 |
South West Public
Health Annual Scientific Conference
Wednesday 3rd June 2009, Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare
Plenary Speakers - biographies
Dr David Melzer is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Peninsula Medical School, based in Exeter. His background is in medicine and his research focuses on identifying why some groups of people age more quickly than others. He is funded by the US National Institutes of Health to explore the effect of genetic variation on ageing. Recent findings include the first identification of a variant in the ‘p16’ gene which protects against frailty: this locus subsequently emerged as important for both heart attacks and type 2 diabetes. He has published genome wide association studies of 42 serum protein levels, plus the first study of the allergy related gene ‘Filaggrin’ in older people. His policy work on genetic testing (funded by the Wellcome Trust) has pointed to the need for enhanced regulation of the new genetic tests, especially in Europe. His group has also explored ‘traditional’ risk factors, including the effects of the obesity epidemic on ageing. He recently published a study in JAMA providing the first evidence linking the controversial plasticizer Bisphenol A to liver enzyme changes, diabetes and cardiovascular disease in adults. Prof. Melzer is a Visiting Scientist at the US National Institute on Aging. He qualified in Medicine in 1981, received a Harkness Fellowship in 1998 and was awarded his PhD by the University of Cambridge.
Anna Gilmore trained in public health in the South West Region and since August 2007 has been based at the University of Bath where she co-directs the Tobacco Control Research Group, a multi-disciplinary group of 17 staff and PhD students. Bath is part of the new UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS), one of the new UKCRC centres of public health excellence. Anna also retains a position at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and has an honorary consultant post at Bath and North East Somerset PCT. Her main research interest is tobacco control and her work falls into 3 main areas: (1) policy evaluation, (2) tobacco industry influence on public health and policy; and (3) evidence based approaches to public health / tobacco control. She currently holds a prestigious Health Foundation Clinician Scientist Fellowship. In the last year she has been awarded two prizes for her research – a WHO World No Tobacco Day Medal and the 2009 International Award for Outstanding Use of Tobacco Industry Documents. She is a Senior Editor of Tobacco Control, the leading journal in her field, a member of various expert advisory groups including the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group, the Council of ASH and the WHO Expert Committee on tobacco industry interference with tobacco control policy. She has acted in an advisory capacity and as a consultant to various organisations including WHO and the Bloomberg Global Initiative.
Rona Campbell is Professor of Health Services Research in the Department of Social Medicine at the University of Bristol, and Co director of the UKCRC DECIPHer centre. Rona originally trained as an environmental scientist but her interest in public health led her to pursue postgraduate training and research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She worked in Northern Ireland for 10 years holding career posts in the Department of Health and Social Services, at the University of Ulster and at the Queen’s University Belfast. Her current empirical research includes evaluations by randomised trial of school-based public health interventions to promote physical activity and health eating, reduce adolescent smoking, and encourage hand washing. Rona’s methodological research interests include use of qualitative methods along side quantitative research designs, qualitative evidence synthesis and methods for encouraging greater linkage between theory and public health intervention design and evaluation. She is a member of the MRC’s Efficacy and Mechanisms (EME) Research Board and serves on two national NIHR specialty groups: Health Services Research; and Public Health.
Elizabeth Towner is Professor of Child Health at the University of the West of England, Bristol. She is based at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, a joint centre with the University of Bristol. She is a social scientist, with a background in school teaching, education and health promotion research. She has worked in the field of injury prevention research for the last 19 years. The focus of her work is on the prevention of unintentional injuries in children and young people and on inequalities in health. She is currently a member of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence’s Programme Development Group on unintentional injuries in children < 15 years. She is an author of the overview chapter of the World Health Organization/ UNICEF’s ‘First world report on child injury prevention’ (2008) and an editor and author of the ‘WHO European report on child injury prevention’ (2008). |