Staff Rounds are relaunching at Hammersmith Campus from Wednesday 18 September.
What are Staff Rounds?
The aim of the Staff Round is to inspire and learn how clinical medicine can be transformed by research. It’s a way for Faculty and Trust staff to discover the extraordinary research carried out throughout the Faculty and to bring people together.
The central premise of the event will be to use a clinical case to highlight research and encourage discussion. Staff Rounds have a long history at Hammersmith Hospital, dating back to the 80s.
The weekly sessions during term-time are organised by Professor Liz Lightstone. Writing about last year’s Staff Rounds, she said: “As part of an AHSC we still value hearing about fascinating clinical problems outside our specialities, and that we are prepared to joust in a friendly manner to promote even better outcomes. But that will only happen if people make the effort to attend, if the senior members of staff come along and bring their teams with them, and if everyone contributes. I would like the Staff Round to once again become a highlight of the week.”
Who can attend?
Research staff, clinicians, nurses, allied health professionals and more are encouraged to attend and will be welcomed.
Willow Suite, PG Education Centre, Hamm House Ground Floor
Chair: Professor Martin Wilkins
Department of Infectious Disease: Professor Graham Cooke; Accelerating the Elimination of Viral Hepatitis
NHLI: Dr Luke Howard; The patient who refused to take pulmonary hypertension lying down
Wednesday 25 September 2019
Willow Suite, PG Education Centre, Hamm House Ground Floor
Chair: Professor Marina Botto
Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction: Consultant Prof Mark Thursz (Head of Department and Head of the Biomedical Research Centre) – Title TBC
Department of Immunology and Inflammation – Consultant Prof Liz Lightstone, presenter Dr Hannah Wilson – Title TBC
There are a limited number of FREE bursary places available for Imperial College London staff in healthcare professions outside of medicine to cover the course fee. Contact the CATO Team for further bursary details.
CATO Masterclass
Revolutions in public health research and how to access UK Biobank data: An update for all Clinical Academics
Course date: The next Imperial CATO masterclass is on January 24 2019, 18:00hrs, at the Royal Marsden Hospital (Julian Bloom Lecture Theatre).
Course content: The focus will be on how clinical academics might use the increasing wealth of population and NHS data (including UK Biobank) in research studies, or work with epidemiologists and others in exploring research questions using their data and skills.
Target audience: This will be particular interest to those of you who are not public health researchers to learn about how you could potentially work with such academics, and learn what they are currently doing, and how to access data such as UK Biobank.
Speakers: this will include Dr Ioanna Tzoulaki, Reader in Epidemiology, who uses UK Biobank data to explore genetic associations of inflammatory biomarkers (amongst others).
Please complete the online form to book your place.
Wellcome Trust/NIHR Imperial BRC/ICCIS clinical research fellowships 2019
‘4i’ programme, Immunity, Inflammation, Infection and Informatics
Applications are invited from exceptional medical graduates who demonstrate a commitment to a research career and aspire to become the next generation of clinical academic leaders to join our prestigious PhD Fellowship Programmes. Successful candidates will be selected on the basis of academic potential to reach the highest standards of scientific research, regardless of clinical specialty.
The Fellowships will be full-time and fixed term for three years. The funding covers clinical salary, PhD registration fees at the UK/EU rate, College fees, associated project costs and general training costs.
For the CATO Research Symposium research symposium taking on 27 June we are delighted that we will be joined by Professor Eric Alton, Chair of Respiratory Medicine and Gene Therapy at Imperial. He will be talking about his pioneering research which has evolved from understanding the basic pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis, through mice models into human gene therapy: an exquisite clinical academic research career for you all to emulate!
The research symposium is a key part of your clinical academic training/research career development – exposing you to a wider range of research than in your day-to-day work, giving you an opportunity to think of novel collaborations, techniques, and research questions, and see how you can develop a clinical academic career. You should attend if you are an Academic Foundation Doctor, ACF, in a clinical research training fellowship/PhD, CL or other post-doctoral researcher, or a non-medical clinical academic. The afternoon will include research presentations, the keynote presentation, posters and networking opportunities with colleagues and the CATO team.
We encourage you all to submit a research abstract, and there will be PRIZES for the best oral presentations and for the best research poster. This year we encourage you to think about your use of plain English when presenting your research for a non-clinical, non-scientific audience, and of course lay explanations are now needed on all grant and fellowship applications, so the practice is invaluable.
All submitted abstracts must include a plain English summary (125 words max, see guidance sheet) and we will offer an ADDITIONAL PRIZE for the very best.
Send your abstracts using the attached template to cato@imperial.ac.uk. We will advise you if you have been selected to give an oral presentation or to display a poster by early June. We are open for abstract submissions until 10.00hrs on Tuesday 29 May 2018.
Attend the CATO Research Symposium
Wednesday 27 June 2018, 13.00-18.30, W12 Conference Centre, Hammersmith Hospital
Imperial AHSC Support for Clinical PhD/MD(Res) Fellows
Over the coming months the Clinical Academic Training Office (CATO) will be introducing a programme of support for clinical PhD fellows across the Faculty of Medicine and wider AHSC partnership. The aim of the work is to gain a clearer picture of the range of clinical PhD fellows, even-out and improve their experience (complimenting the support provided already by each department/Trust), establish a visible central liaison hub for supporting clinicians as they undertake PhD programmes, and support them to progress their clinical academic careers into intermediate fellowships and beyond.
The CATO programme will include collecting enhanced feedback from clinical PhD training fellows, a series of Masterclasses covering researcher development and career development topics, fact sheets on common problems/issues, delivering individualised career guidance and enhanced working with the Imperial College London Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre. Currently there are 2 Masterclasses that PhD/MD(Res) fellows can book on to, details below:
Wednesday 28 February 2018: Improving use of genomic information, including accessing the 100,000 Genomes project
5:30 – 7.30 pm, W12 Conference Centre, Hammersmith Hospital. This Masterclass will explore the cutting-edge use of genomic information both in clinical practice and clinical academic research, and will give an update on the 100,000 Genomes project and how clinical academics can use/access 100,000 Genomes. To book a place please complete this online booking form.
Monday 26 March 2018: Advancing your academic career with an Intermediate Fellowship: how to win one!
5:30 – 7.30 pm, Paul Wood Lecture Theatre at the Royal Brompton Hospital Campus. The content is most suitable for late-stage PhD training fellows, Clinical Lecturers and other Post-Doctoral Fellows, but anyone interested in furthering their clinical academic career after a PhD is welcome. To reserve a place please complete this onlinebooking form.
Further details about the CATO programme will be posted on the CATO website in due course, queries can be directed to:cato@imperial.ac.uk
There was a clear theme throughout the day of patients, carers and the public being equal partners with researchers, healthcare professionals and policy-makers (who were all represented in the audience). Jono Broad, Patient Leader (Q Community), did a truly inspiring talk about how care should be patient-centred and good leadership, culture, quality improvement, human factors and technological advancements are all essential elements to improve patient safety. (more…)
CATO is part of the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), a partnership between Imperial College Healthcare Trust, Imperial College London, The Royal Marsden Foundation Trust and Royal Brompton & Harefield Foundation Trust. The CATO mission is to encourage and support doctors, nurses, midwives, AHP’s, pharmacists, and healthcare scientists – into clinical academic careers. This drive within Imperial corresponds with national initiatives led by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), Health Education England (HEE) and others to increase and develop research engagement and allow clinicians opportunities to bring their expertise and questioning minds to the research table and contribute to enhanced patient care and outcomes. Many of the activities and resources offered by CATO are only available to people working within the Imperial College AHSC. (more…)
The GP Teaching team are currently well underway with preparations for one of the highlights of the medical education calendar, the Society for Academic Primary Care’s annual Madingley Hall conference in Cambridge. This year the GP teaching team are very proud to be organising and hosting this conference.
Taking place on 26-27 January 2017, the conference brings together brings together some of the best and brightest minds in medical education and research for a varied and stimulating programme. Our programme includes workshops, prizes and speeches from Harvard’s esteemed Professor David Hirsh, and President of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health Professor Neena Modi.
Our theme for Madingley 2017 is “Primary Care at the Coalface: Mining for Diamonds” – creating shining examples of Primary Care clinicians and academics from the pressures of the NHS and government cutbacks.
On 16 November 2016 the GP Teaching Team are organising a celebration of medical education around the theme “Tomorrow’s World: Educating Scientists, Doctors and Leaders of the future” in conjunction with the Faculty of Medicine. This annual event brings together faculty staff, clinicians and researchers for an exciting afternoon of innovative workshops, inspirational speeches, and of course the much-loved NHS Teachers Awards.
This year, we are very proud to welcome Visiting Professor of Surgical Education at the University of Oxford Richard Canter to give the keynote speech on the subject of leadership, and are looking forward to an afternoon panel debate on medical student selection.
Our workshop programme this year focuses on some of the current and future developments in medical education being spearheaded by Imperial College, including the use of Virtual Reality and Digital Learning and longitudinal integrated apprenticeships as seen in our pilot ICA course which launched this year.
Preety Das is a Specialist Trainee in General Practice in the Department of Primary Care & Public Health. She joined the King’s Fund as part of an innovative training post at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Integrated care initiatives in England and elsewhere have paid insufficient attention to the relationship between physical and mental health. Our report draws on a review of published research evidence, qualitative interviews and focus groups with service users and carers, and case studies of 10 services in England. We conclude by arguing that overcoming the longstanding barriers to integration of mental and physical health should be a central component of efforts to develop new models of care that bring together resources from across local health systems.
The case for seeking to support physical and mental health in a more integrated way is compelling, and is based on four related challenges: 1) high rates of mental health conditions among people with long-term physical health problems, 2) poor management of ‘medically unexplained symptoms’, which lack an identifiable organic cause, 3) reduced life expectancy among people with the most severe forms of mental illness, largely attributable to poor physical health and 4) limited support for the wider psychological aspects of physical health and illness. Collectively, these issues increase the cost of providing services, perpetuate inequalities in health outcomes, and mean that care is less effective than it could be. The first two issues alone cost the NHS in England more than £11 billion annually.
Examples of innovative service models described in the report demonstrate that there are opportunities to redesign care in ways that could improve outcomes and may also be highly cost effective. These include various forms of enhanced support in primary care, integrated community or neighbourhood teams, comprehensive liaison mental health services, physical health liaison within mental health services, and integrated perinatal mental health care.
All health and care professionals have a part to play in delivering closer integration. Our research with service users and carers highlights the importance of professionals being willing and able to take a ‘whole person’ perspective, and having the necessary skills to do so. Integrated service models can support this by facilitating skills transfer and shifting notions of who is responsible for what. Equally, a great deal of improvement is possible within existing service structures. New approaches to training and development are needed to create a workforce able to support integration of mental and physical health. This has significant implications for professional education; all educational curricula need to have a sufficient common foundation in both physical and mental health.
My involvement in this project provided a unique opportunity to relate everyday clinical practice to the range of barriers that have prevented wider adoption of integrated approaches. These include: separate budgets and payment systems for physical and mental health; the challenge of measuring outcomes and demonstrating value; and cultural barriers between organisations or groups of professionals. The report describes several enabling factors and practical lessons, including the value of having a board-level champion for physical health in mental health trusts, and vice versa. New payment systems and contracting approaches offer commissioners various options for overcoming some of the financial barriers.
In recent years there has been a welcome focus in national policy on achieving ‘parity of esteem’ for mental health. Colloquially, this phrase has often been interpreted to mean that mental health services should be ‘as good as’ services for physical health. We argue that there is a greater prize beyond this, in which mental health care is not only ‘as good as’ but is delivered ‘as part of ’ an integrated approach to health.
Preety Das Specialist Trainee in General Practice Department of Primary Care & Public Health
Patient Safety Global Action Summit 2016.
During Patient Safety Week, experts from NIHR Imperial PSTRC teamed up with the UK government to create a global movement to transform patient safety.
The Global eHealth Unit at the School of Public Health is introducing a range of new training programmes in data science and eHealth for healthcare professionals expected to start in March 2016.
The Unit plans on delivering five new continuing professional development courses in 2016 as part of an ongoing partnership with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Digital).
After organising two successful pilot courses and six student cohorts in 2015, the Global eHealth Unit is responding to the growing demand for data science and eHealth training by expanding on the initial courses and introducing new and advanced topics such as:
· Exploring and generating data visualisation methods for healthcare data analysis
· Practical implications of Information Governance policies
· The potential for eHelath and mHealth to improve the quality of healthcare systems
· Governance and management of eHelath and mHealth initiatives in healthcare organisations.
· Improving education in health care through eLearning
Each of the five new courses will be delivered via blended learning which will include five weeks of online training and two days of face-to-face interactive workshop style training in London.
The face-to-face training will present students with an opportunity to explore the course concepts in depth, and consolidate learning.
Professor Azeem Majeed, Head of the Department of Primary Care & Public Health said: “We are very pleased to continue spearheading this initiative with our partners from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. After training over 60 students in our pilot courses last year, we are looking to continue to deliver training.”
Dr Josip Car, Director of the Global eHealth Unit added: “The healthcare sector is no exception to the growing demand for data scientists and IT professionals. With these courses we are looking to bridge the gap between these two fields in a unique and innovative way.”
See programme website – https://gehu.training/FoM for more information about the courses, faculty and teaching schedule.
Boris Serafimov Global eHealth Unit Department of Primary Care and Public Health
By the end of March 2016 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will be operating on digital patient health records and digital medications management using its Cerner IT system. This will be a big step towards the goal of paperless health records.
The approach has been piloted in gynaecology and elderly care at St Mary’s Hospital with good feedback from both staff and patients. It will now be rolled out site by site with St Mary’s complete by November, Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte’s by February, and Charing Cross and Western Eye by March 2016.
Experience from the pilots shows that classroom training is useful but people really learn a new IT system when they start using it in their working environment. Champions will have classroom training and other clinical staff will attend face-to-face demonstrations focusing on how the change will affect their work. They will then be supported at go-live by champions and floorwalkers.
For more information, contact Paul Harrison, Cerner Communications Manager.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network, which supports researchers and clinicians across Imperial College and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, have helped recruit the first global patient into a surgical study. The trial, which is being conducted by Mr Ahmed Ahmed, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Bariatric Surgery, will compare types of surgical stapler, to investigate whether a newer device will be more efficient and reduce complications for patients.
A study lead by Dr Sonia Saxena showed fewer complications and readmissions at specialist centres compared with District General hospitals for children having appendectomy: Annals of Surgery. Listen to Sonia talk about this research on the Imperial Podcast.
Liz Koshy has published a paper in BMJ open showing that tonsillectomy operations for children who have not had recurrent throat infections provide very little benefit: BMJ Open
We published a paper in that showed a halving in 5 year perianal surgery rates among patients with Crohns Disease who had sustained treatment (over 18 months) with immunosuppressant drugs: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
The links between the WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training at Imperial College London and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Iraq have been growing strong for some time. The connection has now been sealed with the Face-to-face meeting on Tuesday 2o January 2015. Representatives of the WHO Collaborating Centre (Director: Professor Salman Rawaf, Dr Sondus Hassounah and Ms Ela Augustyniak) had a privilege to meet Minister of Higher Education and Research, Iraq, His Excellency Professor Hussein Al-Shahristani in person over lunch at South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, 58 Prince’s Gardens. His Excellency was accompanied by the Iraqi Cultural Attache Professor Musa Almosawe.
Professor Al-Shahristani is a graduate from Imperial College London Chemical Engineering, and we are delighted that the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Professor Andrew Livingston joined the group alongside Mrs Clare Turner, representative of the International Office at Imperial College London.
It is not surprising that the discussion had a reminiscing part where HE concluded building of the Chemical Engineering Department was very much as he remembered it from 50 years ago, but obviously familiar faces are missing. Education remained at the core of the conversation; and although the development of the technologies seem to imply the inevitable turn towards online education sessions more and more, the party reached an agreement on the irreplaceability of the face-to-face interaction and its unquestionable value in the education process. “It is not the equations and theories we remember from our studies, it is the people and personalities and their impact”, was the commonly agreed conclusion. His Excellency is very keen to strengthen the links with WHO Collaborating Centre in supporting the development and strengthening Iraqi universities and in particular the new Medical University under development in Baghdad. He welcomed the training of many Iraqi academia over the last few years and he emphasised the importance of the continuation of such collaborative work between Iraq and I-C-L.
Dr Al-Shahristani was accopmapnied by Dr Mosa Almosawie, the Cultural Attaché: a well know academic and the immediate past president of University of Baghdad, the largest university in Iraq.
The 7th Advanced Academic Training Course for Medical and Health Professional
Imperial College London, through its WHO Collaborating Centre for Education and Training, ran its 7th Advanced Academic Training Course from 24 November until 19 December 2014. The course was established in 2011, following the collaboration between the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Research and Imperial College London. The aim of the Advanced Academic Training Course is to introduce the new methods of teaching and research to medical and health professionals who work in academia worldwide.
The course covers various aspects of skills-development disciplines, including communication skills, students’ assessment, Masters and PhDs examinations and small-group learning. Modern teaching and research skills development is achieved through interactive learning and hands-on experience through highly advanced skill labs, attending undergraduate students’ clinical teachings in primary care, community and hospital settings.
WHO CC at the RESCAP-MED 2nd Regional Symposium on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) – Beirut, Lebanon (3 -4 Dec 2014)
Our WHO CC volunteer for the period between July and September 2014, Dr Jara Valtueña (ImFine Research Group/ Department of Health and Human Performance-Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain), has been accepted to present a poster on the “Impact of the 2010 popular uprising: Ramification on morbidity, mortality and social determinants of health in four countries from the MENA region” at the RESCAP-MED 2nd Regional Symposium on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) entitled “Socio-political Challenges in the Mediterranean Region: Implications for NCD Prevention and Control” which took place in Beirut, Lebanon from the 3rd -4th December 2014 . This Symposium aims to bring together researchers and public health actors to present, document and debate prospects for action in NCD surveillance, management, control and prevention, within the context of recent geo-political developments in the region.
Her poster reflects the work she conducted with the research team at WHO CC, which she and the team are currently preparing for publication.
Dr Alex Chen, new PhD student, presenting at the UK parliament on unethical organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China. London, UK (25 Nov 2014)
On Tuesday, 25 November, Dr Julian Huppert MP hosted a forum in UK Parliament addressing unethical organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China and how this pertains to residents in the UK. Guest speakers included David Matas and Hon. David Kilgour who were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their investigative work on organ harvesting in China; award-winning research journalist, Ethan Gutmann, who’s book on this topic “The Slaughter” was published in September; and Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting EU representative, and our most recent PhD student, Dr. Alex Chen.
Dr Chen presented on unethical organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners, and discussed the global responses from the international community in terms of legislation and the far sounding-impact on organ transplantation around the world.
Medical and Health Research course
From 8 to 19 December 2014, the WHO Collaborating Centre hosted its first Health and Medical Research course for health professionals. For two weeks, 20 participants attended lectures by key researchers from the Department of Primary Care and Public Health on topics ranging from qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to setting international and national priorities for health and medical research. Participants were extremely pleased with the high quality of the course and the sessions and expressed their intention to implement what they have learnt in their own research institutes.
Update from WHO CC Fellows
In the last few months, WHO CC welcomed three new fellows: Dr Saad Al Saad, Dr Zahea Alnoumasi, and Dr Thamer AlOhali, all from Saudi Arabia. We trust their time with the Centre will be fruitful and satisfying , and will broaden their career perspectives fort he future.
One of the numerous impacts of the Ebola Crisis in West Africa is the damage that it has caused to already fragile agricultural economies. Restrictions on public gatherings and the closure of international borders have forced numerous agricultural markets to shut up shop. The impact that this has had on smallholder farmer livelihoods has been catastrophic.
However in light of the welcome news that the Ebola epidemic is slowing down, the Partnership for Child Development’s Samrat Singh looks at what innovative steps governments and their development partners can take to enable these shattered agricultural markets to bounce back from the Ebola crisis. Samrat’s article, written in collaboration with long time Defra adviser Helen Roberts, looks at how government-led programmes such as Home Grown School Feeding can provide stable markets for local smallholder farmers which can in turn support struggling agricultural economies.
The MEd Surgical Education Community would like to congratulate 2013 alumnus Mr Andrew Wainwright for winning the Robert Jones Gold Medal from the British Orthopaedic Association, after submitting an essay based on his MEd studies. Andrew, a consultant surgeon and Training Programme Director in Oxford, completed his MEd in Surgical Education with a Distinction and a dissertation entitled “A good pair of hands”. In the prize-winning essay he discussed the themes of competence, apprenticeship and craftsmanship in orthopaedic surgery today. By exploring the essence of what ‘having a good pair of hands’ means to surgeons, he proposed how this could improve the way that orthopaedic surgeons learn, teach, and assess surgical skills.
Susan Clark
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Adjunct Professor Department of Surgery & Cancer Faculty of Medicine
Student Challenges Competition 2014 – a chance for students to win up to £5k in funding towards their global health research project. Applications deadline: Midnight 28th November 2014.
Maternal care in Somaliland – IGHI welcomed special guest speaker, Edna Adan Ismail, who presented a seminar on the issues affecting maternal and child health in Somaliland, Africa.
Social networking can help people lose weight – social networking programmes designed to help people lose weight could play a role in the global fight against obesity, according to research. This was one of the ten articles featured in the September issue of Health Affairs.
A select group of people from across the NHS, healthcare and University sectors were invited to the inaugural Faculty of Medicine Health Policy and Engagement Event chaired and hosted by Professor Dermot Kelleher on 10th July. Professor Kelleher spoke in relation to the importance of these events to engage with our partners to discuss items of strategic importance and generate new and innovative ideas which aim to impact on healthcare.
Professor the Lord Darzi, Chair of the London Health Commission reporting directly to the Lord Mayor, presented on the latest thinking on the Commission which is examining how London’s health and healthcare can be improved for the benefit of the population. Following an extensive engagement process, Professor Darzi summarized the proposals received thematically as ; (1) Better health for everyone, (2) A better deal for London’s children, (3) better health through better care (4) enablers for better care, (5) Stronger health economy and research and (6) Leadership for better heath.
Professor Darzi commented on groups in London with different care needs which need to be addressed (physical, mental and social needs) and strongly believes that the London Health Commission presents a unique opportunity to bring together health, local government, NHS and commissioners for the benefit of the population. Examples of suggested initiatives likely to impact on the health of Londoners if introduced include improving access to primary care , rewarding active travel rather than relying on public transport and potentially designating parks as a smoke free zone.
Seminar attendees were given the opportunity to pose questions which were largely around interventions, the role of the media, accessing diagnostics in the community, different needs of adolescents compared to adults, the requirement to invest in the science of behavioural change and the importance of workforce planning.
Over 250 submissions were made as part of the Commission’s Call for Evidence process and a summary report of what was received has been published. Further information is available at www.londonhealthcommission.org.uk
It is intended to host a small number of health policy and engagement events throughout 2014/15 in conjunction with Imperial Global Health Institute (IGHI). Sir David Nicholson, ex CEO of NHS England will speak at the next event to take place in November 2014.
Fedelma McNamara Programme Director-External Partnerships in Faculty Centre Faculty of Medicine Centre
94% of 535 surveyed districts in Ethiopia are endemic for either schistosomiasis and/or soil-transmitted helminths (STH) – Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) which are commonly found in school-children. This was one finding of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute who supported by Imperial College London’s PCD and SCI recently mapped NTD prevalence alongside Water, Sanitation and Hygiene infrastructure using data collected from 125,000 school-aged children across 2,700 schools. To date, the mapping surveys have informed school-based deworming programmes against STH in Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara regions and integrated schistosomiasis and STH campaigns will commence in these and other regions later in the year. Eventually, these campaigns will extend to all areas where children are at risk. Click to read more
Home Grown School Feeding: Time for Donors to Deepen Engagement
A new policy paper, “Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF): Time for Donors to Deepen Engagement” from Imperial College London’s PCD finds that despite the widespread benefits of HGSF felt in low and middle income countries, donor support to the initiative is significantly lacking. The paper outlines that as substantial challenges remain in meeting the global development goals on hunger, education and poverty, focusing attention on HGSF and other such innovative approaches which link agriculture, health and education sectors is crucial. The HGSF initiative can be described as a “win-win” – ensuring that food for school meals is locally grown, so that smallholder farmers are given a fixed income, and at the same time well fed children are more likely to learn, attend school and develop into healthy adults. Click to read moreCharlotte BroydCommunications OfficerPartnership for Child Development
How culture shapes room for manoeuvre in hospital reform
Imperial’s Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) and the Centre for Global Health Research were delighted to host an evening lecture with Professor Pieter Degeling on how culture interacts in hospitals across the world. The event was chaired by Professor Debra Humphris, the Vice-Provost for Education at Imperial. Read more
The National Reporting & Learning System (NRLS) Patient Safety Summit
Patient safety experts gathered at the Royal Society of Arts in May at a summit hosted by IGHI’s Centre for Health Policy to hear about the progress of the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) Development Programme. The NRLS, which was set up in 2003, is a central database of patient safety incident reports and the aim of the summit was to establish a common understanding of the strengths and limitations of the NRLS and generate new and innovative ideas for the future of incident reporting in patient safety. Read more
Imperial Festival
IGHI exhibited at Imperial Festival 2014. From testing lung capacity in the Helix centre using balloons all the way through to testing members of the public for liver fluke with the Centre for Gut Health – IGHI had something for everyone. The Centre for Health Policy exhibited a thought tree which allowed members of the public to speak out about current global health challenges and what they thought should be done to overcome them. The Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery enjoyed the delight on children’s faces as they watched Neo the robot dance and they also enjoyed trying their hand at the penguin video game in order to find out about how the Centre’s EaR sensor works and what it is being used for.
Jo Seed Communications and Events Officer
Institute of Global Health Innovation
Innovative School Feeding Programme to Combat Extreme Poverty in Zanzibar
On 28 May the Government of Zanzibar launched a new innovative Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme in collaboration with Imperial College London’s PCD and programme donors Table for Two to feed over 5000 school children, whilst simultaneously supporting local smallholder farmers by sourcing their produce for the school meals.
“This programme is the first of its kind for Zanzibar and marks the Government’s awareness on the value of school meals for society as a whole” said PCD’s East Africa Senior Programme Manager, Iain Gardiner. He continued, “Not only will children be well fed in school but jobs will be created for farmers and other community members involved in the growing, processing and preparing of food for school meals.” Find out more
Nigeria’s Federal Ministries collaborate to extend HGSF
On 19 May 2014, PCD, Imperial College London with support from the Vitol Foundation convened a special high-level convening of federal ministers, state governors and international experts in Abuja to discuss how more of Nigeria’s school children and farmers can benefit from Home Grown School Feeding programmes.
PCD’s Executive Director, Dr Lesley Drake said “The meeting is an excellent example of high level inter-ministerial collaboration at the federal and state level to design sustainable school feeding programmes which will improve the lives of children and smallholder farmers across the country.” Find out more
Promoting the Home Grown in Home Grown School Feeding
PCD, Imperial College London alongside Dutch development organisation, SNV are working with Kenya’s Ministries of Agriculture and Education to increase the access of coastal smallholder farmers to local markets supplying school meals in Kenya’s Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme.
In the target counties of Kilifi and Lamu, PCD together with SNV have launched the intervention to address challenges of farmer produce being sourced from large distances within Kenya and even outside of the country in neighbouring Tanzania. To ensure producers in the counties are secured of a reliable income and livelihood, so the “Home Grown” in HGSF is maximised, the project aims to achieve a more localised supply chain – to, in effect, boost the link between smallholder farmers, traders and recipient schools. Find out more
Addressing Micronutrient Deficiency in Ghanaian Children
60 stakeholders from Ghana’s School Feeding Programme (GSFP) programme from national, regional, district and school levels across three regions of the country were recently trained on the use of Micronutrient Powders (MNPs) to combat micronutrient deficiencies found in school-aged children in the intervention areas.
The training, carried out by Ghana’s Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the GSFP and PCD, Imperial College London taught participants how to correctly apply and store the MNPs. The sessions which followed a “training of trainer’s” approach will see participants organise step down trainings for caterers and cooks in their consecutive districts so lessons learnt are widely disseminated. Find out more
Charlotte Broyd Website and Communications Assistant Partnership for Child Development
Dr Wendy Harrison, Chairperson of the UK Coalition against Neglected Tropical Diseases and Managing Director of SCI in the School of Public Health participated as a panelist at a side event at the World Health Assembly on 22nd May.
The theme of the meeting was “The Power of Integration: achieving the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases”, and in addition to Dr Harrison panelists included Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health, Nigeria; Dr Dirk Engels, Director, Dept of Control of NTDs, WHO ; Nichola Cadge, Health Adviser, DFID and Dr Ariel Pablos-Mendez, Assistant Administrator for Global Health, USAID.
Dr James Seddon, Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Medicine, co-presented a webinar entitled “Regimen Design and Dosing for Children with Drug-Resistant TB: A Case-Based Discussion” that was organized by the Sentinel Project for Paediatric Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, on Friday April 25 2014.