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My PhD
Title: The interplay between social connections, social engagement and mental and physical health in older adults: exploring the role of genetics using polygenic scores (PGSs) for health and health-related phenotypes.
Supervisors: Dr Daisy Fancourt, Dr Olesya Ajnakina, Dr Feifei Bu
Lay summary:
There is a wealth of evidence on the health benefits of social engagement (an individual’s participation in a community or society) and social connections (the structural, functional and qualitative aspects of individuals’ relationships with others, which support social engagement). However, the role of genetics within these relationships remains less clear and currently under-researched. This PhD will therefore utilise advances in genome-wide association studies (GWASs) that have led to the development of polygenic scores (PGS), which are measures of a polygenic propensity for complex phenotypic traits. As PGSs have recently been derived for the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), this PhD will investigate the relationship between social engagement, social connections, PGSs for health and health-related phenotypes and health outcomes in older adults. This research aims to add further understanding to the mechanisms behind the complex interplay between social factors and health and will add a genetic component that has not yet been fully utilised in research on associations between social engagement, social connections and health in older adults.
My Background
During my undergraduate, I became increasingly interested in how engagement with music can affect health. I then undertook an MSc, focusing my thesis on the psychobiological effects of singing in women with postnatal depression (PND). Subsequently, I became a Research Assistant for an NIHR-portfolio study on how group singing can support those affected by cancer. During this time, I began to explore wider arts and leisure engagement and effects on health, through jointly coordinating the Arts Health Early Career Research Network and co-authoring a WHO scoping review on arts and health under the supervision of Dr Daisy Fancourt. More recently, my research focus has expanded to wider social factors and health, such as social connections. Particularly, I am interested in mechanisms linking social connections and engagement to health and their interplay with genetics. In 2019, I was awarded funding to undertake training in using genetics in social science research and shortly after secured a PhD studentship (funded by ESRC-BBSRC) to undertake research looking at the interplay between social connections, health and genetics.
Qualifications
MSc Music, Mind & Brain, Goldsmiths University of London: Distinction (2014-2016)
BSc (Hons) Music Technology, Birmingham City University / Royal Birmingham Conservatoire: 1st Class Honours (2009-2013)
Awards
PhD studentship awarded by ESRC-BBSRC Soc-B CDT in Biosocial Research (2019-present)
Global Aesthetic Achievement of the Year for WHO report (2019)
Publications
Fancourt, D., Aughterson, A., Finn, S., Walker, E., & Steptoe, A. (in print). How leisure activities affect health: a review and multi-level theoretical framework of mechanisms of action using the lens of complex adaptive systems since. Lancet Psychiatry.
Fancourt D, Finn S. What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2019 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 67).
Fancourt, D., Finn, S., Warran, K., & Wiseman, T. (2019). Group singing in bereavement: effects on mental health, self-efficacy, self-esteem and well-being. BMJ supportive & palliative care, bmjspcare-2018.
Fancourt, D., Warran, K., Finn, S., & Wiseman, T. (2019). Psychosocial singing interventions for the mental health and well-being of family carers of patients with cancer: results from a longitudinal controlled study. BMJ open, 9(8).
Finn, S., & Fancourt, D. (2018). The biological impact of listening to music in clinical and nonclinical settings: A systematic review. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 237, pp. 173-200). Elsevier.
Dingle, G. A., Clift, S., Finn, S., Gilbert, R., Groarke, J. M., Irons, J. Y., ... & Moss, H. (2019). An Agenda for Best Practice Research on Group Singing, Health, and Well-Being. Music & Science, 2, 2059204319861719.
Appointments
Visiting Researcher, UCL (2018-2019)
Network Coordinator, Arts Health ECRN (2018-present)
Research Assistant, Royal College of Music & Imperial College London (2016-2018)
Research Assistant, Queen Mary University of London (2011-2012)
Contact details
Email: saoirse.finn.19@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter: @Saoirsefinn
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/saoirse-finn