Improving pre-award processes for equitable and transparent research assessment30 April 2024The processes that take place before research is submitted for funding (pre-award processes) serve as important scaffolding to support equitable and transparent research assessment. A new report summarises the key recommendations from a recent funder discussion group symposia and workshops to improve pre-award processes. The report includes actions for realistic and transformative change, and practical real-world examples of change.
Supporting neurodivergent young people who camouflage23 April 2024A known coping mechanism neurodivergent people use is ‘camouflaging’ or ‘masking’, the hiding or compensating for neurodivergent characteristics, which has been consistently associated with anxiety and depression in neurodivergent populations. We caught up with one researcher looking into interventions to prevent or reduce the development of anxiety and depression in neurodivergent young people.
Supporting health research – getting AI ready16 April 2024Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) - such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, or DeepMind's AlphaFold - have shown AI as a transformative force in many areas including health and biomedical research, and healthcare. AI has enormous potential to speed up diagnoses, help discover new drugs, assist surgeries, and deliver therapies and treatments. But with this rapid revolutionising of the healthcare field comes a pressing need to develop these technologies in an ethical, safe, and sustainable way.
Inclusion, decolonising and dentistry27 March 2024A new study from the University of Bristol seeks to understand the barriers and facilitators of inclusion for dental students, ensuring that every new student, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or background, has access to the same opportunities and facilities.
Global research network to combat deadly Strep A infections28 February 2024Bristol researchers are part of a newly-launched multi-institution network to research bacterial cause of sepsis and heart damage in children. Each year, around half a million people, including many children and young people, die around the world because of serious group A streptococcal (Strep A) bacterial infections. While most cases are relatively mild – affecting only the skin or throat - some infections can lead to deadly sepsis or autoimmune damage to the heart. There is currently no available vaccine for Strep A.
Elizabeth Blackwell Annual Public Lectures20 February 2024The Elizabeth Blackwell Institute held our tenth Annual Public Lecture with Professor Patricia Kingori on Monday 22 January 2024. Below we share our previous public lectures to give a flavour of the breadth of topics we have covered over the years.
Facts, fakes, society and health: Professor Patricia Kingori30 January 2024We were delighted to welcome University of Oxford’s Professor Patricia Kingori for our tenth annual public lecture on 22 January 2024. The sold out event filled the beautiful City Hall in Bristol, with a mix of staff and students from the University, people working in health and care, and members of the public.
Towards understanding the relationship between age, breast development and breast cancer30 January 2024Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK: every month, an estimated 4,000 new cases are diagnosed. Throughout a woman’s lifetime, however, the risk of developing the disease varies greatly. Early puberty, for example, is associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer, whereas pregnancy before the age of 20 is associated with a decreased risk - but the biological reasons aren’t clear.
Building collaborative research relationships through creative activities11 January 2024Engaging in creative activities can help to shift the power dynamics between public contributors and researchers, according to a paper published in BMC Research Involvement and Engagement. However, collaborative projects need to work for everyone and taking community-led ideas forwards remains challenging.
Drugs already licensed could be trialled to potentially treat secondary brain cancer, new research finds4 January 2024The largest review of papers for brain cancer that has spread from the lungs has found abnormalities in the brain cancer and for which licensed drugs could be clinically trialled to find out if they could treat the disease. The research led by the University of Bristol and published in Neuro-Oncology Advances also found genetic differences between smokers and non-smokers.