FACULTY AND RESEARCH UPDATE Faculty of Health & Life Sciences February 2016

Can dark chocolate show us the light?

2 Research News

Contents OxINAHR 3

Candarkchocolateshowusthelight 4

AFrenchConnectionandotherSymposia 5

StaffandAlumniNews 6

BoingUpdate 8

BioTuesdayandNewtonFund 9

CentresandConsultancyUpdate 10

PrestigiousQueen’sAnniversaryAward 11

EuropeanAcademyofNursingScience 12

ASPiHConference 14

NewsinBrief 15

ResearchAwardsandEvents 16

Welcome Welcome to the February 2016 edition of the Faculty and Research Update, which covers

the research stories, events and latest teaching and staff news from the Faculty of Health and

Life Sciences. This edition reflects on the activities of the Faculty over recent months and the

various projects which are continuing into 2016.

Several new research projects are also featured, including our lead story from the Department

of Sport and Health Sciences on investigating the benefits of dark chocolate in alleviating the

symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (page 4).

In other news, we hear from the manager of OxINAHR on the progress of this newly

established institute and the benefits this will bring to the Faculty (page 3). We also report in

our staff and alumni news (pages 6-7) on two recently awarded Santander scholarships and

a prestigious Queens Nurse Award.

Faculty events have been in full swing as of late; from student and staff symposia (page 5)

to the launch of the Bioinnovation hub here at Brookes (page 9). 2016 looks set to be busier

still, with the ‘125 Years of Nursing’ celebrations continuing and three Faculty Professorial

Lectures. For future Faculty events details see the full listings on page 16.

To keep future editions of this Update interesting and relevant we require a constant supply of

news stories, so please keep sending them to: fhls-news@brookes.ac.uk

You can also keep up-to-date with the latest HLS news on our web page:

www.hls.brookes.ac.uk/news

DavidEvans,

InterimAssociateDean,ResearchandKnowledgeExchange

Cover photo by Jules Clancy

February 2016 3

This growth includes a number of new nurse researcher and studentship appointments within the NHS trusts and Oxford Brookes University. New projects include those looking at pressure injury (Oxford Pressure Injury Project - OxPIP) and dementia care. We are also working with OxMINT, which is a team based at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, offering a training programme that includes internships to support nurses and allied health professionals with an interest in the muscular skeletal field.

We have a programme of visiting professors planned for 2016 which will include a series of workshops and seminars. These will build upon existing links but also help develop an international network of professionals to further the aims of the institute. This will be augmented by a research ambassador programme within the OUH and work to support a clearer clinical research career pathway.

The inaugural board meeting took place at the end of November 2015 with Professor Linda King (Pro Vice Chancellor, Research and Global Partnerships) as chair. Each of the partners within the institute is represented on the board with full details available on the governance pages of our website. The board will meet twice a year and will be supported by a strategic advisory committee, the

Following the creation of the Oxford Institute of Nursing and Allied Health Research (OxINAHR) in 2015 we have experienced a period of rapid growth, which is set to continue throughout 2016.

OxINAHR Oxford Institute of Nursing and Allied Health Research

membership of which will include staff and student representatives from each of the partners alongside those from the patient community. More information concerning this will be available shortly.

Tracy McAteer has been appointed as the institute manager to help the Director, Professor Debra Jackson, develop and build the institute as a centre of excellence in nursing and allied health research. OxINAHR now has a physical presence at both OBU and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), with Debra and Tracy spending time across the sites to build the institute and to ensure all members are supported irrespective of location. Assisting Debra and Tracy at the OUH are Sally Beer, Research Facilitator and Sue Robertson, Facilities and project manager.

The official launch of OxINAHR took place in January 2016 as part of the 125 Years of Nursing in Oxford celebrations.

More information about OxINAHR can be found at www.oxinahr.com , by following us on twitter - @oxinahr or by contacting Tracy McAteer: t.mcateer@brookes.ac.uk

TracyMcAteer

Dave Roberts

OxINAHR Research foci

Brookes Up Close at Brookes Live

Have you ever wondered what inspired the shape of the holes in the rusty structure surrounding the Terrace of the John Henry Brookes Building (JHBB)? Or looked closely at the design in the large glass windows in the Forum and pondered what the heck it is? Or thought that the glass panels on the side of the library have an intriguing pattern? What many people don’t appreciate is that these features were all based on microscopy images of lime, oak and pine respectively, provided by Chris Hawes and adapted by the architects to become part of the fabric of the JHBB.

As part of the Brookes Live event in November last year, we wanted to highlight how microscopy images have been used in the design of JHBB, and to share with the public the BMS staff and student enthusiasm for microscopy through ‘Brookes up close’.

We turned people’s mobile phones into microscopes using DIY stands (which you can make with some wood, small sheets of plastic, a few bolts, a lens from an old CD drive and some glue) – using these we can take surprisingly decent images of prepared slides. Cross-sections of a tadpole and a tooth proved firm favourites with visitors. We had some proper microscopes with us too; a light microscope with the slide of a piece of lime tree on it (the same slide that was used for the JHBB Terrace ‘weathered steel’ design) and another which can look at whole samples. We saw that salt and sugar look distinctly different close up, and that looking at your own fingers can be really quite fascinating.

We also had lots of 3D plastic models for people to handle, many of which were generated from work performed in the department. These models are a fantastic tool for explaining our research and attracted much attention.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out!

Sarah Irons

4 Research News

Can dark chocolate show us the light?

ProfessorHelenDawesandDrShellyCoe have received nearly £75,000 from the MS Society to assess whether pure hot chocolate can help to reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Movement Science Group (MSG) and the Functional Food Centre (FFC) have very similar research goals; to enable optimal well-being for individuals in both health and disease. However, collaboration between the two research groups has not taken place – until now.

The study will look specifically at whether a compound found in dark chocolate can help to reduce fatigue in people with MS; one of the most common symptoms of the condition. There is currently no cure for fatigue and one of the MS Society’s top ten priorities is to understand which treatments are effective for fatigue in those with MS. We currently have a very similar pilot trial ongoing which was funded by the University Central Research Fund and includes two of our undergraduate final year students (pictured above). In fact, a number of both BSc undergraduate and Masters students have also gathered pilot data on the dietary patterns in those with MS. The results from these studies will be key for helping to effectively plan this larger trial.

Dark cocoa containing 70-85% cocoa solids is well known for its high antioxidant and flavonoid content. Acute dark cocoa consumption has been shown to actively improve fatigue in those with

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and this was thought to be due to the flavonoid compounds. However, no studies to date have assessed the role of flavonoids or flavonoid-rich dark cocoa for improving fatigue in those with MS. Previous studies have been mostly observational cross-sectional studies with inconclusive results for determining the best nutritional interventions for symptom management in MS.

Patients, carers and clinicians agree that fatigue is a severely debilitating symptom and while there is no medication to treat fatigue, simple approaches such as diet can be used to reduce its severity. Dietary changes may be a simple, cost effective and safe therapy for improving symptoms experienced in people with MS, and thus for increasing quality of life. Dark chocolate is generally seen as a food that’s bad but it has good things in it – including flavonoids. We have consulted external experts for feedback about this project, including those at MS support groups and medics, who have responded very positively.

Two thirds of MS diagnoses occur in young adults between the ages of 20 and 40 who are at the peak of their career and family development. We are therefore recruiting those who are newly diagnosed with the disease, and predict the majority of patients to be under the age of 35 years. We will recruit patients from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, and also through advertisement at Thames Valley MS community venues, clinics and support groups (exercise groups, support meetings, MS Society branches). We have strong links with the MS doctors and nurses at hospital and also with the members of the MS support groups. An advertisement for the study will also be posted on the MS Society website.

Forty people with the relapsing form of MS will be given hot chocolate daily over six weeks – half will get a flavonoid –rich cocoa

drink and the others will get a cocoa drink with low levels of flavonoids.

DrEmmaGray, Head of Clinical Trials at the MS Society said: “We are really excited to fund this innovative work. More than 100,000 people are living with MS in the UK and many of them have to deal with the debilitating effects of fatigue on a daily basis.

We are delighted to be supporting this project as it is quirky and unusual, but ultimately based on robust scientific evidence. At the MS Society we want to explore creative ways of helping people with MS cope with their condition and we look forward to seeing the study progress.”

We will be looking at the impact of cocoa flavonoids on inflammation and the role that plays in fatigue. Those taking part in the study will fill in questionnaires about their fatigue levels, take part in walking tests and provide blood samples, so we can check for signs of inflammation and free radical damage. They will also wear accelerometers; watches that will monitor their activity levels.

We expect that this work will lead to the development of approaches for fatigue management that enable adequate nutritional advice for managing symptoms safely, thus having a huge impact on symptoms and quality of life in general for people with MS. Parameters such as dose, frequency and feasibility of cocoa consumption, are all areas that we will explore with this trial and we expect the results of this project to lead onto larger trials on the topic. The research will allow us to produce novel, high impact publications suitable for REF 2020 submission.

ShellyCoe

Investigating the benefits of chocolate on reducing the symptoms of multiple sclerosis

food

February 2016 5

A French ConnectionThe Université de Franche-Compé, Besançon, located in Eastern France, organised an ‘International Week’ at the end of last year for students on its two MSc Programmes; (i) Training, Management and Engineering and (ii) Adapted Physiology and Health. The conference was organised by Professor Laurent Mourot (Director of University Research for: Exercise Platform, Performance, Health, Innovation, EPSI) with the aim of totally immersing their students in the English language as they listened to current research topics. At the end of a presentation students were encouraged to debate and ask questions, but only use of the English language was permitted.

All presentations were given in English and speakers came from all across Europe including; Finland, ‘Post-exercise heart rate variability: a new approach to evaluation of exercise induced physiological training load’; Luxembourg, ‘Strategies to improve physiological responses and athletic performance in Paralympic sports’; Italy, ‘Exercise induced muscle damage and repeated bout effect’. There were also linked video presentations from researchers further afield in Alaska, ‘Self-Modelling and Feed-forward: From Learning to Walk, to Olympic Gold’ and Canada, ‘Vascular adaptations to exercise and training’. A presentation given by DrRogerRamsbottom, from Oxford Brookes’ Department of Sport and Health Sciences, was entitled: ‘Heart rate indices for human performance and health’.

It is hoped that the week will stimulate student interest, enhance the reputation of Université de Franche-Compé, and provide new collaborative ventures for research. Similarly it is hoped in the not too distant future MSc students from Besançon may have the opportunity to work and study at Oxford Brookes University.

RogerRamsbottom

Symposiumapplying Psychology and Neuroscience to Business

The recent Symposium was conceived by IndroneelChatterjee, Research Associate in cognitive neuroscience and PhD student in marketing at Oxford Brookes University. The pivotal objective was to bridge the interdisciplinary cleft between psychology and neuroscience on one side and business on the other. This was perceived as a defining opportunity to bring together the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences and the Faculty of Business, specifically, Psychology and Marketing.

Generously sponsored by the respective faculties, the event was jointly organised by Oxford Brookes University, the Psychology and Neuroscience Application Society (Psynapps) from the University of Oxford and the International Research Institute for Applied Neuroscience (IRIANS). With such support the symposium swiftly gained momentum and spread across social media.

The symposium, held on 8 of November, garnered keen support and interest from prospective speakers from across academia and industry, along with enthusiastic registrants including students, researchers, University academic staff and industrialists.

ProfessorJanineDermody, Professor in Marketing (OBU), opened the day focussing on advancing sustainable consumption. She was followed by Senior Lecturer in Psychology, DrSanjayKumar’s talk on the brain’s responses to food cues. The last talk in the first half was by Dr Bradley Vines, Director of Neuroscience, Europe at AC Nielsen, who discussed how neuroscience can be practically used to improve communication with consumers, which triggered heated discussions.

In the second half of the symposium, Professor Rhonda Hadi, Said Business School, University of Oxford (UO), spoke about consumer’s responses to sensory overload, and then Alejandro Montejo, a researcher at the Crossmodal lab (UO), gave a resourceful, personal and motivational account of the challenges and opportunities in psychological research meeting the industry. Before the final panel discussion, Phil Barden, M.D of Decode marketing gave a talk about leveraging decision science to increase marketing effectiveness.

The success of the event encouraged the organisers to start an annual symposium. The respective departments are now discussing the prospect of capitalising and consolidating upon the triumph of the symposium.

IndroneelChatterjee

AttheImpactConferenceon2October,theresearchstudentposterprizesincludedtwowinnersfromtheHealthandLifeSciencesFaculty:

1st prize: Jo Grogono, BMS,FacultyofHLS,

2nd prize: Sophie Edwards, SS,FacultyofHSS

3rd prize: Michael Mawhinney, AHPD,FacultyofHLS.

Congratulationstoallthreewinnerswhoreceivedtheirprizesontheday.

Speakers at the Besancon Conference. Roger pictured (second from right)

6 Research News

Staff and Alumni News

JoGrogono who is a research fellow within the Faculty has been awarded a Santander Research Scholarship. Jo has been working on investigating breathlessness in heart failure which affects over 450,000 patients within the UK. This is done by using Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET), which is used to assess the performance of the heart and lungs at rest and during exercise. Jo hopes to become a leading expert of CPET in heart failure patients as being able to conduct and interpret the test is essential to her research. There is an assumption that patients with advanced heart failure are unable to do enough exercise with CPET to generate meaningful data. However there is also an increasing view the CPET is being underused. Jo’s research will add to the current scientific knowledge of CPET in this population. She also hopes to test a new treatment (inhaled furosemide) in patients with significant breathlessness in heart failure. Having already attended a CPET course earlier this year as well as sessions at the John Radcliffe Hospital. Jo aims to use the money in order to become more competent at performing and interpreting the test. She will do this by attending the department of respiratory and critical care Physiology and Medicine at UCLA in California USA. This is the world leading centre of CPET testing and has an excellent faculty at the forefront of research and clinical expertise in this field. The centre is known for world leading research on CPET with the former director having

Research Fellows within the Faculty Awarded Santander Scholarships

written the first ever authoritative textbook on CPET. Training within this institute will provide the best possible practical and theoretical grounding in CPET as well as learn from the experts at the source. Overall this achievement will allow Jo to enhance her profile as a researcher by allowing her to gain excellent skills in CPET. These skills will be used directly used in her research she is performing at Brookes and will result in the research being published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. It provides many great opportunities for Jo as well as Oxford Brookes, allowing strong links with other institutions to be formed as well as productive research and teaching collaborations. Congratulations and best of luck to Jo on her research!

PatrickEsser who works as a research fellow within the Movement Science Group at the University has also been awarded a Santander Research Scholarship. Patrick joins Joanna Grogono also from the faculty in receiving a scholarship in order to aid important research. His study sets out to explore if disease specific gait parameters in those with and without Diabetes peripheral neuropathy can be used as a discriminative function. Within the last three decades, the prevalence of Diabetes among Chinese adults has increased from lower than 1% in 1980 to 11.6% in 2013. Diabetes has now reached epidemic proportions and of those who are diagnosed, 90% are said to be type 2 diabetic. The main problem associated with Diabetes is fatty deposits accumulating in the arteries which lead to an increased chance of suffering a stroke or even a partial or whole limb amputation. Patrick has been working with the Movement Science Group to develop

a cheap, accurate and objective methodology to assess gait via smartphone devices. This system is currently being used in large clinical cohort studies on National level for example at the University College London, Oxford University and Imperial College London. It is also being used at an international level within countries such as Jordan, Canada and China. Using this validated methodology will allow standard and spatial parameters of gait to be derived.

The funding will be used to aid Patrick to get to Shanghai Jiao-Tong University in order to deploy the research protocol and gather initial data. After deployment and data checks, the whole project will measure around 10,000 people’s gait. This exciting study will start in spring 2016 with an expected duration of 12 to 18 months. This study will have many positive effects on the research community as well as the wider community. It will result in a self-management clinical device, whereby several neurological conditions, including neuropathy can be monitored over time. This will empower patients to make their own lifestyle decisions and keep a closer eye on their physical condition in terms of mobility.

Congratulations and best of luck to Patrick on this study.

SophiaKhan

February 2016 7

Queen’s Nurse AwardAn academic at Oxford Brookes University has been awarded the title of Queen’s Nurse. JenniferKirman(pictured here, on the left, receiving her award) is currently the course leader for Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (health visiting and school nursing), District Nursing and Community Children’s Nursing. Awarded by the Queen’s Nursing Institute, the application to be a Queen’s Nurse is open to community nurses working in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It gives special recognition of commitment to the community nursing profession, along with providing a supportive network enabling regional meetings, access to a free development programme and bursaries. Jennifer Joinsa committed network of Queen’s Nurses at the Queen’s Nursing Institute, among which is colleague

RuthCastle (Senior Lecturer for the District Nurse Course) who joined the faculty this September.

Jennifer has been involved in many projects as part of her professional development. She rolled out the use of an electronic portfolio across the community nursing courses as well as across Oxford Brookes more widely. She also standardised values-based recruitment amongst the neighbouring/commissioning NHS Trusts which ensures a high calibre of students entering into the community nursing programmes. This success and hard work from Jennifer was noticed by colleagues and friends who encouraged her to apply for the award. Speaking about the award Jennifer has said “I am really excited about the opportunity of being collectively involved in raising the profile for community nursing. Joining a network of likeminded and creative nurse leaders is inspiring not only for my development but will be cascaded to the students, practitioners in the community and faculty of health and life sciences”.

This award is even more special for Jennifer as her own grandmother was a district nurse who also received the Queen’s Nurses Award from the Queen Mother in 1979 (pictured below).

Jennifer now looks forward to being involved in many more pioneering projects to shape community services and encourages her community and educator colleagues to read more about the QNI and apply.

You can read more about the QNI and how to apply here:www.qni.org.uk/for_nurses/queens_nurses

SophiaKhan

Jennifer’s grandmother, just seen, receiving award in 1979

Brookes uniform donations arrive in Malawi

Maaike Bruynooghe, a Brookes alumna, set up the Kunyumba day care centre in Malawi in 2008. We hear regularly from Maaike, who has since written to report that the latest midwifery uniform donations from Brookes, have now arrived at the centre.

In mid 2015 the container with the hospital uniforms donated by Oxford Brookes University safely arrived in Malawi. These student hospital uniforms are donated by Oxford Brookes annually. Dr Peter Maseko, the founder of the new Pothawira maternity unit, has expressed how invaluable these will be. In a country where over the half the population

live below the poverty line, such donations can make a great contribution.

About three hundred uniforms carefully washed, wrapped and packed by Mags Painton from OBU, were stored for many months in the UK until the departure date of the container in May 2015. The shipping took nearly three months and to finally collect the boxes in Salima was very exciting. A few days after picking up the boxes we managed to deliver the hospital uniforms to the Pothawira clinic. Mags

also arranged for the shipping costs to be covered, added some toys for the children and things for our organic fruit and vegetable garden.

I’m pictured above with the boxes arriving on the back of

the car in front of the Pothawira clinic. The maternity unit is the unfinished building on the left of the car. As you can see there is still a lot of work to do, but Dr. Maseko is very motivated and the work is in progress.

Dr. Maseko and his team are featured in the picture (bottom left). They were very appreciative of the donation and handing over the uniforms was a wonderful moment. We hope that further donations will be happening again in the future. Zikomo Kwambiri to all of you. Thank you for your help.

MaaikeBruynooghe

8 Research News

Delivering high quality Physical Education (PE) to three primary schools in Blackbird Leys, Oxford.

The Boing project is now in its twelfth month and has gone from strength to strength since agreeing a more formalised arrangement with the Boing social enterprise and Oxford Brookes University, Department of Sport and Health Sciences. It is delivering high quality Physical Education (PE) to three primary schools in Blackbird Leys, Oxford. Using PE and School Sport Premium to train the teachers of those schools, we hope to have a lasting legacy for the community as a whole, through physical education. Moreover, Boing is in exciting discussions with potential national partners to explore how the Boing model of physical education can be implemented in primary schools across the country.

The continued partnership between Oxford Brookes and Boing is proving fruitful. The second generation of Boing coaches (students from the Sport, Coaching and Physical Education Undergraduate degree who are on placement or volunteering at Boing) are assisting and leading the delivery of PE. This model is establishing itself as a leading light, providing students with the added value that so many students benefit from, affording them the chance to develop their theoretical concepts into the real-world context of primary school physical education.

Boing As well as a training and delivery project, the Brookes-Boing partnership is also developing a research programme into physical literacy and physical education. The research programme is being developed with staff at Brookes and is focusing on evidencing the impact of primary school PE (based on play and problem solving) and its impact on children’s physical literacy, school attainment and physical activity levels. Initial pilot research reports a very positive start.

As part of the team, the Department of Sport and Health Sciences at Oxford Brookes University have taken on two MSc by Research students whose research will be using Boing schools as their research sites. This is the first time that we have been able to offer graduates at Oxford Brookes (both prize winning students from the last 3 years) an opportunity to further their studies in the fields of Sport, Coaching and Physical Education. Thanks especially go to HelenLightowler and HelenDawes for supporting this development.

ThemarketingteamintheFacultyofHealthandLifeSciencesiscurrentlymakingtwovideosaboutBoing:

•Boing:LearningthroughPlay

•Boing:Howitworks.

One will showcase Boing and the other will explain the research and development work behind it. We are also planning a Boing day in the summer for the schools we are involved in. This will be a festival celebrating Boing and the children, which the whole community can get involved in. We are intending for Boing to grow its school base from three to five schools next year, which will give more children in Oxfordshire a chance to access high quality PE, and mean that more Sport, Coaching

and Physical Education Undergraduate students at Oxford Brookes can have the opportunity to develop their teaching and coaching practice in this exciting environment.

WillRoberts

We already have qualitative data emerging which suggests Boing is having profound effects on the children that take part:

“At the end of Boing I feel like congratulating myself for actually joining in with my class”.

“I have learnt that I can trust people. When I am at Boing I feel energised” .

“Boing has helped me realise that exercise is not bad”.

Boing pa t ron

Patronage from Sarah Winckless

Boing has gained patronage from Olympic rowing medalist and former British Olympic Association Athletes Commission Chair SarahWinckless (pictured). Sarah has agreed to be the Boing patron and support its work in Blackbird Leys and is proving to be a key part in the discussions regarding developing the model into a more scalable and accessible programme nationally. WillRoberts (Subject Coordinator, Sport, Coaching and PE) has also been elected to the International Physical Literacy Association (IPLA) as a voting member, with SeanLonghurst (Boing) and DannyNewcombe (Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes) joining him on the steering group for research at IPLA thanks largely to the work that the team has been doing in terms of Boing and better understanding Physical Literacy.

WillRoberts

February 2016 9

BioTuesday On Tuesday 15 September, as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations, Oxford Brookes hosted a ‘BioTuesday’ event in collaboration with the Oxfordshire Bioscience Network (OBN).

OBN formed at Oxford Brookes as a spin out in 2008 and is now a thriving company, supporting and bringing together the UK’s emerging life sciences companies, corporate partners and investors. The evening was also an occasion to celebrate the soon-to-be completed Bioinnovation Hub facilities at Brookes which are underway in the Tonge building.

The event had an excellent turnout from Brookes HLS staff and students. We also welcomed a wide range of professionals working in local bioscience industry. For many, this was the first time they had visited the new John Henry Brookes Building, which marks Brookes’ ambition to play a leading role in creating the skilled workers of the future, for companies such as those within the life sciences cluster and beyond. OBN support staff were also on hand to attend and support our team in organising the occasion.

The first half of the event involved a series of talks documenting various Brookes success stories; from multi-million pound licensing deals, spin-outs, graduate entrepreneurs, investors and of course OBN. The event opened with a welcome from Professor Linda King, PVC in Research and Knowledge Transfer at Oxford Brookes. This was followed by a series of talks and a panel debate, all hosted by Matthew Frohn, Partner at Longwall Ventures and a Brookes Bioscience alumnus.

Mainspeakersandpanellistsincluded: ProfessorNigelGroome, Emeritus Professor, OBU;

ProfessorRobertPossee, Founding Director, Oxford Expression Technologies;

DrJonRees, Founding CEO, OBN;

DrVictorMBolanos-Garcia, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Biochemistry, OBU.

Thekeytopicsdiscussedincluded:• Brookes’ plans to support young SMEs,

• How the University partners with SMEs,

• The history of Brookes Life Sciences commercial success, and its core ambition to provide the “next generation” of scientists and technically qualified staff.

The second half of the event involved a bustling networking session in the Abercrombie Atrium, where all attendees took the opportunity to network and further discuss the various topics raised during the panel session. We have had some excellent feedback on the event, which looks set to be the first occasion of many, as the Brookes Bioinnovation Hub continues to grow and link with the biosciences sector.

MillyFarrell

From left: Jon Rees, Linda King, Nigel Groome, Victor Bolanos Garcia, Robert Possee and Matthew Frohn

UK-Brazil Neglected Infectious Diseases PartnershipThe Medical Research Council (MRC) invited applications to the UK-Brazil Neglected Infectious Diseases Partnership Call as part of the Newton Fund. This initiative would provide funding for collaborative research projects, focused on neglected infectious diseases in Brazil. The funders were specifically looking for proposals that targeted biomedical, social and/or economic research studies in neglected infectious diseases that place a significant burden upon the poorest and most vulnerable in Brazilian society.

A grant worth £324K, split between Oxford Brookes, Oxford University and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro was awarded to DrSueVaughan for collaboration working on two closely related Neglected Tropical Disease

parasites Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei. The collaborative project was designed to share expertise on Microscopy and develop molecular biology tools whilst asking specific structure/function questions on the role of the flagellar pocket in pathogenicity. Dr Sue Vaughan is the Principle Investigator on the project and will coordinate researcher visits between the UK and Brazil over a 3 year period and organise a mini-symposium which will bring together all research groups and other international researchers in 2017.

SueVaughan

3D microscopy of Trypanosoma brucei by Dr Louise Hughes and Dr Sue Vaughan

10 Research News

Programming and piloting the Alcohol Smart Quiz: A small grant project In June 2014 I was delighted to be awarded my first post-PhD grant from Alcohol Research UK. This small grant was awarded to build and test the acceptability of a digital intervention to reduce alcohol misuse in adolescents aged 11-14, which I had developed during my doctoral studies. The Alcohol Smart Quiz (ASQ) is based on a psychological theory that acknowledges the social, and often unplanned, nature of adolescent drinking, and the importance of social comparison with peers at this age. The intervention aims to target the social perceptions of drinkers, and provide skills for dealing with pressure to drink, and the consequences of drinking.

The grant was awarded to provide time for me to programme the intervention using some open source software, called LifeGuide, which was developed by health psychologists and computer scientists at The University of Southampton. Although I had no prior experience of programming,

Centres and Consultancy Update

I was able to learn the basics and build a working model of the ASQ. I then interviewed 17 adolescents aged 11-14 and nine teachers in order to identify factors that might influence the feasibility and acceptability of using this tool in a school setting. I was able to gain some valuable insights from the participants in this project, which have now been incorporated into the ASQ. I now plan to apply for a larger grant to run a pilot trial of the intervention to test its potential effectiveness.

I have disseminated the findings of this project at two conferences; the British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Conference in London in September 2015, and the European

Society for Prevention Research in Ljubljana in October 2015. My final report and an ‘Alcohol Insight’ have been published on Alcohol Research UK’s website, and I have submitted two journal papers reporting the findings, one is under review and one is currently under revision. The process of applying for and running this small grant project has been incredibly valuable experience, which will enable me to write successful applications for larger grants in the future.

Emma Louise Davies

Relevantpublicationstothiswork

Davies, E. L. (under review). Acceptability and feasibility of The Alcohol Smart Quiz: A digital intervention based on the Prototype Willingness Model.

Davies, E. L. (under revision). ‘The monster of the month’: Teachers’ views about alcohol within personal, social and health education (PSHE) in schools.

Davies, E.L. (2015), ‘A think aloud study to explore the feasibility and acceptability of a digital intervention for the prevention of alcohol related harm in adolescents’, London: Alcohol Research UK. Available at http://alcoholresearchuk.org/alcohol-insights/a-think-aloud-study-to-explore-the-feasibility-and-acceptability-of-a-digital-intervention-for-the-prevention-of-alcohol-related-harm-in-adolescents/

Functional Food CentreFor the second year running, the Functional Food Centre (FFC) exhibited at “Food Matters Live” at London’s ExCeL arena in November. This three-day event brings together professionals from across the food, health and nutrition sectors to address the relationship between food, health, nutrition and the connections with the environment, population health and wellbeing. Over 10,000 visitors (including staff and students from Oxford Brookes University) attended the event to hear about the latest research in the conference and seminar sessions and to see the vibrant exhibition showcasing new food concepts and product reformulations.

The FFC was one of over 400 organisations exhibiting at the event. Our stand was in the Research Pavilion alongside other UK Universities and research institutions. Throughout the three days, we had a constant stream of visitors, including

prospective clients enquiring about our services, and prospective students enquiring about our UG and PG nutrition courses and research degrees. We made some good contacts and are already seeing the benefit of attending the event with meetings set up in the new year to

foster links and discuss potential collaborations.

The FFC team did a great job manning the stand and showcasing the research we undertake and the range of commercial services that we provide – a big thank you to everyone who helped and made this a successful event for us once again.

We are looking forward to going back next year!

Helen Lightowler

Shelly Coe and Georgios Saltaouras

Centre for Environment Ecology and ConservationOn 9 October 2015 Dr Stewart Thompson with CEEC welcomed Professor Simon Seno, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Maasai Mara University (MMU), as part of a visit to the UK organised by the Kenya High Commission.

MMU is a relatively new University established in 2009. The University offers a range of programmes covering areas including wildlife conservation and conservation related tourism at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Professor Seno met with Dr Stewart Thompson, Prof. David Evans, Dr Helen Packer, Dr Simon Dowell and James Watkins to discuss the potential for collaborative activities. Many of MMU’s activities have close links with Stewart’s work within the conservancies of the region and it is hoped that future wildlife conservation activities may develop from this visit.

James Watkins

Senior Faculty representatives Prof. David Evans and Dr Helen Packer presented with traditional Masai gifts by Prof. Seno

February 2016 11

Update from the Environmental Information Exchange: Energy Guide to Warm Village Halls

EiE have had a new guide published to support energy reduction in community buildings.

Written by EiE staff Moira Dorey and Michael Esvelt, the 33 page guide covers a wide range of energy issues including assessment checks of how well a building performs on energy, and low and no costs actions under topics such as insulating, heating, lighting, and renewable energy. There are also a range of case studies based on the over 120 community buildings EiE have advised in the last four years.

“The guide makes use of some impressive improvements we have supported in halls and other buildings that not only reduce energy bills but help communities take positive sustainability steps.” says Moira Dorey, EiEs Project Manager for community buildings.

Published with support from the Patsy Wood Trust and Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment, the energy guide is part of a wider programme of support for community buildings to help reduce wasted energy and costs. The guide is available on-line at: www.trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/assets/enrich.pdf

EiE will be promoting the guide throughout 2016 both in Oxfordshire and other parts of the UK as part of our community energy support plan.

Michael Esvelt

The Beautyof ScienceArt students visit Brookes’ Bioimaging Unit

In November 2015 Professor Rob Kesseler brought postgraduate students from the University of the Arts, London (UAL) to the Oxford Brookes Bioimaging Unit (OBBU). Rob is a professor of Ceramic Art and Design who has over the years created multiple art pieces inspired by plant material and the natural world. Rob has worked with Professor Chris Hawes in the past and recently collaborated with Chris and Dr Louise Hughes in the ‘Zoom’ microscopy exhibition held in the Glass Tank Gallery last September.

Louise Hughes, who manages OBBU, and Jake Richardson, OBBU’s microscopy technician, ran the two-day workshops on two different weeks. The aim was to provide access to instrumentation that art students would not normally have, and see how the event inspired their own work. OBBU is primarily used for research and teaching ‘the’ science students within our department and faculty, however, the unit is also used for select outreach events.

Outreach projects held by OBBU are usually targeted for school visits, with groups of biology A-level students or students with strong science backgrounds spending a

couple of hours learning about microscopy. It was unique for the lab to host students who do not have a significant scientific background. This added an interesting element to microscope training and challenged not only the students but the instructors as well. It also helped improve our delivery of scientific material for the future.

The artists raised great questions and were intensely focused on learning everything shown to them.

Rob reflected on their time at OBBU and said “For art and design students to get access to the complex knowledge systems and advanced technologies of science that lie beyond their own discipline is a rare privilege. For the UAL students who spent two days on an intensive introduction to contemporary microscopy techniques in the bio imaging labs at Oxford Brookes, it was an inspiring experience that provided them with new insights into the world around us. From the fibres of the paper they draw on to the graphite in their pencils, the microscopes revealed a whole new world of structures and surfaces for them to take back to inform their approaches

to developing their work. The worlds of Science and Art are moving closer together again and hopefully this was one of many such future exchanges.”

For all involved with the project it was clear to see the excitable energy that artists and scientists have when working closely to create images that accurately portray research and inspire further work in the field.

The artists came to grips with the controls of the scanning electron microscope and dissecting light microscope quickly; soon after their artistic side started to come through. Imaging using very high contrast and low brightness (techniques rarely used in science) resulted in striking and otherworldly images.

Overall the OBBU believes the sessions were a great success and looks forward to seeing the art that was inspired from the visit. As for the future, this event will ultimately continue and spur on new outreach projects becoming part of the already impressive history of collaborations with Rob.

Jake Richardson

Graphite from a student’s pencil magnified 400 times. The complexity of layers were of a great interest.

Students looking at a piece of make-up sponge. The most common objects have the best surprises in terms of morphology when viewed in the microscopes.

Students taking images of their prepared samples being docked in the stage of the SEM.

12 Research News

Prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize In November 2015, Abingdon and Witney College was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its unique training programme in the equine industry, combined with commercial breeding of thoroughbreds.

The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes are awarded every two years to universities and colleges who submit work judged to show excellence, innovation, impact and benefit for the institution itself and for people and society generally in the wider world.

In partnership with Oxford Brookes University, the College offers equine training, linked to employment, from entry level to honours degrees, and is the only provider in the UK to have a well-established and working thoroughbred stud. The provision has a strong reputation and is highly valued by prominent members of a very specialist industry. It is an exceptional example of how a partnership with employers can result in truly relevant and progressive education and training.

All the Equine courses utilise the onsite stud and all students develop their knowledge of stud practices. The College

has a small band of broodmares that each year are taken to stud to be covered by selected stallions. Students assist at the coverings, foaling’s, weaning process, sales preparation, as well as attending the sales at Tattersalls Newmarket, where they will parade the foals or yearlings in the sales ring. All degree level students on the Thoroughbred Management course have a placement year with highly respected employers, many of which are overseas (such as Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, the USA and Europe). Large and successful employers seek to have our students working with them because of the range and specialist skills they bring to their placement. The experiences that these students bring back to the college significantly aids the quality of their academic analysis and research, from which both the college and the University gain a benefit. Industry experts mentor the students by providing them with careers

advice through a mentor panel embedded within the students’ virtual learning environment, thus enabling the students to forge very successful careers and to become integral in shaping the Equine Industry.

The Prize Medals will be awarded at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February 2016.

Renáta Novák

On 5 November 2015 Professor Mary Boulton hosted a funding seminar on the HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) Programme for Non-medical Healthcare Professions. The event was open to nurses, midwives, AHPs and clinical scientists in NHS Trusts and Universities in the Thames Valley and the seminar room was full to capacity with our external guests. The event included an overview of the award scheme by Dr Beth Harris, NIHR Senior Programme Manager.

Beth explained that the new ICA Programme is funded by Health Education England and designed to allow research careers to be developed whilst maintaining clinical practice.

HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme Seminar

We also heard about pitfalls and top tips, challenges and rewards, from current Clinical Doctoral Research Fellows (nurses: Sarah Bailey and Gilly Howard-

Jones, and healthcare scientist: Daniel McGowan) and a Clinical Lecturer (Dr Sue Green).

Jennie Cripps

L-R: Beth Harris, Mary Boulton, Daniel McGowan,Gilly Howard-Jones, Sarah Bailey and Sue Green

February 2016 13

European Academy of Nursing Science Catherine Lowenhoff, PhD student of Professor Jane Appleton, was delighted to have the opportunity to attend the European Academy of Nursing Science (EANS) summer school in Barcelona in 2015. The purpose of the Academy is to be the scientific community in Europe providing inspiration, collaboration and academic leadership in nursing.

Every year a cohort of nurses who are in their first year of their PhD are randomly selected from countries all over Europe to attend summer schools in the following three consecutive years. The purpose of the summer school is to provide to an opportunity for nurses to learn from eminent nursing scholars about aspects of research relevant to the stage of their PhD. The summer school in 2015 involved spending two glorious, but very hot, weeks in Barcelona in the company of 34 other nurses from 15 different countries. Catherine was the only doctoral student from England, but there were two from Scotland and one from Northern Ireland. Next year’s summer school will involve spending one week in Halle in East Germany.

A comprehensive programme of lectures and workshops were organised by the

EANS committee, led by Professor David Richards from the University of Exeter. As well as lectures and workshops, each participant had to give a presentation about their PhD which was critically appraised by two professors. The students were also organised into multinational teams and had to prepare a presentation to compare and contrast Health Care Systems and the state of nursing in different countries. At the beginning of the second week, the second and third year students from previous cohorts arrived for their own series of lectures, workshops and presentations.

Apart from the lectures, workshops and homework, the national and local EANS committees provided tours of Barcelona, sight-seeing recommendations, a reception at the Town Hall and a dinner and awards ceremony in the grounds

of the stunning former Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. It was an amazing experience and an opportunity to learn about fascinating research being led by nurses across many specialisms and in many different countries. It definitely sows the seeds for collaborative opportunities in the future.

If you are a nurse in the first year of your PhD or know someone who is, have a look at the summer school web pages for more info: www.european-academy-of-nursing-science.com/activities/summer-schools/

If you want more information about this opportunity from me please get in touch: catherine.lowenhoff-2015@brookes.ac.uk

CatherineLowenhoff

of Nursing

In 2016, Oxford Brookes University will be celebrating 125 years of Nurse Education in Oxford with a series of special events. A full calendar of celebratory events, including a prestigious lecture series, social events, exhibitions and fundraising activities, are being planned to mark the occasion.

Full programme available here: http://nursing.brookes.ac.uk/125-years/events. A special anniversary publication will also be produced and published at the start of 2016.

Events kicked off with a drawing competition for local children in Oxford and Swindon to draw what a nurse does. This was one of the winning entries from Ferndale Primary School in Swindon. The winners will also appear in the anniversary publication.

LizWestcott

14 Research News

ASPiH Conference Members of the faculty who are part of the Association for simulated practice in Healthcare (ASPiH) attended the annual conference from the 3-5 November 2015, where they were able to partake in many workshops, keynotes and activities. The conference gained regional recognition and a workshop ran by one of the faculty’s academics was featured on the local news.

ASPiH is a not-for-profit membership Association comprising of members drawn from healthcare, education and patient safety backgrounds including researchers, learning technologists, workforce development or education managers, administrators, and healthcare staff and students. Clair Merriman who is Head of Professional Practice Skills Development at Oxford Brookes sits on the executive board of the association. She has the role of Finance Officer and Vice Chair of the new Quality and Standards sub-committee.

Over the last 6 years the conference has established itself as the major UK simulation based education event, bringing together a multi-disciplinary audience involved in simulated practice and technology enhanced learning. The theme of this year’s conference was Improving Performance and this was discussed across eight key note lectures, over 20 workshops as well as oral presentations and posters. Clair Merriman ran a workshop over the three days of the conference which was entitled “SimHeroes”. The workshop which is now in its second year aimed to promote high quality simulation experiences for participants. This was done by using simulation to recreate incidences from the patient’s journey through the healthcare system. Each patient episode was used as a basis for competitive heats linked into the overall conference theme focusing on best practice debriefing. These took place on day one and included scenarios such as visiting a GP surgery whilst falling ill within the waiting room and receiving medical attention from a practice nurse and GP.

The scenarios used Simulated Patients from Southampton General Hospital Trust and Immersive Technology to simulate the different environments each scenario took place. Each scenario was followed by a debrief and feedback which was being

marked by the judges. This was done within multi-professional teams of three to four members which allowed for a mix of healthcare students and qualified staff.

Overall the workshop was very successful in meeting the aims and objectives which it set out to meet. It allowed the use of short, team based clinical, communication simulation scenarios to explore specific human factors and concepts. The importance of succinct purposeful debriefs in focusing attention on non-technical skills and team behaviours in a simulated scenario. This gained special recognition at the conference and Clair, along with

the SimHeroes team, was interviewed on the local news. This allowed an increased exposure of simulation technology and the benefits it can bring to the wider community. Speaking about the conference and simulation technology, Clair said “Training the facilitators is just as important as the participants who are being trained and educated”.

The Conference also featured a keynote delivered by Catherine Stoddart, who is a Chief Nurse at Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust. She spoke about the value of different simulation settings as well as delivering a workshop at the conference. She is passionate about ensuring that Oxford is the city where nurses and midwifes can have a thriving professional career while delivering excellent care to patients and the community. Catherine also co-facilitated a workshop with Professor Debra Jackson sharing their experiences of setting up a foundation programme for newly qualified nurses.

The staff who attended this conference have brought immense recognition on simulation and its importance within the wider community. The publicity of this workshop has brought well received recognition to the hard work academics at Oxford Brookes are undertaking outside of their regular duties, as well as giving the city of Oxford a great name in this field.

To find out more about ASPiH please visit their website: www.aspih.org.uk/

You can also watch Clair’s interview with the local TV station here: youtube/Z2Ma3AgOyN4

SophiaKhan

Participants taking on different roles for the workshop

Roleplay Scenario

“Training the facilitators is just as important as the participants who are being trained and educated”.

Clair Merriman

February 2016 15

News in Brief

Professor Eila Watson is part of a team led by Professor Paul Little, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, which has recently been awarded a £2.5 million NIHR Programme Grant titled Cancer: Life Affirming Survivorship support in Primary care (CLASP) programme. The programme, which started in January 2016, will develop and test out internet-based support for cancer survivors which aims to promote lifestyle change and improve psychological well-being, thereby improving quality of life. The study will be based in GP practices and will focus on breast, colorectal and prostate cancer survivors and will compare brief written advice, with web only advice or nurse-supported web-based advice, tailored to the needs of the individual.

Exciting new course starting September 2016*

PostgraduateCertificateinChildProtectionPracticeThe Department of Psychology, Social Work and Public Health will will be offering a new Distance Learning Postgraduate Certificate in Child Protection Practice from September 2016.

The aim of the course is to challenge and extend the knowledge base, skills and attitudes of those working in the multi-professional field of child protection and safeguarding. It has been developed to meet the demands of a changing landscape of child protection and safeguarding practice within the UK.

Over one year, students will take three 20 credit modules:• Risk and the Protection of Children• Vulnerable Children and Young People• Child Protection Practice

The course will focus in particular on a critical analysis of the evidence-base for working with children and families, and encourage practitioners to reflect in depth on their own professional practice.

For more information contact the Programme Administrator, Tracey Barrett, E: childwb@brookes.ac.uk T: +44 (0)1865 488120 *Subject to validation

Dr Ethel Burns, Senior Midwifery Lecturer has been awarded CRF funding for a study which has full ethics approval, and will start in January. This exploratory project will explore the views of midwives, women using maternity services and maternity managers around the feasibility of undertaking a randomised controlled trial on waterbirth. Laura Goodwin, post doc research assistant for this project has just completed her PhD studentship at Cardiff University.

This research contributes to the work of OxBUMP, which is led by Dr Lesley Smith http://oxbump.org.uk/

As part of the ‘Advances in Biotechnology’ module led by Anne Osterrieder, third-year students worked in groups to create professional biotechnology Twitter accounts and contribute to ‘European Biotechweek’ in October 2015.

The organisers were very impressed by the quality of the tweets, and asked two groups, @Biotechknowledgy and @Biotechsparks, to write short articles about their creative campaigns which were printed in the International EuropaBio Magazine.

100%99%

90%

National Student Survey (NSS) SuccessThis year’s National Student Survey results generated notable success for the Faculty with four of our programme areas scoring 100% satisfaction and 11 scoring over 90% satisfaction. The areas with 100% overall satisfaction were Children’s Nursing, Osteopathy, Sport and Exercise Science and Occupational Therapy. This year was the fifth year in a row that Osteopathy has achieved 100% success. The survey has six sub-scales, Animal Biology and Conservation achieved 99% satisfaction score in relation to ‘Teaching on the course’. The Faculty’s programmes in general do well in relation to other sub-scales particularly in personal development.

IanScott

16 Research News

ResearchawardsResearch Grant Awards 1 September to 31 December 2015

Department Project Name Funder Principal Investigator Award Value Awarded Date

Biological & Medical Sciences Extracellular Vesicles and non-cellular RNA: roles in health and neglected tropical diseases

British Council David Carter £30,626 23.12.2015

Sport & Health Sciences Using virtual reality as a therapeutic intervention in children with ambulatory Cerebral Palsy

NIHR Dido Green £17,661 21.12.2015

Applied Health and Professional Development

PEPPER: Patient Empowerment through Predictive PERsonal-ised decision support

EU Horizon 2020 Marion Waite £18,689 10.11.2015

Sport & Health Sciences A feasibility study to determine whether the daily consumption of flavonoid-rich pure cocoa has the potential to reduce fatigue in people with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis Society Helen Dawson £75,019 4.11.2015

Biological & Medical Sciences Identifying the mechanisms by which extracellular vesicles can promote the formation of new muscle

Royal Society Ryan Pink £14,485 30.9.2015

Biological & Medical Sciences Synthesis and validation of a new nanomaterial for the treatment of cancer

Royal Society Victor Bolanos-Garcia

£9,000 23.9.2015

Applied Health and Professional Development

Mammo-50: Mammographic surveillance in breast cancer patients aged 50 years or older

NIHR Eila Watson £6,400 16.9.2015

Applied Health and Professional Development

Cancer: Life Affirming Survivorship support in Primary care (CLASP) Programme

NIHR Eila Watson £128,060 16.9.2015

Awarded £299,940

Events

The following events can be booked online here, unless otherwise stated: www.brookes.ac.uk/events

PROMOTING PATIENT SAFETY IN ACUTE AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS: a whole systems approachProfessor Debra JacksonWednesday 17 February, 18:00-19:00JHB Lecture Theatre, John Henry Brookes Building, Headington Campus

BORN WITHOUT EYES: understanding the genes that switch on human eye developmentProfessor Nicola Ragge Wednesday 20 April, 18:00-19:00JHB Lecture Theatre, John Henry Brookes Building, Headington Campus

REFLECTIONS ON NURSING:leadership and a fabulous working lifeProfessor June Girvin Wednesday 11 May, 18:00-19:00JHB Lecture Theatre, John Henry Brookes Building, Headington Campus

BIODIVERSITY IN THE 21 CENTURY:What plants should we conserve and where? Athena SWAN lecture, by Professor Kathy Willis

Wednesday 15 June, 18:00-19:00JHB Lecture Theatre, John Henry Brookes Building, Headington Campus

125 YEARS OF NURSE EDUCATION For more information on the events programme please visit:

Nursing.brookes.ac.uk/125-years/events