Winner of UCL Sustainability Research Award announced

Professor Sanjay Sisodiya (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) was announced as the winner of the UCL Sustainability Research Award 2022 at the 10th UCL Sustainability Awards on 6 July.

The award recognises research that proposes solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or other environmental or social challenges.

In 2020, Professor Sisodiya established the UCL NeuroClimate Consortium, an initiative that brought together climatologists, neuroscientists, neurologists, pharmacists and architects, to develop and undertake research on the impacts of climate change across neurological diseases.

Previously, he founded the global Epilepsy Climate Change Consortium (EpiCC), a group of neurologists, scientists, nurses, representatives from industry and charities supporting people with epilepsy to foster research, raise awareness and share knowledge. 

EpiCC won PR Week’s ‘Favourite Campaign of COP26’ – with the distribution during the COP conference in 2021 of a special-edition newspaper, highlighting the impact of climate change on neurological health. The paper used ink derived from algae, pulp from sustainable forests, and was manufactured using wind-powered energy. A digital version, designed to have the lowest environmental impact with no imagery, colour and simple text, also ran on The Glasgow Herald website and on social media channels. 

The judges highly commended Dr Jing Meng (The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction) for her work on the Carbon Emission Accounts and Datasets (CEAD), an open-access website that produces transparent and robust data for the climate change research community online. Building on the dataset, Dr Jing Meng has also delivered high-impact research that targets multiple SDGs and their interaction. 

“Both projects demonstrate how researchers outside of the disciplines traditionally associated with sustainability and the environment can contribute to addressing the SDGs,” said Simon Knowles, UCL Head of Coordination (SDGs), who leads the UCL SDGs Initiative. “We’d encourage all our staff and students to consider how they can contribute to achieving the Goals through their teaching, research and extra-curricular activity.”

The Sustainability Research Award was one of five categories in the Awards, which were organised by Sustainable UCL. Other categories included the Education award, which recognises the integration of a sustainability education plan into the formal or informal curriculum, and awards for a member of staff and student who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to sustainability.

Links

• Professor Sanjay Sisodiya
• Epilepsy Climate Change Consortium
• CEAD
• UCL Sustainability Awards 2022
• UCL SDGs Initiative