Summer Studentships 2024 - Now Closed
The CPH Summer Studentship Programme: June to September 2024 - Now closed
The Centre for Public Health (CPH) Summer Research Programme provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in office and/or laboratory-based research during the summer months. Each participant will be assigned to the research project of a Principal Investigator within CPH and will join an enthusiastic research team comprising academic staff, postdoctoral fellows, research assistants, PhD students, administrative and technical staff. The projects will run for an eight-week period between June and September 2024. Students will work on campus, or be in a position to work remotely from home.
Students currently enrolled for Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Dentistry or a related discipline who have completed at least one year of full-time study from any UK Higher Education Institution are eligible to apply. Each summer studentship pays a student stipend of £200 per week. Students (including those from other UK institutions) who successfully complete the programme will be eligible for Degree Plus status upon graduation.
The application process is now open. Please submit the following:
- A current CV including your full academic profile (or transcript)
- Your student number if you are a QUB student
- A covering letter stating your reasons for applying to the Programme with the Centre for Public Health
- The names and contact details of two referees.
Please email your application to the Centre Manager, Niamh McElherron – N.McElherron@qub.ac.uk by 5.00pm on Friday 15th March 2024. Please ensure that you indicate which project(s) you are interested in.
We will be listing our projects below as soon as they become available. CPH Principal Investigators have been notified of the call and will provide their projects to me by 29th February 2024 - so keep watching this space as our project list grows!
Niamh McElherron
Centre Manager
Centre for Public Health
N.McElherron@qub.ac.uk
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Analysis of number, type, frequency and timing of hospital appointments prior to cancer diagnosis using the Routes to Diagnosis (RTD) dataset - supervised by Dr Damien Bennett.
The Northern Ireland Cancer Registry is a high quality, population-based registry that collects information on all cancer diagnoses in Northern Ireland and produces the official statistics reports for all cancers for this region.
Background: The UK continues to have poorer cancer survival rates than other developed countries in Europe and beyond. Cancer awareness campaigns have been developed as part of a suite of measures designed to close this survival gap. Cancer awareness campaigns seek to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and encourage timely presentation to healthcare services. Although data on cancer diagnosis, treatment and survival following cancer diagnosis is well established, data prior to cancer diagnoses, for example, on how the patient presented to healthcare services, and how these were used, are not well developed. NICR has recently accessed and developed outpatient (O/P) data in the dataset that has been developed for the Routes to Diagnosis (RTD) project. Information on the previous/pilot Routes to Diagnosis project (2012-2016) can be found here - https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/major-new-cancer-research-report-published-today.
Methods: The outpatient (O/P) data used in the RTD work will provide a resource to develop initial analyses. This data is for cancer patients diagnosed in the 3 year period from 2018-2020 with associated data on all outpatient (O/P) appointments in the period before diagnosis. Analysis of the number, type, frequency and timing of these appointments will provide useful insights.
Aims: (a long list – not all expected, will be dependent on skills etc. Plan to begin with No 1 and work through)
- Describe the number, type, frequency and timing of O/P appointments (including cancelled appointments) by tumour site
- Investigate the relationship between the number, type, frequency and timing of O/P appointments and patient (age, sex, deprivation, rurality etc) and tumour characterises (stage, screen detected etc)
- If feasible – to investigate temporal relationships in O/P appointments further
Literature review needed to assess novelty and importance of suggested work. A previous summer student developed good skills in STATA when examining dementia and/or stroke in cancer patients (cohort of 41,380 individual non-melanoma skin cancer diagnoses)
Key Skills (which will be developed): i) Data management, manipulation and statistical analysis (training will be provided), (ii) Data protection and confidentiality, (iii) Epidemiology study methods
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Sustainable diets: consumers attitudes, beliefs, and current practices - supervised by Professor Jayne Woodside.
Current national dietary patterns have impact on both public and planetary health; practical approaches to building sustainability in healthy eating guidelines, along with consideration of the potential policy implications are required. This studentship will conduct further analysis of a survey in a representative adult sample (n=2525) across the island of Ireland exploring consumer beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours towards sustainable healthy diets. Early analyses indicate that:
- Much work needs to be done in reconnecting human and ecological health, building awareness and knowledge of sustainable diets, and in making the more sustainable choice the easier choice.
- Affordability, accessibility and nutrition and health are the most important characteristics of sustainable diets that influence food purchases, whereas organically produced food, low environmental impact and a short or local supply chain are the least important.
- Almost half of all respondents were not interested in eating less animal-based food and more plant-based food. However, roughly one in five said they have started reducing their consumption of red and processed meat ‘some of the time’.
- The most popular sustainable dietary behaviours that people are already engaged with are: eating more home-cooked meals and wholegrain foods, reducing food waste through prevention, and eating less discretionary foods.
- There is an apparent knowledge gap in relation to environmental impact (e.g., carbon and land footprint) of foods and food products (e.g., animal-based foods versus plant-based alternatives).
However, there is scope for more detailed analyses regarding for example, gender- and age-differences in beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours, which will, together with ongoing qualitative and intervention study inform future research, and generate potential policy recommendations.
This studentship will work with the supervisory team to develop a set of research questions which they can address through analysis of the available dataset. Full support will be given in terms of statistical skills and access to software.
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'Heads up’ – what concussion policies are available in the sport of sailing? A scoping review. - supervised by Dr Neil Heron.
Concussion is a common injury within sports, including sailing. There are a number of generic concussion policies available for sports, particularly following the last Concussion in Sport Group (CISG) meeting in Amsterdam, October 2022. However, individual sports need to develop their own specific concussion policies, tailoring the policy to the needs of their sport and their specific athletes. Thus, what concussion policies are available in sailing as a sport, including within para-sailing? This project will be a scoping review and the aim will be to publish the review in an appropriately peer-reviewed journal by the end of the 8 week studentship.
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Gender participation in an academic conference - supervised by Dr Hannah O'Hara.
It has been previously reported that female gender identity is associated with reduced participation at medical and academic conferences. Several studies have shown that females ask fewer questions and speak for less time, with effects compounded by a lack of gender diversity among symposium panellists and chairs. Most previously reported studies have evaluated conference participation among audiences where the gender of the audience and panel members is predominantly male. However, little is known about participation by gender in an academic conference setting where there is a preponderance of female delegates and presenters.
The aim of this project is to evaluate participation by gender at an academic conference which has been historically predominantly female-attended, to determine whether increased female representation results in equity of participation in this setting. The student will be directly involved in data collection, as well as data analysis and dissemination. As a component of the project, the student will attend a 4-day national conference in Belfast focussing on nutrition science. The conference brings together an international audience with world-leading experts coming from a range of disciplines and will be a valuable opportunity for the student to gain experience of participating in an academic conference.
Data collection will occur 2nd-5th July and so the prospective student must be available to attend in person on these dates. The timings of other study activities including data analysis and dissemination is flexible and full support will be available.
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A literature review of cancer-relevant exposure markers and mechanistic endpoints measured in formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue biopsies - supervised by Dr Dan Middleton.
Archived FFPE biopsy samples are an often readily available source of target tissue for cancer studies. There is potential to use existing resources such as the Northern Ireland Biobank to undertake aetiological investigations into various cancer types by measuring exposure biomarkers and cancer-relevant mechanistic endpoints in biopsies collected from patients across the country. A review of the literature is warranted to explore and collate information on the types of assays used in aetiological investigations to measure residual traces of extrinsic carcinogenic exposures in these types of samples. For examples, studies have demonstrated success in detecting traces of nano-asbestos fibres in FFPE lung tissue. Other carcinogens, such as carbon black deposits as markers of ambient particulate matter, and radiochemical signals of radon decay products, are worthy candidates for further investigation.
The student who undertakes this Summer Studentship will conduct searches of relevant scientific and medical databases of indexed literature (e.g., PubMed, Google Scholar) and organise findings by cancer type, exposure, as well as referencing the 10 key characteristics of carcinogens for specific mechanistic assays.
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Exploring obesity-related policies and interventions in the context of Northern Ireland - supervised by Dr Laura McGowan.
Obesity continues to pose a major public health challenge globally, including in Northern Ireland (NI), where 65% of adults are above a healthy weight. In addition, 22% of children in NI entering P1 are already living with overweight or obesity, with this rising to 27% in Year 8 (DOH Health Inequalities Annual Report, 2020). Effective and cost-effective obesity prevention and management interventions are urgently needed in NI. Barriers to the public accessing such interventions need to be fully understood.
This summer studentship will entail NI-related obesity research with a dual focus on early years obesity prevention (ongoing research evaluation) and adult obesity (building on previous work undertaken).
The early years component is an opportunity to become involved in the NI part of a wider UK evaluation of a sustainable obesity prevention programme delivered at scale. Specifically, this Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) is evaluating the role of the ‘HENRY’ (Health, Exercise, Nutrition for the Really Young) programme within the wider complex system. The 8 week summer studentship will take place during the recruitment phase of the trial and therefore the duties may include (but are not limited to) assisting with recruitment and retention-related tasks, preparing workshop material etc.
Previous research (recently undertaken within CPH) involved exploring public perceptions relating to obesity policies, and personal experiences of maintaining a healthy weight in adults living on the Island of Ireland. This entailed a qualitative COM-B framework analysis of barriers and enablers (COM-B, Capability, Opportunity, Motivation). There is scope to develop this work further for publication, hence the student will help prepare manuscripts and will be named on any arising publications.
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Using early Health Technology Assessment to assess the potential value of an innovative diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer - supervised by Professor Chris McCabe
Pancreatic cancer is the third. most common cancer in the United Kingdom with over 10,000 cases being diagnosed each year. It is also one of the most deadly cancers, every year over 9,500 people die from Pancreatic Cancer and only 5% of patients are expected to survive 10 years after diagnosis. Early diagnosis is seen as crucial for improving the prognosis.
GenoME have developed a candidate diagnostic test for Pancreatic Cancer using liquid biopsy and digital PCR, which has the potential be rapidly implemented at scale across the United Kingdom NHS, at a much lower cost than alternative precision diagnostics based on Next Generation Sequencing.
The objective of this project is to undertake an early Health Technology Assessment of this technology to quantify and value the opportunity for this diagnostic test to impact on Pancreatic Cancer outcomes and the costs.
Over the course of the project, the student will be trained in the methods of cost effectiveness analysis and early health technology assessment, and gain an understanding of the processes by which life sciences technologies are translated from laboratory discovery to technologies in use in health systems.
The student will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement as the will have access to commercially sensitive proprietary information about GenoME’s technology.
References:
Gheorghe G, Bungau S, Ilie M, Behl T, Vesa CM, Brisc C, Bacalbasa N, Turi V, Costache RS, Diaconu CC. Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer: The Key for Survival. Diagnostics (Basel). 2020 Oct 24;10(11):869. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics10110869. PMID: 33114412; PMCID: PMC7694042.
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What do ophthalmologists and patients wish to see in an artificial intelligence model output - supervised by Professor Augusto Azuara-Blanco
There has been an increase within the literature of papers citing AI applications to assist clinicians and workloads within healthcare, and many research groups are publishing promising results. In order to facilitate good research outputs, it is essential that these artificial intelligence decision support systems are built using robust methods to ensure patient safety and reliability, but also to focus on human factors such as the ease of use and clinical relevance. Clinical relevance is a key factor when a clinician decides to use a package, as they have knowledge to gain from the interaction. Therefore, we propose a scoping review of the literature, specifically the glaucoma care literature, to review what practitioners would like to see within a prediction model and identify key themes to inform a survey of UK and Irish doctors, via a clinical audit. Patients must not be neglected in this process and thus we will also search the literature for what patients would like to know about their disease progression. It is suspected that the literature will be sparse and therefore if there are not enough hits from the pilot search using the themes above, this search criteria can be expanded across ophthalmology/all fields of medicine to see what can be learnt from other specialities.
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Investigation of logistic regression approaches to observational cohort studies of delirium - supervised by Dr Emma Cunningham
Delirium is recognised as a risk factor for subsequent cognitive impairment. Studies providing this evidence commonly incorporate delirium along with other risk factors into logistic regression models, with cognitive impairment or decline, or dementia, as the outcome of interest.
It is possible that delirium is simply a marker of vulnerability to subsequent cognitive impairment, and not an independent risk factor in it’s own right. The decisions taken when building logistic regression models can significantly impact their results. These decisions include which variables to include and which method of logistic regression to use.
This project will consider studies identified by a recent systematic review of postoperative delirium with subsequent cognitive decline or impairment, or dementia, as the outcome of interest.
The following will be extracted and described:
- The variables included in models
- The reasons given for including and excluding variables
- The method of logistic regression used
It is intended that this project will be published as an abstract and manuscript.
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