Student Profile Emma Walker UCL

Close up picture of a woman smiling with teeth, long brown hair worn to the side

I have a BSc in Cell and Molecular Biological Sciences from Durham University and an MSc in Medicine, Health and Public Policy from King’s College London. During my master’s degree I became especially interested the social determinants of health, specifically with regards to the North/South health divide. My MSc dissertation project used NHS digital records to explore associations between neighbourhood deprivation and alcohol related liver disease hospital admissions in the Liverpool area.

When looking for a PhD I was really excited to see that the Soc-B programme met my interests so closely; allowing me to use my biological science background within social science contexts. Whilst here my rotation projects have continued to explore the social determinants of health but have focused more closely on concepts of social and cultural capital within health. For my PhD I will explore social and cultural engagement and how they associate with health inequalities over the life-course. This project will take a biosocial approach by using biological, genetic and epigenetic markers within the Understanding Society dataset.

I am currently writing a paper from my first rotation with Dr Daisy Fancourt that reports the differential impact of objective social isolation and subjective feelings of loneliness on neuroendocrine biomarkers in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. I am also working with Professor Yvonne Kelly to hold an interactive event for school children on the impact of social media on the health of young people. In addition, I am interested in the sociology of toxicological research and have published a collaborative article on the societal concerns of funding, collaboration and competition within toxicology.

Supervisors: Dr Daisy Fancourt, Professor Anne McMunn

Publication: Walker, E. and Roberts, R. (2018). Collaboration and competition: ethics in toxicology. Toxicology Research, 7(4), pp.576-585.