Public Health Disrupted

Hear first-hand from some of the UK’s leading coronavirus experts about what it’s been like tackling the virus, treating patients and advising the Government throughout the pandemic - and what we’ve learned along the way.

Hosted by UCL alumna, writer and broadcaster Vivienne Parry OBE, this event is your chance to put your questions to UCL’s researchers, including infectious disease specialists and advisors to the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Sign up here: https://bit.ly/CTWSlive 

This event will be recorded for the final episode of Coronavirus: The Whole Story, UCL’s podcast series that looks at the pandemic through the lens of the university’s multi-disciplinary research - from cutting-edge treatments and vaccines, to the impact of the lockdown on schools and our mental health.

Invitation to the LIVE finale panel event - Coronavirus: The Whole Story - 21 July 4PM

In this month’s episode of #MadeAtUCL we’re growing. Join us as we explore three unique perspectives on growth and how it can be both a positive and negative concept. We chat with Dr Michelle Heys and Dr Simbarashe Chimhuya and hear about their technical solution to newborn healthcare, with Dr Philip Pogge Von Strandmann about how we can reduce the growing levels of co2 in the atmosphere, and lastly with Dr Seb Coxon to learn how beards of medieval Germany can help us understand masculinity today.

Find out more and listen to the transcript here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/made-at-ucl/podcasts/s2-ep8-growth

Date of episode recording: 15/07/20
Duration: 36:27
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Cassandra Martin
Guests: Michelle Heys, Simbarashe Chimhuya, Philip Pogge Von Strandmann, Seb Coxon
Producer: Cerys Bradley

#MadeAtUCL Podcasts - Growth

This month we are exploring recovery. As Cassidy has been busy finishing her dissertation, join Cerys as they learn how to recover through stories about long Covid community led research, transformative technology in the NHS, and a memorial garden built by students in the Institute of Education.

With thanks to our guest speakers:

Dr Owain Rhys Hughes is the founder and CEO of Cinapsis. He has over 13 years of experience working as a doctor and he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Cinapsis SmartReferrals is an NHSX-approved platform that makes it easy for clinicians to communicate and share information to make smarter patient referrals. Currently used by 16 NHS Trusts across the UK, Cinapsis' secure platform gives GPs, paramedics, optometrists and NHS 111 operators immediate access to specialist advice, resulting in more efficient triage, faster decision-making and fewer unnecessary referrals.

Dr Athena Akrami 

Dr Athena Akrami joined the faculty at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL, in October 2018. She obtained her BA in Biomedical Engineering from Tehran Polytechnic (Amirkabir University of Technology) and her PhD in Computational Neuroscience from International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA, Trieste), with Alessandro Treves.  She was a postdoctoral fellow at SISSA where she worked with Mathew Diamond, and then at Princeton University where she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellow and worked with Carlos Brody on Parametric Working Memory. 

After contracting COVID-19 in March 2020, Athena developed long COVID and was integral in uniting long COVID sufferers and conducting research that has been key for the understanding and treatment of long covid symptoms.

Dr Susan McGrath 

Dr Susan McGrath is an Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Post-14 Education and Work at the Institute of Education.  Her research focus on young people’s decision-making shows how teachers, parents, schools and employers influence education and career choices.  In the wider UCL community, Susan is better known for her work as project lead of the IOE Gardens, including Sarah’s Garden and the Bar Terrace. The gardens make a significant contribution to the UCL Biodiversity Plan and, in keeping with the IOE’s global status, operate as an outdoor classroom with a distinctly international flavour.

For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/made-at-ucl/podcasts/s2-ep9-recovery

Date of episode recording: 15/08/20
Duration: 30:51
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Cassandra Martin
Guests: Owain Rhys Hughes, Athena Akrami, Susan McGrath 
Producer: Cerys Bradley

Our Names Engraved by Duck Lake

#MadeatUCLPodcasts - Recovery

This month's episode is about awareness and the activism it can lead to. Join us as we talk to three members of the UCL community who are making meaningful change to combat the problems they have been confronted by. Cassidy spoke with Hope Oloye, a PhD student whose programme Thinking Black is breaking down barriers to higher education, Virginie Le Masson, a geographer working with women across the world to understand the impacts of climate change through a feminist lens, and Emilia Molimpakis, a neuroscientist and entrepreneur who is revolutionising mental health care. 


For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/made-at-ucl/podcasts/s2-ep10-awareness-and-activism 

Music Credits: 

Basketliner by Bitters 
Sorry Linus by Limoncello  
The Onyx by Glass Obelisk

Date of episode recording: 15/09/20
Duration: 32:42
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Cassandra Martin
Guests: Hope Oloye, Virginie Le Masson, Emilia Molimpakis 
Producer: Cerys Bradley

#MadeAt UCL Podcasts - Awareness And Activism

Date: 26 October 2021
Speaker: Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at UCL Geography Department

About the UCL lunch hour lecture:
Climate change is the most critical and controversial issue facing the world in the twenty-first century. Everyone agrees we must keep global warming to under 2˚C, and under 1.5˚C if possible. But how can we do this while dealing with the other great challenges of our age: global poverty, population growth, environmental degradation and global security. COP26 in Glasgow is almost upon us and Prof. Maslin shows us how we can save our Planet from climate change while improving everyone’s lives.

This event is part of UCL’s climate campaign ‘Generation One’.  Together we are the new generation taking responsibility for climate action and turning science into actionable ideas. 
Join our new era of climate action at ucl.ac.uk/generation-one

How To Save Our Planet

We’re back for the second episode of Generation One: The Climate Podcast and this week we’re behind the scenes at COP26 in Glasgow.  

Our hosts Matt Winning and Mark Maslin recorded on the run, live from COP to catch guests in the hubbub of the main areas of the conference. Tune in to experience a slice of COP from a whole host of guests and hear them chat about everything from the wins at COP so far, melting ice caps, to sinking islands, to the amount of coffee at the conference... 

For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/podcast

To get involved and pledge your action visit: www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/generation-one 

We’ll see you next week as we discuss what happens after COP26.

Date of episode recording: 03/11/21
Duration: 27:33
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Helen Czerski, Matt Winning, Mark Maslin
Guests: Jhenelle Williams, Robbie Mallet, Angelica Johansson, Christoph McGlade, Jim Watson, Gary Faulds
Producer: Adam Batstone

Behind the scenes at COP26

This week we are talking COP26: what happened, what it means and where we go from here. Join our hosts Helen Czerski and Mark Maslin in conversation with Prof Kate Jones, Dr Priti Parikh and Ryan Phillip from the St Kitts and Nevis delegation, and they are discussing the COP agreement, what was missed, the big wins and the big misses.  

Helen and our guests cover the main takeaways from COP from deforestation to adaptation, loss and mitigation. We get into who was left out of COP, the impacts on the Small Island Alliance and the problem of western countries causing damage and expecting others to fix it.  

For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/podcast

To get involved and pledge your action visit: www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/generation-one

Date of episode recording: 10/11/21
Duration: 28:48
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Helen Czerski, Matt Winning, Mark Maslin
Guests: Prof Kate Jones, Dr Priti Parikh and Ryan Phillip
Producer: Adam Batstone

UCL Generation One

Post COP26: Where are we now?

Does the earth have to be a fashion victim? This week host Mark Maslin chats with Juliet Russell, Head of Sustainability at Stella McCartney and Max Bittner, CEO of Vestiaire Collective about all things fashion.  

 We’re discussing the fashion industry, from greenwashing to fast fashion and how you can shop more consciously. Join Juliet Russell and Max Bittner as they discuss the current problems in the industry and what needs to change.   

For more information on Generation One and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/podcast

Date of episode recording: 19/11/21
Duration: 29:40
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Helen Czerski, Matt Winning, Mark Maslin
Guests: Max Bittner, Juliet Russell
Producer: Adam Batstone

BCC Generaton One

Does the earth have to be a fashion victim?

Join hosts Doctor Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess for Season 3, Episode 4 of Public Health Disrupted with Prof Joyce Harper and Rachel Lankester.

“We’re more valuable to our communities post-menopause as leaders than as breeders.”

How does our society value menopausal women? The lack of public awareness around this natural phase in a women’s life has resulted in the menopause being associated with a lot of shame, and a whole bunch of negative misconceptions.
In this thought-provoking episode, Joyce Harper (Professor of Reproductive Science at the UCL Institute for Women’s Health) and Rachel Lankester (author of Magnificent Midlife) challenge the prevailing negative narrative surrounding the menopause by debunking common myths, and revealing the surprising beneficial rewards that await women post-menopause. Plus, what can we learn from the whales?

For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-of-public/change-demystifying-menopause

Date of episode recording: 2023-06-07
Duration: 00:40:00
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Xand van Tulleken; Rochelle Burgess
Guests: Joyce Harper; Rachel Lankester
Producer: Annabelle Buckland

Season 3 - The change-up, demystifying the menopause

Join hosts Doctor Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess for Season 3, Episode 5 of Public Health Disrupted with Dr Halima Begum Prof Delan Devakumar.

“It’s the indirect act of racism that is leading to poorer outcomes for racialised groups.”

How does racism impact people’s health? And how big is this problem?  

We're three years on from George Floyd's murder, which launched a wave of global protests under the banner never again. This, of course, has not been the case. We're also three years since the COVID pandemic began, which really highlighted the long-standing racial health inequalities in the UK and beyond.

In this month’s episode, Dr Halima Begum (CEO of ActionAid UK) and Delan Devakumar (Professor of Global Child Health) discuss the systemic challenges faced by people of colour, and the complex relationship between racism, health equity, and efforts for social justice.

For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/health-of-public/transcript-unravelling-health-disparities-racial-divide

Date of episode recording: 2023-06-21
Duration: 00:35:08
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Xand Van Tulleken; Rochelle Burgess
Guests: Dr Halima Begum; Prof Delan Devakumar
Producer: Annabelle Buckland

Season 3: Unravelling Health Disparities: The Racial Divide

NEW! Season 4

Join hosts Doctor Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess for Season 4, Episode 1 of Public Health Disrupted with Prof Helen Bedford and Doctor Ranj Singh.

"It's about building knowledge with communities and allowing people to ask questions without negative labelling."

Why are vaccination rates declining, and how can we rebuild trust? 

Vaccine rates are falling in the UK, and it's time we turn the tide. In this Public Health Disrupted episode, Xand and Rochelle dig into the reasons behind declining immunisation with child health experts Helen Bedford and Ranj Singh. From NHS changes to misinformation shared online, this episode uncovers key drivers of vaccine hesitancy, from misinformation proliferating online to barriers in accessing immunisation services. 

Together, our experts offer solutions like bringing vaccines to communities, improving communication by providing people with opportunities to ask questions, removing practical barriers, and increasing the perception of vaccinations as a social norm. Listen for an insightful take on improving vaccine uptake through empathy, facts and accessibility.

For more information and to access the transcript:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-of-public/transcript-injecting-innovation-creative-ways-boost-vaccination-rates

Season 4 - Injecting Innovation: Creative Ways to boost vaccination rates

UKCTOCS (UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening) is one of the largest screening trials in ovarian cancer. More than 200,000 women from England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in it, and it ran for almost two decades. Designing and running such a large and lengthy trial came with its own challenges. In this episode, Professor Usha Menon discusses the key challenges that UKCTOCS faced in its design, conduct an analysis, and how the team addressed them.

Further information is available on the UKCTOCS website at https://ukctocs.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/
Listen to the episode about the UKCTOCS trial results at https://bit.ly/48pK94J
For questions or feedback on the series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk
For more information and to access the transcript: https://bit.ly/45XRyWT
As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us. Please help us to improve the podcast in the future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g

Lessons from UKCTOCS, a large-scale trial in ovarian cancer screening

Join hosts Doctor Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess for Season 4, Episode 2 of Public Health Disrupted with Prof Maria Kett and Sarah Spencer.

"Is technology the magic bullet for humanitarian aid, or does it come with its own set of ethical dilemmas?"

In this episode, hosts Dr Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess delve into the complex world of humanitarian crises and the transformative role of technology in emergency responses.

With the expertise of Professor Maria Kett, an anthropologist with a rich background in disability-inclusive humanitarian aid, and Sarah Spencer, an AI technical consultant navigating the challenging intersection of AI, national security, and public policy, this episode explores the intricate relationship between technology and humanitarian action.

From AI’s potential for predicting and containing epidemics, to the potential pitfalls of humanitarian surveillance, our guests discuss how technology is reshaping the humanitarian landscape. They challenge us to consider the ethical implications of data security, consent, and the agency of vulnerable populations whose lives are increasingly datafied.

Read full show notes: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-of-public/ai-good-tech-and-ethics-humanitarian-crises
Access transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-of-public/transcript-ai-good-tech-and-ethics-humanitarian-crises

Season 4 - AI for Good: Tech and Ethics in Humanitarian Crises

Join hosts Doctor Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess for Season 4, Episode 3 of Public Health Disrupted. "It's not our children who are disordered, it's the environment in which we're expecting them to operate." In this month’s episode, our experts explore the pressing issue of children's mental health in the UK. With one in five young individuals facing probable mental health disorders, the urgency for effective support systems is undeniable. Joining the conversation are Kate Silverton, renowned broadcaster turned qualified child therapist, and Professor Nicola Walshe, a proponent of climate change and sustainability education. Together, they dissect the challenges faced by schools and parents in supporting children's mental health and the innovative ways to foster well-being through nature and the arts. 

Kate Silverton shares her insights on the variability of mental health support in schools and the critical need for standardised, professionally trained mental health professionals on-site. She emphasises the importance of understanding the neuroscience behind children's behaviour and offers a sneak peak of some of the practical, science-backed strategies found in her latest book, ‘There’s still no such thing as naughty: parenting for the primary years’. Professor Nicola Walshe discusses her work with the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education, highlighting the transformative power of combining arts with nature to improve children's mental and emotional well-being. She presents compelling evidence from the Eco-Capabilities project, illustrating how such practices not only benefit the students but also reinvigorate teachers' passion for their profession. This episode is an impassioned call to disrupt the status quo of public health and education systems, advocating for a holistic approach that prioritises emotional well-being and connection to nature as the foundation for learning and growth. 

Public Health Disrupted with Rochelle Burgess and Xand Van Tulleken is produced by Annabelle Buckland at Decibelle Creative / @decibelle_creative

For the transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-of-public/transcript-redefining-classroom-nurturing-mental-health-through-nature-and-arts

Date of episode recording: 2024-02-19T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:40:00
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Xand van Tulleken; Rochelle Burgess
Guests: Kate Silverton; Nicola Walshe
Producer: Annabelle Buckland

Season 4 - Redefining the Classroom: Nurturing Mental Health Through Nature, Arts, and Understanding

Join us for the first episode of UCL’s new podcast, ‘Coronavirus: The Whole Story’ with Vivienne Parry. Each week, we’ll be looking at coronavirus through a different lens. This week we’re exploring what happens inside intensive care. With special guests Professor Hugh Montgomery, Director of the UCL Institute for Human Health and Performance and Mervyn Singer, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine. 

For more info and transcripts, visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-minds/podcasts/coronavirus

Date of episode recording: 18/03/2020
Duration: 29:37
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Vivienne Parry
Guests: Hugh Montgomery, Mervyn Singer
Producer: Cerys Bradley

Coronavirus: The Whole Story - What happens to you in intensive care?

Join hosts Xand and Rochelle for Episode 2 of Public Health Disrupted, the brand new podcast from UCL Health of the Public.

In this month’s episode, we speak to award-winning comedian and author Laura Lexx and London-based Scottish comedian and UCL academic Dr Matt Winning, to explore how comedy and humour can be used to improve health for all.

Laughter is good for your health - a good laugh can reduce stress. It can also be used as a tool to reduce the stigma of people discussing issues or raise the profile of topics to improve the health of the public.

In this episode, Laura and Matt discuss their personal experiences of using comedy to address serious topics including mental health, infertility and climate change in their stand-up shows. Both comedians have created a space in the world of comedy to talk about public health issues, but what about the other way around? Is there space for comedy in public health?

If there’s a question you’d like our hosts or guests to answer, please email us at healthofpublic@ucl.ac.uk or tweet @UCLHealthPublic. 

New episodes will be made available monthly via the UCL Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast. Find the transcript and more information on the UCL Health of the Public website.

Stand-up for public health: how can comedy improve our health?

UCL (University College London) is consistently ranked among the world's top ten universities (QS World University Rankings 2010 - 2021). Our excellence extends across all academic disciplines, from one of the world's foremost centres for research and teaching in the biological sciences to world-renowned centres for architecture (UCL Bartlett), education (UCL IOE) and fine art (UCL Slade School).

UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 13,000 staff and 43,000 students from 150 different countries. Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL was the first university in England to welcome students of any religion and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men.

UCL Minds brings together UCL’s knowledge, insights, and ideas through events, activities, and digital content open to everyone. Find out what’s on UCL Minds: www.ucl.ac.uk/minds

Stand-up for public health: how can comedy improve our health?

UCL

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