What do sitting quietly at the theatre, the illicit trade of woolly mammoth tusks, a liver screening service with a brilliantly Bristolian name and an environmentally sustainable supercomputer in a car park have in common?
They all featured in the interdisciplinary programme of talks at this year’s PHSI Symposium!
To remind yourself of what you heard or find out what you might have missed, read Clare Thomas’ blog reflecting on some of the key learnings from the nine stimulating presentations.
The day began with an introduction from Prof. Ellen Brooks Pollock which set the scene for the theme, “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Population Health: Bridging the Gaps for a Healthier Future”. A day organised by Dr Gemma Crawford, we were treated to a programme of talks that really showcased the power of interdisciplinarity and the strength and diversity of University of Bristol’s work in population health.
The opening talk from the Cleft Collective team described their work spanning almost 40 years to improve treatment and outcomes for babies born with cleft lip and/or palette. The Cleft Collective has amassed an extensive dataset including biological and genetic samples, and environmental, demographic, developmental, clinical and functional information. The findings of research using this data have been used to improve service delivery and treatment approaches in the UK, and the team are keen to foster interdisciplinary collaborations to conduct future research using the dataset.
Next, Dr Kirsty Sedgeman, from the Department of Theatre, challenged us to think about what it means to act reasonably. Her work, which began with exploring the concept of “theatre etiquette” and what is considered reasonable behaviour amongst theatre–going audiences, found wider application in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic when the public found themselves trying to negotiate what behaviour was reasonable in the attempt to manage infection and risk. Kirsty also encouraged us to question power dynamics in decisions about reasonableness, by thinking about who the rules benefit and who they disadvantage. Finally, she highlighted the question explored in her latest book “How can we change the world if we’re afraid to be unreasonable?” and suggested there may be times when we need to be reasonably unreasonable!
After a refreshment break we were asked by Dr Alex Tasker,from the Bristol Vet School, to consider how an outbreak of anthrax in reindeer in artic Russia becomes an issue of international health security, and were taken on a mind-blowing journey which included ancient woolly mammoth tusks, the international illicit ivory trade and an exploration involving diverse disciplines from Anthropologist to Inter
national Trade Lawyers, Arctic Warfare Specialists to Microbiologists, Climate Scientists to Historians and many more besides. Thus, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex problems involving risk and uncertainty.
Following on, Dr Kush Abeysekera talked about his work on the early detection of liver disease, which, using data from the ALSPAC cohort, discovered that by age 24, 1 in 5 young adults have evidence of fatty build up in their liver (steatosis) and 1 in 40 have evidence of liver scarring (fibrosis). Sobering statistics which were sensationally reported in the Daily Mail as “the silent killer dubbed ‘human foie gras’”. His work, and connections made via social media, have led Kush to involvement in further research and initiatives aimed at increasing early detection of liver problems, including the brilliantly named “Alright my liver?” outreach team taking liver screening equipment out to the population of Bristol.
In the final talk of the morning, the PHSI Knowledge Mobilisation (KM) team myself (Dr Clare Thomas) and Theo Richardson-Gool, encouraged the room to not just publish and hope that their research will make a difference, but instead take an active part in helping or making change happen. We also heard from three of our PHSI KM catalyst award holders, who described the stakeholder engagement workshops they have been planning on the diverse topics of; using chatbots to improve health, nordic walking for neurodiverse teenage girls and improving clinical coding for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Theo also shared insights from our recent KM survey in which more than 80% of researchers felt KM was relevant to their work but half felt they knew little about it. This is a gap in knowledge which the KM team are working to fill.
Posters
The posters were impressive and covered many stages, from research data to impact. The judging panel were interested to learn about a range of topics spanning from data science and clinical interventions to trials and AMR. What stood out was how different people chose to present their findings.
The “People’s Choice” poster prize was awarded to James Olivier. James’ work, entitled “A systematic review of Surgical Innovation and the evolution of procedures/devices over time”, was a great example of how to create a visually appealing and accessible poster. The “Judge’s Choice” award went to Andrew Turner for his poster on transforming outcomes for Paediatric allergy in Primary Care. Although in the early stages, the judges were impressed with the clearly laid out plans for this project.
Practically, it is a takeaway and learning opportunity to see how people from different disciplines promote their posters and how these are vital tools for advancing science communication across non-specialist and non-academic audiences.
Thank you to all the poster presenters: James Olivier, Tanzeela Khalid, Katie Webster, Ettie Unwin, Andrew Turner, Anna Pathmanatham, Neil Goulding, Alexandra Creavin, Nour Al Husein, and George Qian.
Films
Nick Street curated brilliant films from inception to completion. The Q&A session prompted us to view film as a medium for effectively conveying messages. One valuable insight was the importance of maintaining focus in storytelling to ensure resonance and memorability.
The films covered diverse topics—from Historical Epidemics in Bristol with the Plague to Mitral Valve Disease and AvonCAP, offering insights into various clinical and research environments within the city.
A common thread among these films was their use of data to broaden audience reach and potential impact. Nick Street emphasised the importance of archiving these films for future use, stressing their standalone quality and advising against excessive content demands.
Below – an exclusive – Click to watch the films and tell us what you think! Mitral Valve Disease on Vimeo | Historical Epidemics on Vimeo| AvonCAP on Vimeo
After lunch
The afternoon talks began with Saba Fasial, a PhD student and author of the Early Career Researcher prize winning abstract. Saba talked about a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) project she undertook to understand barriers to consent for research recordings of clinical trial recruitment conversations amongst people from minority ethnic communities. Following focus groups with contributors from the South Asian, Somali and Chinese communities, Saba has worked to create short films explaining clinical trial methodology in five languages to help reduce language barriers and bridge gaps in understanding.
Next up, Dr Kaitlin Wade provided us with an introduction to Mendelian Randomisation (MR) using research on the gut microbiome as an example. Kaitlin presented MR as a useful method in the epidemiologist’s toolkit, which can replicate findings of the “gold standard” RCT in a fraction of the time and cost, by using comparison groups defined by (randomly occurring) genotype. However, Kaitlin also cautioned that the limitations of the method are complex and there is a need for greater understanding of this. She went on to suggest that interdisciplinary collaborations and the opportunity to triangulate findings from MR studies with those from other studies exploring the same topic but using different methods would help to overcome biases within the different methods and allow more definite conclusions to be reached.
Dr Lucy Selman was next to take the floor to share the story of the Good Grief Festival, a movement to engage and support communities with bereavement. Lucy reflected on the impact of the pandemic which forced a change of plan for the first Good Grief event, from an in-person event in Bristol to an online event able to attract a wider national audience. The pandemic also put a spotlight on bereavement and loss, which led to coverage of Lucy’s work in the media, at home and abroad. Since its beginnings the Good Grief community has grown to include more the 30,000 members and 45 collaborator organisations and 2023 saw the first in-person festival Good Grief Weston, attended by 3,000 people. An evaluation of the festival found that more than 70% of respondents felt more confident talking about grief after attending.
Knowledge Mobilisation workshop
From the knowledge mobilisation (KM) angle, we learned much about what researchers are already doing to make impact happen and go beyond the publish and hope! Fifty-four people at the University of Bristol responded to our survey about KM, 80% of which rate KM as relevant or highly relevant, yet only 7% say they understand KM well. We aim to bridge this knowledge gap and continue listening and co-creating with those interested and invested!
Ten participants joined a KM workshop to explore interdisciplinary collaboration within the Health and Life Science Faculty Grand Challenges. Workshop discussions highlighted the need to engage non-academic partners to ensure research meets diverse community needs and aligns with policymaker priorities on mental health and chronic diseases. Research accessibility, ethical engagement with vulnerable populations and the potential benefits and challenges of industry collaboration in the context of the Grand Challenges were explored. The workshop also provided a valuable space to meet new people and start new interdisciplinary conversations.
Plenary Talk
Last, but most definitely not least, in the final session of the day we heard from Dr Sadaf Alam, Director of Advanced Computing Strategy at Isambard-AI, the UK’s fastest supercomputer, funded by the UK government and hosted by the University of Bristol. Sadaf spoke about the speed at which the facility to house the supercomputer, in the car park of the National Composites Centre, had been constructed (despite the incessant rain!), how the first phase of the supercomputer hardware installation is complete and work on the user interface and access procedures are well a
dvanced. Sadaf was excited to share the potential for population health that access to this facility will bring and that priority access for University of Bristol staff will soon be available, so watch this space!
“I certainly came away from the day with a head buzzing from all I’d seen and heard” – Clare Thomas. “I gained a new appreciation of what can be gained by stepping outside our own disciplines to embrace the different perspectives which come from others and gratitude for the opportunity to get away from my desk to meet new and interesting people!”
Report on talks by Dr Clare Thomas
Report on the films and posters by Helen Russell
Reflection on knowledge mobilisation by Theo Richardson-Gool