic deaths in high-income countries (HICs) have been steadily declining for five decades. The talk will present econometric analysis of historic data to argue that the success of HICs resulted from establishing regulatory agencies that conducted large-scale safety interventions. We will explore the implications for LMICs, providing case studies of the development of similar institutions and their activities.
About Dr Bhalla
Kavi Bhalla, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences of the Biological Sciences Division at the University of Chicago, and Affiliated Faculty at the Harris School of Public Policy. His research aims to develop transport systems that are safe, sustainable and equitable, with a central focus on road safety in low- and middle-income countries. His recent work has focused on the development of analytical tools for improving estimates of the incidence of injuries in information-poor settings using available data sources. Kavi co-led the injury expert group of the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Project. He is formally trained as a mechanical engineer and his PhD (Cornell, 2001) thesis research focused on the mechanics of material failure, which he later applied to the study of injury biomechanics and vehicle crashworthiness.
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Seminar – Nutritional Psychiatry: recent advances in evidence for diet and nutrition for mental and brain health - Professor Felice N Jacka
2019-10-16 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

Nutritional Psychiatry: recent advances in evidence for diet and nutrition for mental and brain health
Professor Felice N Jacka, Food & Mood Centre, Deakin University, Australia.

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Download slides of Professor Jacka’s presentation.
Abstract
Unhealthy diet is now the leading cause of early death in men, and number two globally. Professor Jacka has pioneered and led the development of a large and robust body of evidence showing that unhealthy diet is also a key risk factor for psychiatric illnesses such as depression and anxiety and is recognised as a research leader in this new field.
In this presentation, she will provide an up-to-date overview of the evidence regarding the impact of diet on mental and brain health across age groups, countries and cultures. She will then focus on the new research addressing the microbiome-gut-brain axis in mood and behaviour. Finally, she will discuss new evidence for diet as a clinical strategy for improving mental and brain health and discuss the research activities being undertaken at the Food & Mood Centre.
About Professor Jacka
Professor Felice Jacka is director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University. She is founder and president of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR) and immediate past president of the Australian Alliance for the Prevention of Mental Disorders (APMD). Professor Jacka has pioneered and led a highly innovative program of research that examines how individuals’ diets interact with the risk for mental health problems. Her current work focuses closely on the links between diet, gut health and mental and brain health. This research is being carried out with the ultimate goal of developing new, evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies for mental disorders. She is listed in the top ten most highly-cited researchers in mood disorders in Australia (Scopus). She has recently published a book for the general public called ‘Brain Changer’ through Pan Macmillan Press and Yellow Kite in the UK.
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