Congratulations to CDT Cohort 4 student Verónica Blanco Gutiérrez who was awarded first prize for the poster competition at the Population Health and Health Inequalities Conference which took place on 11th October in London. 

Verónica reports on the conference:

This event was aimed at key stakeholders and those with an interest in improving workforce capability to improve population health and in reducing health inequalities.

The general topic covered in this conference was Population Health and Health Inequalities. The event showcased new and emerging roles in population health and health inequalities and the latest education and training resources. It also facilitated an opportunity to learn about new and emerging training opportunities in population health and health inequalities and how these are helping transform the workforce.

During this event, I made new connections with experts in the field of Population Health. I was particularly interested in the work undertaken by Kumbi Kariwo, a senior NHS nurse and Equality & Inclusion Project Lead in Birmingham. I found her work on a digital intervention to diagnose different skin conditions and diseases in different skin colours truly inspirational and stimulating.

At this conference, we, Population Health Fellows, were asked to showcase our digital posters. My poster was about my journey as a Population Health fellow and my project: a Health Equity Audit on the uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy among different ethnic groups. Attendees were able to vote for the best poster and I was awarded the first prize. Thanks to this award, I will be to meet Professor Sir Michael Marmot for a mentoring session. 

It will be a honour to meet Professor Sir Michael Marmot, a world expert leader in Population Health and Health inequalities, for a mentoring session. I am very passionate about reducing health inequalities in the provision of maternity care and improving health outcomes for underrepresented groups. Meeting with Professor Marmot will guide my project to focus on a meaningful area of Population Health research by taking into consideration his expertise and vision. I am also hoping that this meeting will provide me with useful insights about career development and aspirations in the long term future.