Category: project-07
Prof Peter Fonagy
Professor Fonagy is one of the key international figures in the evaluation of mental health interventions. He holds Chairs at UCL, Harvard, Yale and Baylor, and is a NIHR Senior Investigator. In the 1990’s, he co-led the NHS Review of Psychotherapies, evaluating all outcomes data which provided the basis for the radical policy change, Improved Access to evidence-based Psychological Therapies (IAPT), now an important part of the NHS mandate. The report ‘What Works for Whom’ has over 3,000 scholarly citations. Since 2010, he has led the Children and Young People’s Programme for IAPT and achieved a doubling of the Government’s financial commitment to this service transformation programme for CAMHS services to be restructured using evidence based, patient centred therapies. He is a key figure in developing NHS mental health strategy through NICE guidance and chaired the Depression in Children and Young People GDG and co-ordinated the prevention section of guidelines for Antisocial Personality Disorder and Conduct Disorder. He led the development of National Occupational Standards for Psychological Therapies and Chaired the Advisory Group leading to the introduction of routine outcomes assessment in mental health services (HoNOS). He served on several UK Government panels and on the Academic Advisory Board of the Presidential Commission on Violence Prevention, chaired panels at NIMH and the German Research Foundation, and was a UK representative on the Expert Psychological Panel of the European Science Foundation EIRH Programme. He is PI or co-PI on evaluation research programmes in excess of £15M, is Programme Director on the UCLP mental health programme and is leading the largest Clinical Psychology Department and training scheme in the UK, with 150 doctoral students.
Effectiveness and acceptability of myo-inositol nutritional supplement in the prevention of gestational diabetes (EMmY): a protocol for a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind pilot trial
Bart’s Research Centre for Women’s Health is up and running with the EMmY study
We’re delighted to announce our latest research partnership – with the the Bart’s Research Centre for Women’s Health (BARC) .
BARC was launched in June 2017 and is led by Professors Shakila Thangaratinam and Khalid Khan.
The Centre is funded by Barts Charity and based within Queen Mary University of London at the Whitechapel campus.
The centre team (pictured above) will focus on improving the health of mothers and babies in East London, addressing healthcare challenges such as diabetes, obesity and heavy blood loss during childbirth.
The first BARC study is set to start in January 2018 – “EMmY: Effectiveness and acceptability of myo-inositol nutritional supplement in the prevention of gestational diabetes: a pilot placebo controlled double blind randomised trial”.
EmMY will aim to randomise 200 women who are at risk of developing gestational diabetes, across three sites (Barts Health, Guy’s and St Thomas’, and Central Manchester University NHS Trusts).
Participants will be randomised to receive either 4g of Myo-inositol – a naturally occurring substance produced in the human body that belongs to the vitamin B complex group – or placebo study supplement daily, from the end of the first trimester until delivery.
The pilot will examine rates of recruitment and randomisation to the trial, and rates of adherence to the intervention. Researchers will analyse reasons for participation, non-participation, and non-adherence to the trial protocol. Any preliminary estimates and insight into trial procedures from the EMmY study will then inform a future large-scale trial.
The CLAHRC is supporting the study by providing health economic analysis for the pilot and full trial and assisting with patient and public involvement..
Contact Doris Lanz, BARC Senior Trial Manager for more info at d.lanz@qmul.ac.uk
Better data to improve health and wellbeing
We have been reaching out to colleagues in local authorities and public health departments to highlight the value of research evidence in improving health and well being among local populations. The CLAHRC is forging useful links with our partners in local councils, bridging the gap between research and the front line.
Local authorities are a key audience for the CLAHRC as they are responsible for public health in their area. Public health includes prevention of illness and disease, sexual health and smoking cessation.
CLAHRC partners Islington and Camden Councils run lunchtime learning sessions for staff as part of their Using Data Better initiative. They invite speakers from various sectors to present the potential for data to improve health and health services for local residents. The boroughs have joined forces to deliver public health, and have a team of data analysts at work – identifying issues that have a negative effect on people’s health, and planning to deal with those issues.
In October Dr Chiara De Poli (below left) presented to public health staff and analysts in the two Councils. Chiara was joined by the CLAHRC’s Professor Gwyn Bevan and health economist Dr Elena Pizzo, presenting evidence of the limited impact of current policy options on the projected diabetes ‘epidemic’ in Islington, which stimulated a lively discussion about what Islington might do to tackle this.
Chiara’s work is part of a wider CLAHRC study, led by Professor Bevan, investigating the design of research and decision support processes to ensure the utility of research outputs. We are making efforts to make our research more “user friendly” and accessible to colleagues in the NHS and local government so they can use it in decision-making around planning and commissioning services and interventions for the populations they serve.
There was learning on both sides – our researchers got an insight into the challenges faced by staff on the front line and an appreciation of the type of data local authorities collect and analyse to improve health and well-being. We offered projections on the likely impact on diabetes prevention of current policies adopted by local authorities.
Feedback from our audience was extremely positive and we hope this is the start of a fruitful collaboration between the CLAHRC and the Public health teams within Islington and Camden.
“Once again, thanks for delivering a wonderful presentation – many of us were fascinated by your progress, and it’s no surprise that our head of dept. is now keen to collaborate further”
Mustafa Kamara, Intelligence & Information Analyst, Camden and Islington Public Health
Dr Chiara De Poli
Chiara De Poli is a Research Assistant, pursuing research on health service management. She holds an MSc in Public Management and a BSc in Public Management from Bocconi University, in Milan. Before joining LSE in 2011, Chiara worked in the field of evaluating EU co-funded programmes, both within academia and for a consulting firm in Italy.
Professor Gwyn Bevan
Gwyn Bevan is Professor of Policy Analysis and, from 2011 to 2013 was head of the Department of Management, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has worked as an academic at Warwick Business School and St Thomas’ Hospital and Bristol Medical Schools. He has also worked in industry, consulting, the Treasury, and for the Commission for Health Improvement (2001 to 2003), where he was Director of the Office for Information on Healthcare Performance.
Dr Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths
Jasmina joined the RPT in January 2018. With undergraduate, MSc and DPhil degrees in applied mathematics, Jasmina’s research focuses on applying different quantitative techniques to explore a variety of biological and physiological systems, comminicable and non-communicable diseases and answer emerging public health and healthcare questions. In conjunction with her role within the RPT, Jasmina also holds Honorary Lectureships at the Department of Mathematics and Institute for Global Health at UCL and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), as well as an Honorary Academic Researcher Post at Public Health England.
Dr Estela Barbosa
Professor Steve Morris
Professor Morris’ research interests are primarily in the cost-effectiveness of interventions to improve health across a range of disease areas and population groups, and the determinants of health service use.
