Latest news

January 2021

Rates of skin cancer have increased dramatically over recent decades

Incidence rates of skin cancer (cutaneous malignant melanoma) have increased more than 550% in males and 250% in females since the early 1980s in England – according to a new study by BSMS. Published in the new Lancet journal, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, the study analysed data on more than 265,000 individuals diagnosed with skin cancer in England over the 38-year period, 1981-2018.  

Read the full story here >

New paper: dementia and electronic primary care records

Dr Elizabeth Ford, Senior Lecturer in Primary Care Research, is the lead author on a new paper published by The BMJ. UK statistics suggest only two-thirds of patients with dementia get a diagnosis recorded in primary care. GPs report barriers to formally diagnosing dementia, so some patients may be known by GPs to have dementia but may be missing a diagnosis in their patient record. This study aims to produce a method to identify these 'known but unlabelled' patients with dementia using data from primary care patient records. 'Automated detection of patients with dementia whose symptoms have been identified in primary care but have no formal diagnosis: a retrospective case–control study using electronic primary care records' is open access.

Read it here >

New paper: social media text mining

Dr Elizabeth Ford is also the lead author of another new paper, published by Frontiers in Digital Health. Text-mining techniques are advancing all the time and vast corpora of social media text can be analysed for users' views and experiences related to their health. There is great promise for new insights into health issues such as drug side effects and spread of disease, as well as patient experiences of health conditions and health care. However, this emerging field lacks ethical consensus and guidance. This systematic review aims to bring together a comprehensive body of opinion, views, and recommendations in this area so that academic researchers new to the field can understand relevant ethical issues.

Read it in full here >

October 2020

Hopefulness as a key active ingredient for young people with depression 

Dr Clio Berry, Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Evaluation and Improvement in Primary Care and Public Health at BSMS, led a team of researchers from the University of Sussex and the University of East Anglia to investigate evidence on the role of hopefulness in mental health treatment for young people with depression. This project was an 'insight analysis' funded by Wellcome Trust as part of a new initiative to collate knowledge on the core components of interventions which improve the lives of young people with mental health problems. 

Read about the role of hopefulness study >

New paper: public health and risk communication 

Dr Elizabeth Ford and Dr Priya Paudyal from Primary Care and Public Health had a paper published this week titled 'Public Health and Risk Communication During COVID-19—Enhancing Psychological Needs to Promote Sustainable Behavior Change.' The paper was published in Frontiers in Public Health and is available to read below

Read the paper public health and risk communication paper >

August 2020

Decolonising dermatology: why black and brown skin need better treatment

Dr Neil Singh, Senior General Practice Teaching Fellow, has written a long read for The Guardian, titled 'Decolonising dermatology: why black and brown skin need better treatment'. 

Read the Decolonising dermatology article > 

July 2020

Lithium in drinking water linked with lower suicide rates

Naturally occurring lithium in public drinking water may have an anti-suicidal effect – according to a new study from Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London. Published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, the study collated research from around the world and found that geographical areas with relatively high levels or concentration of lithium in public drinking water had correspondingly lower suicide rates. Professor Anjum Memon, Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at BSMS and lead author of the study, said: “It is promising that higher levels of trace lithium in drinking water may exert an anti-suicidal effect and have the potential to improve community mental health. The prevalence of mental health conditions and national suicide rates are increasing in many countries. Worldwide, over 800,000 people die by suicide every year, and suicide is the leading cause of death among persons aged 15-24 years.” 

Read the Lithium in drinking water Research >

BSMS duo announced as investigators on new grant

Jo Middleton and Professor Jackie Cassell are investigators on a grant newly awarded by UKRI, called "Epidemic modelling and statistical support for policy: sub-populations, forecasting, and long-term planning". This is led by Dr Thomas House of the University of Manchester, who has previously worked with them both on scabies outbreaks in care homes. 

Natalie co-authors blog on sexual health and COVID-19

Dr Natalie Edelman has co-authored a blog piece entitled “New Sexual and Reproductive Health Vulnerabilities in the Context of COVID-19” which has just been published on the Faculty of Public Health’s blog ‘Better Health for All.’

Read the sexual health and covid-19 blog article >

June 2020

New publication: medical students views on LGBT health 

IRP students from 2018/2019, Abigail Jamieson, Sophie Arthur and Harry Cross, have co-authored a new publication with Professor Carrie Llewellyn and Dr Kate Nambiar (Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust) titled 'Sexual orientation and gender identity disclosure' available from The Clinical Teacher. 

This study aimed to explore medical students’ perceptions of the barriers to health care for LGBT patients and the importance of patient disclosure of sexual orientation or gender identity using focus groups.

Further work is being undertaken assessing medical students’ attitudes, confidence and knowledge about caring for LGBT patients and LGBT content inclusion in UK undergraduate medical education. 

Read the publication on LGBT health views >  

Study looks at use of sexual networking apps by Men who have Sex with Men during lockdown

Co-investigator on an ongoing study looking at use of sexual networking apps by Men who have Sex with Men during lockdown – with PrEPster colleagues at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and led by another PhD graduate of PCPH – Dr Tom Nadarzynski who is now based at the University of Westminster. An interim report from the study is available below.

Read about sexual networking apps during lockdown >

NIHR Covid Recovery and Learning Research

Professor Carrie Llewellyn has been invited to the NIHR Covid Recovery and Learning Research: College of Experts.

Covid recovery and learning research > 

May 2020

BSMS projects given funding with JCRO support

Following the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) in Kent Surrey and Sussex (KSS) making funding available for COVID-19-related research, the Joint Clinical Research Office (JCRO) has been supporting applications by its partner organisations, which includes the University of Sussex, University of Brighton, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust and BSMS.

Since applications opened, there have been two rounds of funding. In the first closed round, seven applications in total were submitted from across the region, with four of these being granted funding. JCRO supported four out of the seven applications, with two of them coming from colleagues at BSMS. This includes 'How can community-based care settings for individuals vulnerable to COVID-19 mortality be supported in receiving returning or new clients? A mixed methods study', led by Prof Jackie Cassell.

In round two, 33 applications were received from across the region. ARC KSS funded six of these, with a further two projects coming from BSMS. This includes 'Co-producing public health resources about COVID-19 to meet the needs of elderly ethnic minorities', led by Dr Priya Paudyal.

Read more about the JCRO funding here >

Cholera and coronavirus: why we must not repeat the same mistakes 

Dr Neil Singh, Senior General Practice Teaching Fellow, had a long read article (read on the link below or listen to the cholera and coronavirus article here) published in the Guardian in May. His article considers another pandemic, cholera, and why we must reject a colonial logic that widens global health disparities in our fight against coronavirus.

Read the cholera and coronavirus article >

April 2020

Professor Bremner is a co-app on new projects with CTU

Professor Stephen Bremner, Professor of Medical Statistics, is a co-app on several new projects that started this year, all supported by Brighton and Sussex Clinical Trials Unit (CTU). These include:

• Hi-Flo (High Flow humidified oxygen as an early intervention in children with Acute Severe Asthma: a feasibility study), led by Prof Paul Seddon, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust, is an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit funded feasibility RCT of 24 months duration in 70 children aged 2-11. 
• HIS-UK (Evaluating the Home-based Intervention Strategy (HIS-UK) to reduce new Chlamydia infection among young men aged 16-25 years by promoting correct and consistent condom use: What is the cost effectiveness of two different delivery models (face-to-face and digital delivery)?), led by Prof Cynthia Graham, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, is an NIHR Public Health Research funded study of 60 months duration in 2231 young men aged 16-25.
• PASCAL (A Randomised Controlled Trial of an Online Intervention to Prevent Anxiety Symptoms in Children through Adult Learning), led by Prof Sam Cartwright-Hatton, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, is funded by the Kavli Trust for 36 months and is trialling an online intervention for 1754 anxious parents.
• Wrapped (An interactive digital behaviour change intervention (Wrapped) to decrease incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) amongst users of STI self-sampling websites: Study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial), led by Dr Katie Newby, Department of Psychology and Sports Science, University of Hertfordshire, is an NIHR funded Public Health Research study of 28 months duration in at least 230 people aged 16-24 years.