Welcome to the NIHR SPHR blog. Read expert opinions, research stories and experiences from our researchers, trainees and public health professionals.
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Four months in Toronto: what I learnt from my PhD Placement in Canada
Blog by SPHR trainee Rosalyn Arnold This summer, I spent four months in Toronto as part of a PhD research placement at the University of Toronto, working with Professor Valerie Tarasuk, Dr Andrée-Anne Fafard St-Germain and Dr Marc-Antoine Châtelain for PROOF – an interdisciplinary research programme studying…
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Reflections on the LA SPARC: Catherine Jacobs
The Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration (LA SPARC) offers the opportunity for placements between the NIHR and Local Authority settings, in either direction, to build collaborations and bridge the gap between academia and practice. In this blog, Catherine Jacobs writes about her experience applying…
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From the Classroom to Research: Rethinking School Non-Attendance as a Complex Public Health Issue
Blog by Hannah Smith My experience of working as a teaching assistant in a large primary school in Newport, Wales shaped my interests in researching school non-attendance. I worked closely with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children who were neurodivergent, running group interventions and working one-to-one…
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Preventing youth suicide: new guidance to support schools, colleges, and youth organisations
Blog by Rowan Streckfuss-Davis Self-harm and suicide are distressing experiences for young people and adults around them. However, they aren’t uncommon – around one in four have self-harmed by age 17, and those who have self-harmed in the past are at higher risk for suicide and mental health difficulties than…
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Exploring industry perspectives on potential ultra-processed food policy in the UK
By SPHR intern Grace Leung Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now account for approximately 56% of daily energy intake in the UK. Among children and young people, UPFs make up around two-thirds of daily energy intake. But what are ultra-processed foods, and why are they becoming a subject of…
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Meet the School’s new Training Manager: Sarah Birkett
Sarah Birkett joined the Directorate team recently as the School’s new Training Manager, here she tells us a bit more about herself and the role. Please tell us about yourself and your career background Prior to joining the NIHR SPHR, I spent more than 10 years working in Higher Education,…
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On your marks, get set, WRITE! Reflections from the NIHR Doctoral Training Camp 2026
SPHR trainee Helen Little from the University of Cambridge shares her experience attending the seventeenth NIHR Annual Doctoral Training Camp. What is the NIHR Doctoral Training Camp? The NIHR Doctoral Training Camp is an annual face-to-face event designed to prepare early career researchers to submit successful grant applications. I…
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Reflections from my PhD: Improving the mental health of young people through early intervention and prevention
By Liam Spencer The rising prevalence of mental health disorders underscores the need for timely intervention and prevention, with data showing that the proportion of children aged 8 to 16 in England with a probable mental disorder increased from around 1 in 8 (12.5%) in 2017 to…
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Presenting in Parliament: Our experience at Evidence Week 2026
In this blog, the housing insecurity team (Peter Kraftl, Kiya Hurley, Ellie Holding, Anne-Marie Burn, Sarah Rodgers, Hannah Fairbrother, Emma Coombes, Elly King, public partner Isra Sulevani and Nick Woodrow) describe what it was like going beyond the foreboding entrance at Westminster and share what they learnt about directly engaging…
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Getting around is hard work – active and sustainable travel in rural coastal places
In this blog, SPHR researchers as part of the COAST project tell stories about participants they worked with and their experiences of getting around in rural places. Illustrations credit: Elly Jahnz Emma* sometimes drives her grandson to work. He lives in a rural coastal town in County Durham and works…
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Inclusion of disadvantaged communities in public health research
We’ve been studying informal volunteering among disadvantaged communities in our SPHR-funded study for nearly 3 years now. This includes older adults, asylum seekers and refugees, and Gypsy, Roma, Travellers. We are now nearly at the end of this project and have interviewed many people from these communities, collected a…
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Constructing a digital story…with LEGO?
Blog by SPHR trainee Libby Haynes I usually find it very daunting to present my work in front of an audience. It’s an important part of research, of course, and I will take any opportunity to do it in the hope that it will become less daunting over time,…
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