Staff Profiles

Viviana is a Research Associate in the Public Health and Health Inequalities Theme of the Population Health Sciences Institute. She obtained her PhD from Reading University. Her research topic was on factors influencing children's and adolescents fruit and vegetable consumption. Previously she completed an MSc in Food Economics and Marketing also from Reading University. Her undergraduate degree was in Economics. 

Her main area of work is in the application of quantitative methods to describe, explain and reduce health inequalities, with a particular interest in vulnerable population groups including children and the very old. She is also interested in the use of biomarkers in social research and the analysis of large health and lifestyle datasets.

Senior Research Associate. Evaluating the impact of national and local action aimed at levelling up and pandemic recovery - Phase 1. WP3 Co-lead. School for Primary Care Research, National Institute for Health and Care Research. Grant (£387,298)

Research Associate. Does place matter? An examination of geographical inequalities in COVID-19 in England. The Health Foundation - COVID-19 Research Programme. Grant 2211473 (£142,290).

Research Associate. Evaluating the impact of Supplementary Planning Documents on Health Inequalities in the North East of England. NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East North Cumbria Open Funding Competition 2020. Grant OFC20-01 (£90,755). Co-applicant.

Research Associate. Reducing malnutrition and frailty in older people in primary care: understanding the impact of oral health in later life. School for Primary Care Research, National Institute for Health Research. Grant SPCR 402 (£39,260).

Research Associate. Obesity and Alcohol use: The FOrwaRD study - Exploring the relationship between alcohol intake and BMI in young adults. The Public Health Research Consortium, Department of Health & Social Care, Policy Research Programme. Grant PHPEHF50/18 (£174,913.09).

Research Associate. Understanding the link between alcohol excises and the price of alcoholic drinks in UK supermarkets using scanner data – Using large supermaket data on alcohol sales to explore how prices respond to changes in excise. Alcohol Research UK Grant 2017 SG/1080 (£7,900). Co-applicant.

Research Associate. Diamond-Lewy: Improving the diagnosis and management of neurodegenerative dementia of Lewy body type in the NHS – Micro-costing and analysis of healthcare costs of different pathways of care. National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research Grant DTC-RP-PG-0311-12001.

Research Associate. SIPS JR-HIGH – A multi-centre individual-randomized controlled trial of screening and brief alcohol intervention to prevent risky drinking in young people aged 14-15 in a high school setting. National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research Grant 13/117/02 (£866,211.60).

Research Associate. SHAMISEN: Nuclear emergency situations. Improvement of Medical and Health surveillance – Economic implications of responses to a radiation accident. Open Project for European Radiation Resarch Area (OPERRA)

Research Associate. “Liaison Psychiatry Service Evaluation”. Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group, Institute of Health and Society. Newcasatle University (UK).

Research Associate."The Economic Burden of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis in the UK". Institute of Health and Society. Newcastle University (UK).

Research Associate. "Biomarkers of dairy intake". Institute of Health and Society. Newcastle University (UK).

Senior Research Assistant. RCUK-funded project: “The role of community-based organisations in energy saving”. University of Southampton (UK).

Postgraduate student (PhD). Food Standards Agency studentship: "Determinants of children's fruit and vegetable consumption". School of Food Economics and Marketing, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading (UK)

• Articles

  • Brown H, Albani V, Munford L, Sutton M, McHardy F, Silverman E, Richiardi M, Pearce A, Heppenstall A, Meier P, Thomson R, Katikireddi S. Association between individual level characteristics and take-up of a Minimum Income Guarantee for Pensioners: Panel Data Analysis using data from the British Household Panel survey 1999–2002. Social Sciences and Humanities Open 2024, 9, 100847.
  • Fong M, Scott S, Albani V, Brown H. The Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions and Changes to Takeaway Regulations in England on Consumers’ Intake and Methods of Accessing Out-of-Home Foods: A Longitudinal, Mixed-Methods Study. Nutrients 2023, 15(16), 3636.
  • McNamara C, Kotzias V, Bambra C, Labonté R, Stuckler D. Have COVID-19 Stimulus Packages Mitigated the Negative Health Impacts of Pandemic-Related Job Losses? A Systematic Review of Global Evidence from the First Year of the Pandemic. International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services 2023, 53(3), 311-322.
  • Coulton S, Giles EL, Mcgeechan GJ, Deluca P, Drummond C, Howel D, Kaner E, McColl E, McGovern R, Scott S, Sumnall H, Vale L, Albani V, Boniface S, Ferguson J, Gilvarry E, Hendrie N, Howe N, Ramsay A, Newbury-Birch D. The Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Screening and Brief Alcohol Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in Young People in the High School Setting: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial (SIPS JR-HIGH). Alcohol and Alcoholism 2022, 57(2), 261-269.
  • Brown H, Mills S, Albani V. Socioeconomic risks of food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: findings from the Understanding Society Covid Survey. BMC Public Health 2022, 22(1), 590.
  • Brown H, Xiang H, Albani V, Goffe L, Akhter N, Lake A, Sorrell S, Gibson E, Wildman J. No new fast-food outlets allowed! Evaluating the effect of planning policy on the local food environment in the North East of England. Social Science and Medicine 2022, 306, 115126.
  • Albani V, Brown H, Vera-Toscano E, Kingston A, Eikemo TA, Bambra C. Investigating the impact on mental wellbeing of an increase in pensions: A longitudinal analysis by area-level deprivation in England, 1998–2002. Social Science and Medicine 2022, 311, 115316.
  • Welsh C, Albani V, Matthews F, Bambra C. Inequalities in the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic: an ecological study of inequalities in mortality in the first wave and the effects of the first national lockdown in England. BMJ Open 2022, 12(8), e058658.
  • Albani V, Welsh C, Brown H, Matthews F, Bambra C. Explaining the deprivation gap in COVID-19 mortality rates: A decomposition analysis of geographical inequalities in England. Social Science and Medicine 2022, 311, 115319.
  • Brown H, Kirkman S, Albani V, Goffe L, Akhter N, Hollingsworth B, von Hinke S, Lake A. The impact of school exclusion zone planning guidance on the number and type of food outlets in an English local authority: A longitudinal analysis. Health and Place 2021, 70, 102600.
  • Welsh C, Albani V, Matthews F, Bambra C. The effects of the first national lockdown in England on geographical inequalities in the evolution of COVID-19 case rates: An ecological study. medRxiv 2021.
  • McNamara CL, Toch-Marquardt M, Albani V, Eikemo TA, Bambra C. The contribution of employment and working conditions to occupational inequalities in non-communicable diseases in Europe. European Journal of Public Health 2021, 31(1), 181-185.
  • Robinson N, McKay JA, Pearce MS, Albani V, Wright CM, Adamson AJ, Brown H. The biological and social determinants of childhood obesity: comparison of two cohorts 50 years apart. Journal of Pediatrics 2021, 228, 138-146.e5.
  • Welsh C, Albani V, Matthews F, Bambra C. Geographical inequalities in the evolution of COVID-19 mortality and effects of the first national lockdown in England: An ecological study. medRxiv 2021.
  • Simpson J, Albani V, Bell Z, Bambra C, Brown H. Effects of social security policy reforms on mental health and inequalities: A systematic review of observational studies in high-income countries. Social Science & Medicine 2021, 272, 113717.
  • Rice S, Albani V, Minos D, Fattakhova G, Mells GF, Carbone M, Flack S, Varvaropoulou N, Badrock J, Spicer A, Sandford RN, Shirley MDF, Coughlan D, Hirschfield G, Taylor-Robinson SD, Vale L, Jones DEJ. Effects of Primary Biliary Cholangitis on Quality of Life and Health Care Costs in the United Kingdom. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2021, 19(4), 768-776.e10.
  • Bambra C, Albani V, Franklin P. COVID-19 and the gender health paradox. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 2021, 49(1), 17-26.
  • Robinson N, Brown H, Antoun E, Godfrey KM, Hanson MA, Lilycrop KA, Crozier SR, Murray R, Pearce MS, Relton CL, Albani V, McKay JA. Childhood DNA methylation as a marker of early life rapid weight gain and subsequent overweight. Clinical Epigenetics 2021, 13, 8.
  • Albani V, Nishio K, Ito T, Kotronia E, Moynihan P, Robinson L, Hanratty B, Kingston A, Abe Y, Takayama M, Iinuma T, Arai Y, Ramsay SE. Associations of poor oral health with frailty and physical functioning in the oldest old: results from two studies in England and Japan. BMC Geriatrics 2021, 21, 187.
  • Albani V, Vale LD, Pearce M, Ostroumova E, Liutsko L. Aspects of economic costs and evaluation of health surveillance systems after a radiation accident with a focus on an ultrasound thyroid screening programme for children. Environment International 2021, 156, 106571.
  • Simpson J, Brown H, Albani V, Ball Z, Bambra C. Investigating the relationship between changes in social security benefits and mental health: a protocol for a systematic review. BMJ Open 2020, 10(6), e035993.
  • Torlinska J, Albani V, Brown H. Financial hardship and health in a refugee population in Australia: a longitudinal study. Journal of Migration and Health 2020, 1-2, 100030.
  • Giles EL, McGeechan GJ, Coulton S, Deluca P, Drummond C, Howel D, Kaner E, McColl E, McGovern R, Scott S, Stamp E, Sumnall H, Todd L, Vale L, Albani V, Boniface S, Frankham J, Ferguson J, Gilvarry E, Hendrie N, Howe N, Mossop H, Ramsay A, Stanley G, Newbury-Birch D. Brief alcohol intervention for risky drinking in young people aged 14 15 years in secondary schools: the SIPS JR-HIGH RCT. Public Health Research 2019, 7(9).
  • Albani V, Butler LT, Traill WB, Kennedy OB. Understanding fruit and vegetable consumption in children and adolescents. The contributions of affect, self-concept and habit strength. Appetite 2018, 120, 398-408.
  • Albani V, Bradley J, Wrieden WL, Scott S, Muir C, Power C, Fitzgerald N, Stead M, Kaner E, Adamson AJ. Examining Associations between Body Mass Index in 18–25 Year-Olds and Energy Intake from Alcohol: Findings from the Health Survey for England and the Scottish Health Survey. Nutrients 2018, 10(10), 1477.
  • Albani V, Celis-Morales C, O'Donovan CB, Walsh MC, Woolhead C, Forster H, Fallaize R, Macready AL, Marsaux CFM, Navas-Carretero S, San-Cristobal R, Kolossa S, Mavrogianni C, Lambrinou CP, Moschonis G, Godlewska M, Surwillo A, Traczyk I, Gundersen TE, Drevon CA, Daniel H, Manios Y, Martinez JA, Saris WHM, Lovegrove JA, Gibney MJ, Gibney ER, Mathers JC, Adamson AJ, Brennan L. Within-person reproducibility and sensitivity to dietary change of C15:0 and C17:0 levels in dried blood spots: Data from the European Food4Me Study. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 2017, 61(10), 1700142.
  • Chambers S, Barton KL, Albani V, Anderson AS, Wrieden WL. Identifying dietary differences between Scotland and England: a rapid review of the literature. Public Health Nutrition 2017, 20(14), 2459-2477.
  • Albani V, Butler LT, Traill WB, Kennedy OB. Fruit and Vegetable Intake: Change with Age across Childhood and Adolescence. British Journal of Nutrition 2017, 117, 759-765.
  • Giles EL, Coulton S, Deluca P, Drummond C, Howel D, Kaner E, McColl E, McGovern R, Scott S, Stamp E, Sumnall H, Tate L, Todd L, Vale L, Albani V, Boniface S, Ferguson J, Frankham J, Gilvarry E, Hendrie N, Howe N, McGeechan GJ, Stanley G, Newbury-Birch D. Multicentre individual randomised controlled trial of screening and brief alcohol intervention to prevent risky drinking in young people aged 14-15 in a high school setting (SIPS JR-HIGH): study protocol. BMJ Open 2016, 6(12), e012474.
  • Albani V, Celis-Morales C, Marsaux CFM, Forster H, O'Donovan CB, Woolhead C, Macready AL, Fallaize R, Navas-Carretero S, San-Cristobal R, Kolossa S, Mavrogianni C, Lambrinou CP, Moschonis G, Godlewska M, Surwillo A, Gundersen TE, Kaland SE, Manios Y, Traczyk I, Drevon CA, Gibney ER, Walsh MC, Martinez JA, Saris WHM, Daniel H, Lovegrove JA, Gibney MJ, Adamson AJ, Mathers JC, Brennan L. Exploring the association of dairy product intake with the fatty acids C15:0 and C17:0 measured from dried blood spots in a multipopulation cohort: Findings from the Food4Me study. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 2016, 60(4), 834-845.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Mills S, Albani V, Brown H. Estimating the direct and indirect risks of becoming food insecure during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional analysis using UK cohort data. In: UK Public Health Sciences. 2022, Elsevier.

• Reports

  • Bambra C, Smith KE, Nwaru C, Bennett N, Albani V, Kingston A, Todd A, Matthews F. Targeting Health Inequalities: Realising the Potential of Targets in Reducing Health Inequalities. Newcastle upon Tyne: Health Equity North and The Health Foundation, 2023.
  • Albani V, Franklin P, Bambra C. Gender equality and health in the EU. European Commission, 2021.

• Review

  • Fong M, Scott S, Albani V, Adamson A, Kaner E. 'Joining the Dots': Individual, sociocultural and environmental links between alcohol consumption, dietary intake and body weight—A narrative review. Nutrients 2021, 13(9), 2927.