Information about departments

Breastfeeding not only boosts children’s chances of climbing the social ladder, but it also reduces the chances of downwards mobility, suggests a large study published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Anne M. Johnson (MD FMedSci FRCP FFPH FRCGP), Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, has been awarded a damehood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for 2013.

• Watch video
  

Women’s groups can dramatically reduce the number of maternal and newborn deaths in some of the world’s poorest communities, according to a new meta-analysis published in The Lancet.

• Watch video
  

Men experience a higher burden of disease and lower life expectancy than women, but policies focusing on the health needs of men are notably absent from the strategies of global health organisations, according to a Viewpoint article in this week’s Lancet.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and blood tests to establish the cause of death in fetuses and newborn babies is virtually as accurate as a standard autopsy, according to a paper published in The Lancet.

People with job stress and an unhealthy lifestyle are at higher risk of coronary artery disease than people who have job stress but lead healthy lifestyles, according to work published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) by researchers from UCL's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Early-warning sensor systems that can test and track serious infectious diseases – such as major flu epidemics, MRSA and HIV – using mobile phones and the internet are being developed by a major new Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) led by UCL.

18 multidisciplinary studentships worth an estimated £1.6 million have been awarded to UCL’s Doctoral Training Centre by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Light drinking during pregnancy is not linked to adverse behavioural or cognitive outcomes in childhood, suggests a new study published today.

Childhood body weight is strongly influenced by genes according to new research published today in the International Journal of Obesity.

• Link: Further details

In high income countries brain cooling is standard treatment for neonatal encephalopathy - unexpected, devastating brain injury due to low oxygen and blood in the baby’s brain at birth. This therapy reduces mortality and disability.

UCL guidelines on open access and a publishing guide are available to UCL researchers.

The RCUK Policy on Open Access introduces, with effect from 1 April 2013, new open access requirements for research papers funded by the Research Councils.

Alcohol consumption could be much higher than previously thought, with more than three quarters of people in England drinking in excess of the recommended daily alcohol limit, according to a new paper in the European Journal of Public Health.

A substantial proportion of individuals with a clinical diagnosis of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) inherit a combination of small-effect changes in several genes (polygenic) rather than a large-effect mutation in a single gene (monogenic), according to a new paper in The Lancet.

UCL researchers have recently commenced an academic-industrial collaboration – EpiFemCare – to develop new methods for screening, diagnosing and personalising treatment of breast and ovarian cancers.

Some of the biggest challenges to the improvement of cancer care for children and young people are set out in a series of studies published in today's Lancet Oncology.

Work-related stress is not directly linked to the development of colorectal, lung, breast or prostate cancers, but can cause other contributing factors, according to a new study published on bmj.com

More than 80 per cent of cancer patients’ close friends and family think that doctors should give their cancer patients lifestyle advice on eating habits, weight-loss and exercise, according to a new study in the British Journal of Cancer.

Obesity can lead to a lack of vitamin D circulating in the body, according to a study led by the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH). Efforts to tackle obesity should thus also help to reduce levels of vitamin D deficiency in the population, says the lead investigator of the study, Dr Elina Hypponen.

Friday 8 February, 9am-5pm

Denys Holland Lecture Theatre

Embarrassment and not wanting to waste their doctors’ time are more frequently reported by British people than in other countries, according to new research led by UCL and King’s College London. This may be holding British people back from presenting early with symptoms of cancer.

UCL researchers in a successful academic-industrial collaboration have been awarded an EU Framework Programme 7 Grant of almost €6 million to develop a therapy for fetal growth restriction.

Today's Health Survey for England reveals more than 14 million sufferers of chronic pain - pain which has lasted for more than three months. The study found that pain is more common among some groups than others, pain incurs significant costs and has serious mental health and wellbeing implications.

23 postdoctoral researchers from 14 different countries have been awarded Marie Curie Individual Fellowships. The awards will enable researchers to spend up to two years working with research teams across all schools at UCL.