Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing, and Pharmacy Research (UoA3)
Our research seeks to shapes policy and practice. We want to enhance health and wellbeing across the lifecourse. We're keen to address and improve the impacts of inequalities. We develop and deliver novel interventions to improve health and care.
Who we are
Research in UoA3 is carried out across the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) with key links across the University and with key NHS, policy and industrial partners. The strength of these relationships is evidenced by our status as an Academic Health Sciences Centre: Newcastle Health Innovation Partners.
Our research seeks to shapes policy and practice. We want to:
- enhance health and wellbeing across the lifecourse
- address and improve the impacts of inequalities
- develop and deliver novel interventions to improve health and care
The highlights of our return include an increase in our full time equivalent (FTE) of 137% since 2014. We also made 17 promotions, including nine to personal readerships or chairs.
We have a diverse early career research community too with 63% women and 47% with BAME backgrounds.
Our researchers work from three Schools:
They also use the Newcastle University Population Health Sciences Institute.
Allied Health
Dental Sciences
Our oral health-related research continues to focus on two areas of strength:
- Translational Oral Biosciences
- Oral Health Care and Epidemiology
We are working globally across the full translational pathway. We have strong policy links, e.g. with DHSC, NHSE and WHO, and commercial partners e.g., with GSK, Septodont, 3M-ESPE. These ensure our research has international reach and impact.
Pharmacy
Our research focuses on both Disease Selective Medicines and Rational Medicines Use. Our research has advanced treatments in chronic non-malignant neuropathic pain and cancer medicines.
A key research achievement includes $2M received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This helped us to develop biomarkers of the effects of excess vitamin A.
Public partnership and engagement
Our collaborative work with patients and their families is integral to our research output.
We have seen this grow over the last seven years. We often work with VOICE (Valuing Our Intellectual Capital and Experience) and Young Person’s Advisory Group.
We also train and employ experts-by-experience as co-researchers, which includes patients and family members.
Internationally, we collaborate with the international patient advocacy group the Temporomandibular Joint Association in Wisconsin, USA.
Research leadership
We lead many national and international initiatives, including:
- The national CRN Primary Dental Care Champions Group
- The Royal College of Surgeons of England and NHS England’s national review of care pathways
- The EU-funded (IMIJ2) Mobilise-D consortium of academic and industrial partners
- The decennial Adult and Child Dental Health Surveys
We are also involved in the leadership of major NIHR infrastructure:
- NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) - Fuse (2012-2022)
- NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) (2015-2020)
- NIHR Policy Research Unit (PRU) Behavioural Sciences (2019-2023)
- NIHR Policy Research Unit (PRU) Older People and Frailty (2019-2023)
Research case studies
Our high-quality research and excellent stakeholder engagement is on show in four impact case studies:
- Informing the WHO Guideline on sugars contributed to the global introduction of limits on sugar intake
- Increasing the use of local community pharmacies for minor illnesses reduces the burden on hospitals and GPs
- Improving school food standards and introducing universal free school meals for infants
- Best practice for healthcare professionals in supporting parents who have experienced a bereavement from a multiple pregnancy
Supporting parents who have experienced a bereavement from a multiple pregnancy
Coping with multiple pregnancy loss
Multiple births carry a greater risk of adverse outcome than single births. This can include the death of one or more babies.
Loss in a pregnancy stage is devastating, and a loss from a multiple pregnancy is a specific challenge. Parents are often faced with caring for surviving babies while undergoing the grieving process.
Sensitive research
Newcastle conducted sensitive, collaborative research with parents and healthcare professionals. They found several important changes in practice that parents found helpful.
One of these was to place a butterfly cot card indicating the baby has a deceased twin. This meant parents could avoid having to repeatedly explain the situation.
These recommendations have informed national and international best practice. As a result, this has increased clinicians’ confidence in supporting parents during such trauma.
Increasing the use of local community pharmacies for minor illnesses reduces the burden on hospitals and GPs
Facing pressure
A&E departments and GPs are facing unsustainable pressure. Treating minor illnesses in these locations is costly. It also reduces their capacity to treat more serious conditions.
A possible alternative is Community Pharmacies (CPs). Poor integration and a lack of evidence of their capacity discouraged general uptake.
Newcastle research found that CPs:
- are the most accessible healthcare provider
- have the capacity and knowledge to manage minor illness
- have NHS 111 referral pathway integration
Framework roll-out
In 2019, a new framework directed patients calling NHS 111 with minor illness to a CP where appropriate.
On average, over 5,500 patients per month calling NHS 111 are now recommended to a CP. This takes the pressure off A&E and GPs and allowing them to treat more urgent patients.
Improving school food standards and introducing universal free school meals for infants
Investigating school lunches
A good diet is especially important in children. It allows optimum growth and development and promotes healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.
Newcastle researchers went into schools to see what children ate. They found that school lunches were more nutritious than a packed lunch.
This research fed into the School Food Plan, which recommended two initiatives:
- the introduction of free school meals for all Key Stage 1 children in 2014
- simplified food standards across all maintained schools in 2015
Reducing childhood obesity
Schools adopted these initiatives and found them to be successful. A large-scale independent review found take-up rates of over 72% across all providers.
89% of caterers ensured children received a balanced meal. Around 50% of schools reported a general increase of healthy eating as a direct result.
The introduction of school food standards and free school meals ensures that all young children can eat a healthy lunch. It also means financial savings to families.
This contributes to a healthy diet and plays a part in reducing childhood obesity.
WHO sugar guideline and sugar tax
The most prevalent non-communicable diseases worldwide are dental caries and obesity. Sugar intake plays an important role in both.
Newcastle's research quantified the link between dental caries and the amount and frequency of free sugars intake. This evidence underpinned a strong recommendation in the 2015 WHO Guideline on sugars intake to cap intake at <10% of total daily energy. This Guideline influenced the worldwide introduction of sugar taxes to limit the population’s intake of sugar .
In the UK, a public campaign to introduce a sugar tax generated a Parliamentary debate. The campaign was informed by the WHO Guidelines. The resulting “Soft Drinks Industry Levy” was introduced in April 2018, prompting manufacturers to reformulate their products. Manufacturers have since substantially reduced the sugar content of their products.
Interdisciplinary research
We lead or contribute to several interdisciplinary Newcastle University Centres of Research Excellence, including:
- Healthier Lives
- Ageing and Inequalities
- Cancer
We also lead the Reproduction, Development and Child Health interdisciplinary research theme.
Facilities
We support our researchers with state-of-the-art facilities, including:
- access to the Dental Clinical Research Facility
- refurbishments to laboratories to strengthen neuroscience research
the NIHR Clinical Ageing Research Unit / Clinical Research Facility - co-locating Ageing researchers with clinical colleagues at the £8m Health Innovation Neighbourhood
- the £30M Dame Margaret Barbour Building, providing facilities for research into sport and exercise
- £4m investment in the new School of Pharmacy for state-of-the-art laboratories and resources
- the Newcastle Helix site houses a £44M headquarters for our National Innovation Centres for Ageing and Data
Equality, diversity and inclusion
EDI principles are at the core of our staff development strategy. It is put into practice via the EDI leads within our Institutes, Schools and Themes. Our key achievements include:
- Athena Swan Silver status for nine years. The former Institute for Health and Society was the first in NU to be awarded Silver status in 2011. It was renewed in 2014, and consolidated into a Faculty Silver Award in 2019
- since 2014, over a third of promotions have been to women. This included two thirds to personal readerships or chairs. The leadership roles held by women include the Dean and Deputy Dean of NUPHSI
NUPHSI are active in University EDI Initiatives. This includes:
- the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund
- the BAME staff network
- the University Disability Interest Group
NU is a member of the Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter. They are also part of the Business Disability Forum and is a Global Stonewall Diversity Champion.
Since March 2020 we have been mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on staff, students and their research - with particular emphasis on EDI factors.
Early careers researchers
We have lively postgraduate and early careers researchers communities. They all receive mentoring and support by our colleagues. Major highlights include:
- 164 PhDs awarded since 2014
- a diverse postgraduate researcher population (63% women and 47% from BAME backgrounds)
- promoting research excellence amongst all staff with full compliance with the Research Concordats
Our ambitions
We will focus on the mechanisms underlying major public health challenges in nutrition and oral health. This will allow us to develop new interventions to address these.
We will continue to invest in and grow our wider allied health research in managing long-term conditions too. We intend to focus on developing more junior colleagues.
Find out more/links
Newcastle University Population Health Sciences Institute
School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences