Academic Public Health
The Academic Public Health Special Interest Group was established in 2022 to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and information about academic public health training and career development across the four nations of the UK. The priorities of the SIG are to support academic public health training, development and careers.
Specifically, the SIG aims to:
- Provide opportunities for networking and peer support (inclusive of current registrars, registrars OOP, consultants, and other public health professionals).
- Advocate for equal access to academic development opportunities during public health speciality training.
- Bring together academic public health professionals (including trainees) into a focal point, accessible to all, which can act as a vessel for dissemination of opportunities/events and knowledge exchange.
The SIG works with the FPH, particularly the Academic Research Committee (ARC) to:
- Support the work of the Academic Research Committee by broadening its reach and extending access to an audience that better reflects the diversity of the UK academic public health community.
- Build capacity for public health research in the UK.
- Bridge the gap between research and implementation in UK public health.
- Promote collaboration and sharing of experience/knowledge between institutions and professionals, thus reducing inequalities in training and academic opportunities across the UK
Chairs
The Academic Public Health Special Interest Group is chaired by Joanna McLaughlin, Cat Pinho-Gomes and Seb Walsh. We hold regular online events – please see the FPH events page for details. Please contact cat.pinho-gomes@kcl.ac.uk if you would like to join our meetings, or to present your work. Please note that in order to join any SIG you are required to be a member of the Faculty of Public Health.
Join the SIG
FPH members can join this SIG by logging into their FPH members’ portal account, selecting the ‘Committees/SIGs’ button and choosing the correct SIG. You will then be asked to provide a few details, following which your application will be automatically approved. Further details on FPH membership are available here.
Past webinars
This webinar consisted of two sessions and explored:
- How we make Public Health meaningful for future doctors and prepare the workforce? With Richard Pinder and team from Imperial College London.
- Development of a competency framework for the WHO Essential Public Health Functions’ With Jack Haywood and his colleague from the WHO.
This event was organised by the FPH Academic Public Health and Public Health Educators in Medical Schools SIGs and and took place on 12 April 2024 as part of series of learning webinars during Global Public Health Week.
The United Nations has recognised that mental distress is the challenge for humanity navigating our future of uncertain and complex times, not least climate change and widening inequalities. This webinar will share knowledge on understanding the mental health inequities associated with climate change and discuss the public health approaches that can be used to reduce them.
This webinar was organised by the FPH Public Mental Health, Academic Public Health, Sustainable Development, and Poverty SIGs and took place on 10 April 2024 as part of series of learning webinars during Global Public Health Week.
You can view the slides shared by Judi Kidger and Fiona Duncan (NIHR), Emma Lawrance (Climate Cares Centre) as well as the links shared in the chat throughout the webinar here.
Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) boost research capacity and capability within local government. They aim to embed a culture of always using evidence when making decisions. HDRCs use research findings to understand how decisions impact on health and health inequalities. They also carry out research where evidence isn’t already available to support interventions led by local government and their partners.
This webinar includes an introduction to the HDRCs by Dr Helen Walters, Consultant Advisor in the NIHR Public Health Research Programme.
This webinar, hosted by FPH's Academic Public Health SIG, took place on 19 September 2023 and focused on the use of healthcare data for public health research. Clara Fennessy, Senior Programme Manager at Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), explained HDR UK’s role and how to use their Innovation Gateway Portal to find the data you need for your research. And Dr Puja Myles, Director of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), explained what CPRD can offer and provided some reflections from her journey from public health specialty training, through academia, and to her role leading CPRD.
In this webinar, Dr Richard Pinder and Dr Ellie Hothersall reflected on their careers in public health education at undergraduate and postgraduate level. They discussed the challenges as well as the benefits associated with teaching public health in higher education institutions in comparison to traditional public health careers. Their perspectives and inspiring personal stories confirmed that it is possible to have a fulfilling career in academic public health without having an interest or engaging in research.
This webinar, with Professor Rona Campbell from the University of Bristol, covers:
- An overview of the current NIHR Public Health Research programme and infrastructure
- The history and development of the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR)
- How you can get involved
- A case study example from Dr Joanna McLaughlin
Join the SIG to be notified of upcoming webinars and to access recordings of previous webinars.
Dr Anika Knuppel, Senior Editor at the Lancet Public Health, explains what happens 'behind the curtains' at the Lancet Public Health after they receive a submission, what makes a good submission and what to avoid, and which are current trends in the types of paper typically submitted and published by the journal. This webinar, hosted by FPH's Academic Public Health SIG, took place on 23 February 2023.
In this webinar, Professor Isabel Oliver, Chief Scientific Advisor at UKHSA, gave a broad overview of the scientific and research activities carried out by UKHSA.
The meeting enabled colleagues to network and collaborate across academic and public health institutions and provided opportunities to get involved in research led by UKHSA.
