News
An International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) post-satellite symposium
Confirmed Speakers
Professor Billie Giles-Corti
Professor Rodrigo Reis
Professor Jim Sallis
Venue
Isdell Courtyard
Riddel Hall
Stranmillis Road
Queen's University Belfast
Programme
Further details to follow
Registration
Registration for this post-satellite symposium is free. To book your place, please email: coe@qub.ac.uk
Further Information
If you would like further information about this event, please contact the host: Dr Ruth Hunter at ruth.hunter@qub.ac.uk
Dr Michael O'Rorke and Dr Philip Veal
Dr Philip Veal
Engaging school children in antibiotic awareness: a science collaboration between W5, the Public Health Agency and the Centre of Excellence for Public Health Northern Ireland
Congratulations to Dr Michael O'Rorke (UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health NI) and Dr Philip Veal (Public Health Agency) who received 'Highly Commended Awards' at the recent Public Health England Antibiotic Awards Ceremony in London.
Bacteria are becoming resistant to the antibiotics that are currently available – meaning that the few antibiotics that we have developed in our arsenal may be ineffective for the same infection in that individual in the future. The issue with antibiotic resistance has arisen primarily due to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. The aim of this project was to educate children on antimicrobial resistance and appropriate antibiotic use, and therefore influence parental behaviour and knowledge in this regard.
In 2006 the Health Protection Agency developed e-Bug (http://www.e-bug.eu/), a health education resource for 4-18 year olds, now operated by Public Health England. These freely available resources were used to introduce the children to the concept of microbes, antibiotic resistance and the spread, treatment and prevention of infections.
In a collaboration initiated by the Public Health Agency Northern Ireland with the Centre of Excellence for Public Health Northern Ireland and W5, we have now piloted the implementation of the e-Bug resources in several Northern Ireland schools including Templepatrick, Whitehouse and St James’s Primary Schools (Key-stage 2), Dalriada and Ballymoney High School (Key-stage 3) and Longstone special school) for children and young adults with moderate learning difficulties.
In terms of Future work, the Public Health Agency have been working with the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) to map the e-Bugs resources onto the Northern Ireland curriculum. To build the capacity for this, the Public Health Agency organised two ‘train the teacher’ events in June 2018, one of which was held in W5 and the other in Cookstown in order to provide Northern Ireland teachers with an introduction and overview of the e-Bugs resources and a run through of the various interactive activities involved.
As many of you will know, our dear friend and colleague Professor Liam Murray, Centre for Public Health, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family early on the morning of Friday 12th January 2018 following a brave battle with his final illness. The huge attendance at his funeral two days later in Loughbrickland was testament to how many people thought so highly of Liam. At the request of Liam’s wife Mary Lou, I delivered the eulogy and paid tribute to Liam on behalf of everyone who knew him. Many adjectives describe how Liam’s character stood out from the crowd, such as noble, humble, inspiring, collegial, fair-minded, generous, scholarly, respectful, approachable, dependable – a gentle man and a real gentleman.
I recall Liam’s outstanding career, from the early days when we first worked together at the Northern Health Board’s Public Health Department in Ballymena, until latterly when Liam’s brilliance as an academic was recognised internationally. Over those years people would readily acknowledge that Liam was a man who knew how to get things done, someone who took his job, but not himself, seriously. Liam moved to Bristol in 1994 to take up a post as a Lecturer/Registrar in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Bristol, returning to Northern Ireland in January 1997 as a Senior Registrar in Public Health at the Western Health Board, joining QUB later that year as a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health. By then his real leadership qualities were in plain sight, for it was no time at all before other academics threw their lot in with him, sensing the no-limits potential of any team led by Liam.
His influence was transformative, for so many of those he nurtured are now leading their own groups and have taken root in places like the National Institute of Health or in leadership positions in their home countries. In the drive for globalisation he notched up thousands of air miles travelling to the US or latterly to destinations like Vietnam and Malaysia. However, despite these long and time consuming trips, Liam would never contemplate travelling business class, but everyone knew he deserved First Class. Anyone reflecting on it might recognise Liam in the character played by Jimmy Stewart from the movie ‘It’s a wonderful life’ - a man who couldn’t or wouldn’t acknowledge the quietly transformative effect that he was having on those around him. Our heartfelt condolences go to Mary Lou and their daughters Lois and Evelyn, and all the Murray family.
Thank you Liam for sharing a wonderful life with us and setting an example to us all.
Frank Kee
Understanding the link between socio-economic status and cardiovascular outcomes: methodological challenges and future directions
For Giovanni's Slides please click HERE
Giovanni Veronesi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in biostatistics at the Research Center in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Insubria (Varese, Italy). He trained in biostatistics at Milan, University of Bicocca, and Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina. His major field of applied research is cardiovascular disease epidemiology, mainly using observational data from prospective cohorts or population-based registries. In particular, his interests cover absolute risk prediction models; psychosocial, job-related and behavioral risk factors; and social inequalities in cardiovascular outcomes. On the latter topic, he led the statistical analyses of the European cohorts included into the MORGAM Project, a multinational collaborative studies with about 130.000 participants from 48 populations. These analyses investigated the increment in predictive accuracy due to the addition of a social class indicator to standard risk prediction scores; estimated the social gradient in coronary heart disease and stroke incidence, and their major determinants; addressed the interplay between risk factors and social class on cardiovascular disease risk. Overall, he has published over 50 scientific papers in the last 5 years.
Queen's University Belfast
Friday 4th May 2018
Giovanni Veronesi, Ph.D.
Research Center in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
Read our latest news in the December Ezine. If you would like to hear more about any of our research projects - contact coe@qub.ac.uk.
Staff and students from St Louise's Comprehensive College Belfast and The Royal Belfast Academical Institution recently joined CoENI at its 10th and final Annual Away Day. The event took place in Newcastle, County Down, where they met current PhD and Masters students from varied backgrounds along with research staff and guests from organisations and sectors both within and outside of academia. Click HERE to read an excerpt from the RBAI e-zine...
Read about the work done by the PHA, staff and students from CoENI and the STEM Ambassador HUB to provide information to school children about antimicrobial resistance during World Antibiotic Awareness week in November 17...........Click HERE