News

Researcher profile: Career and collaboration in context

Dr Helen Bould is an Associate Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Bristol, who uses epidemiology and experimental psychology - as well as more recently qualitative work - to improve our understanding of the causes of eating disorders, and thus to develop better prevention and treatment options. In 2014 Helen was awarded a Clinical Primer from Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, a scheme aimed at giving early career clinicians the opportunity to try research. We caught up with Helen ten years later to see how having this opportunity and support early-on impacted her career.
The Science of Happiness: maintaining student wellbeing in a time of crisis

Student wellbeing is of paramount concern to all academic institutions. Students are vulnerable to mental health problems – because of their age range, as well as the lifestyle changes associated with starting university. Here we share how the positive psychology ‘Science of Happiness’ course helped improve wellbeing for University of Bristol students, and explain the broader potential an online version of the course may have for improving mental wellbeing beyond the student body.
Global research partnerships to address global health challenges

There is a major need to understand the changing global health landscape due to the social and economic effects of globalisation. Many factors, including increases in migration, urbanisation, climate change and world-wide instability, call for an interdisciplinary approach to research and a need to develop international partnerships to tackle the many issues of human health that can only be addressed in a global context.
Adiposity in childhood affects the risk of breast cancer by changing breast tissue composition, study suggests

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. With rates continuing to rise, there is an urgent need to identify new modifiable breast cancer risk factors. New research led by the University of Bristol suggests that higher adiposity (the degree of fatty tissue in the body) in childhood leads to less dense breast tissue forming, which results in a reduced breast cancer risk. However, further research is needed to understand the mechanism of the overall protective effect of childhood adiposity to identify new targets for intervention and prevention.
Improving pre-award processes for equitable and transparent research assessment

The 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.