It is an interesting time for drug development and clinical trials. The corona virus issues have ignited a groundswell of support. I think we are about to see a surge in reports and results from clinical research, treatment and vaccine development.

We’ll be hearing about efficacy and safety: Questions such as – Does it work? How safe is it? How can production be scaled up to meet needs? What is the risk benefit assessment?

There are laudable collaborative efforts from different disciplines and different sectors nationally and internationally.

There are well-defined processes in place to ensure good practice and regulation. There will be innovative proposals for fast-tracking promising leads. There are likely to be exciting findings and also disappointing findings, and most probably some surprising findings – such is the nature of research and development.

Communication will also be key. Fake news and over-hyped reports are potential concerns. There is a sense of urgency. There also needs to be a degree of patience as well because sound scientific evidence, fact-checking, rigorous testing and methodology are very important.

These are interesting times and there are a plethora of good intentions and talented people working flat-out.

I think we can be realistic and hopeful too!

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 27/4/20

I just wanted to share some moments of reflection, captured in snapshots I have taken over the winter. Here’s to freedom and flexibility; working on what you want and where you want.

The photos are Manchester city centre; an evening shot from a car park in Cheshire just south of Manchester; and some coastal views in Nice, France.

Sometimes it feels good to pause, take a breath and appreciate the different shades of winter in places where we find ourselves. Beyond traditional winter scenes the winter colour palette can be cool and deep, and also diverse.

Take care – the weather is wild and unpredictable at times these days. Here’s to clearer skies and calmer times…

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 12.3.20

Population Health Intervention Research (PHIR) is a field of growing interest.
Indeed, PHIR and the evaluation of PHIR may become increasingly important for health systems* at many levels and also for public health policy.

What is PHIR and what is its impact?
‘Population health intervention research (PHIR) can be defined as the use of scientific research methods to produce knowledge on policy and intervention programs’ ‘Whether or not they are conducted in the context of the health system, these policies and programs have the potential to make an impact at the population level’

The complexity of the field of PHIR requires an interdisciplinary approach.

A highlight of 2019 for me and A Tree of Life Sciences® was to see the publication of 2 important papers of which I am proud to be a co-author.

One of the publications discusses the place of theories in PHIR, and addresses why theories can be useful, and how to choose and use the most relevant of them in evaluating PHIR. The other publication addresses the question of the place or role for pilot studies in PHIR because ‘pilot studies are well-established in biomedical research, but the situation is more ambiguous for PHIR, in which a pilot study could refer to different purposes’

These publications represent the culmination of a challenging and very interesting international project, involving experts from a number of different disciplines and fields. Position statements, further research directions, and recommendations are included in the publications.

I think that bearing in mind all the different possible approaches and methods a key point made is ‘the questions to be addressed should drive the approach and methods’.

Transcending borders and boundaries
I am very proud to have participated in the international workshop held in Paris (November 2016), and to have contributed to the development and the writing of subsequent papers and publications. It was very challenging and also very rewarding to be able to learn so much from the exchanges between researchers from different disciplines and fields, and from different countries including France, Canada and the UK.

Involvement in international collaborative projects and open access publication is in keeping with my personal values, and those of A Tree of Life Sciences® in “transcending borders and boundaries” in high value projects.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 27.1.20

………………………

For further reading, these open access publications are available in Trials Journal BMC (part of Springer Nature):
Moore et al. Trials (2019) 20:285 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3383-7
Thabane et al. Trials (2019) 20:309 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3422-4

*Health systems are all organisations, people and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore or maintain health. This includes efforts to influence determinants of health as well as more direct health-improving activities (World Health Organization definition).
Health systems can be viewed as the organisation of people, institutions, and resources that deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations (Wikipedia)

I am proud to be a co-author of a new and key publication in the field of population health intervention research (PHIR). This is the culmination of a challenging and very interesting 2-year project, involving experts from a number of different disciplines and fields.

It is published by Springer Nature in the Open Access journal ‘Trials’. Click here.

“Population health intervention research: what is the place for pilot studies?”
Authors: Lehana Thabane, Linda Cambon, Louise Potvin, Jeanine Pommier, Joëlle Kivits, Laetitia Minary, Kareen Nour, Pierre Blaise, Julie Charlesworth, François Alla and Discussion Panel.

Involvement in this international collaborative project and open access publication is in keeping with my personal values, and those of A Tree of Life Sciences in “transcending borders and boundaries” in high value projects.

More to follow about this PHIR publication and involvement in related work.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth

‘Walking the talk’ with the month of April 2019 spent in Nice, France.

A great thing about being an independent consultant is that much of the work can be done from anywhere – I have a particular fondness for Nice.

Many of you might recognise from one of my photos (the sea-view, from my LinkedIn photo header of several years), that I use my distinctive A Tree of Life Sciences® logo and image as a watermark on my slides in presentations etc.

It’s invigorating to get away and create an environment to facilitate creative thinking and fresh ideas; this time developing talks.

Life throws all sorts of things at us all, over the years; but these days I am loving my work and being able to contribute something a bit different on occasions.

It was great to get away on this occasion in Nice, France. It is also great to be back home, in the UK.

Returned to the UK and discovered something new for the ‘The Spring Collection’

Full of the joys of Spring and with a spring in my step, I’d like to share some photos taken on 5th May on a family outing.

I wanted to capture a moment to share the magical experience of a walk in a bluebell wood, near to home in England! Awash with a carpet of bluebells, indicators of ancient British woodland.

For 6 things you might not know about bluebells click here

Here’s to work/life balance!

by Dr Julie Charlesworth

(All my own photos. P.S. that’s me and and my hubby of 39 years! We are also proud parents and grandparents together!)

I was honoured and very chuffed to have received a personal thank you from the University of Manchester for my support of the University of Manchester Access Programme (MAP) and in addition my student mentoring as part of the Manchester Gold programme in particular the impact on one of their PhD students.

A reception with about 150 people was held on February 27th in the Manchester Art Gallery. What a wonderful welcome with a personalised ‘party bag’ – actually it was very tastefully presented and it included a beautiful limited edition art print of Manchester University on the front of the card. Inside was a handwritten personal letter – what a lovely thoughtful gesture. It will be treasured!

The event was hosted by the university chancellor and poet, Lemm Sissay. Lemm opened the celebrations with a stirring and inspiring rendition of his poem ‘Making a difference’ – now that’s how to connect with an audience (learning point to self here)! A participant in the MAP recounted how the programme had truly ‘made a difference’ to her life and career opportunities.

Meeting Lemm Sissay

The guests at the reception were made to feel like special friends. It was great to see some now familiar faces and also to meet new ‘friends’ with diverse talents and careers: people with a common respect and fondness for the University who had contributed their time and ‘given back’ towards the future.

There was much mingling and serious talk; merriment and banter; and opportunities for happy photo shots.

[Note to myself – in 2016, the first time I saw Lemm speaking I think it may have rekindled the embers of my inner poet self – a little part of my soul. Subsequently, after a particularly inspiring science event I briefly dabbled in the art of poetry myself with a short poem. Better stick to the day job me thinks – but I’m happy to be a scientist and science communicator who might occasionally get carried away in the moment and burst into poetry (of a sort) – much to the embarrassment of my family. After all, science can also be ‘sheer poetry’!]

I left the Gallery with a sense of the importance of friendships and giving. I had a lovely evening and I very much appreciated being acknowledged in such a friendly and personal way.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth