News 2020
A selection of news from the Usher Institute in 2020.
Dr Ruth McQuillan receives Chancellor’s Award for Teaching
Chancellor's Awards recognise innovation, relevance, creativity, personal dedication and impact in teaching and research.
Usher staff on REF panels
Appointments have now been made to the expert panels that will assess submissions to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
INSIGHT: Reflections on UNCOVER
Author: MPH alumna Emilie McSwiggan - reflecting on being part of the UNCOVER team.
Annual Recognition Awards
The Usher Institute is delighted to recognise the contribution of staff and students in our annual Recognition Awards.
Multiple measures boost Covid fight, study finds
Public health restrictions put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus are ranked for their effectiveness in a global study.
COVID-19 immunity research boosted by data platform
Members of BREATHE – the Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health have joined forces with researchers from across the UK to boost vital studies into coronavirus antibodies and immunity.
New study highlights disruptive impact of pandemic on non-COVID NHS care in Scotland
A new study highlights significant drops in A&E attendances, and emergency and planned hospital admissions across Scotland during the first few months of the pandemic.
Covid-19 risk tool helps guide treatment
People who are admitted to hospital with Covid-19 can be divided into four distinct groups, according to data from the world’s largest study of patients with the disease.
Covid-19’s effect on rural lives to be measured
How Covid-19 has affected people living in rural communities in Scotland is to be captured in a new survey.
OBE Honour for Professor Cathie Sudlow
Congratulations to Professor Cathie Sudlow.
DataLoch heralds new data-driven era in healthcare innovation
A new data repository has been created to bring together health and social care data for the first time, driving forward data-driven approaches to improving care.
Understanding Covid-19 and Tobacco in six Low and Middle Income Countries: findings and reflections from a desk-based mapping study
Authors: Hayley Dunlop, Prerna Krishan, Loren Kock, Fiona Dobbie
New global collaborative to enable secure COVID-19 data research at scale
The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator has announced a grant to Health Data Research UK to establish a new International COVID-19 Data Research Alliance and Workbench to support the rapid development of insights and treatments to fight the pandemic.
Salt water solution could treat COVID-19 symptoms
A study involving a simple salt water solution which may help to reduce the early symptoms and progression of COVID-19 has launched today.
Home blood pressure test eases GP demand
Patients who need a blood pressure test might not need to visit their GP thanks to a digital system that makes it easier to send results to their doctor.
Home DNA test data to boost Covid-19 fight
Data from popular home genetic-testing kits could help scientists shed light on why some people who catch coronavirus have no symptoms while others become very ill.
Usher Institute COVID-19 roundup
In this brief overview of some highlighted activities we aim to give you a flavour of the range of work that is ongoing across the Institute contributing to the COVID-19 response across the UK and internationally.
Usher researchers in the news
Academics from Usher have been making a significant contribution to coverage and improving public understanding of what we know and don’t know about COVID-19.
OPINION: World No Tobacco Day during the time of Coronavirus Crisis
Authors: Monika Arora, Fiona Davidson, Linda Bauld
Professor Harry Campbell Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
Professor Harry Campbell has been elected to the prestigious Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship.
Two-tier approach could begin lockdown end
Easing the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown could begin by strengthening protection for the most vulnerable while relaxing restrictions for everyone else, experts suggest.
New study to identify highest risk factors for COVID-19
A study aiming to recruit at least 12,000 people, aged 16 or over, from across the UK has launched.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered dashboard for COVID-19
An Artificial Intelligence-powered dashboard for tracking Covid-19-related public sentiment and opinion mining in social media platforms will be set up by a joint project between Professor Amir Hussain from the Edinburgh Napier University's School of Computing and Professor Aziz Sheikh of the Usher Institute.
Covid-19 and Tobacco
Study to generate evidence to support policy and practice to address tobacco use during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.
UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVid-19 Evidence Reviews)
Reviewing the evidence on COVID-19 relevant topics to support policy decisions.
Data harnessed to reveal Covid-19 spread in real time
A study that uses patient data to track the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic in near real time across Scotland is set to launch.
Survey of Covid-19’s impact on our everyday lives
A survey has been launched to capture how Covid-19 is affecting the mood of the nation.
Experts appointed to Covid-19 advisory group
Four Edinburgh researchers have joined a group providing expert advice to the Scottish Government on its response to Covid-19.
Systematic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) National Data view now covers more than 90% of the Scottish population
Scottish Cancer Registry and Intelligence Service (SCRIS) team achieves successful Systematic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) data connection in two more areas bringing national data coverage to more than 90% of the Scottish population. SCRIS also demonstrates prototype dashboard for SACT data to all Scottish Cancer Networks with very positive response
Usher PhD student team wins Digital Health Product Forge 2020
Usher PhD student Holly Tibble and her team wins the Digital Health Product Forge 2020
Academics join Royal Society of Edinburgh
Two members of Usher Institute have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Virtual quiz success
£110 raised for charity CHAS (Children's Hospices Across Scotland) in month-long virtual quiz
Usher Institute Data-Driven Innovation Hub sponsors Digital Health Product Forge 2020
Join Europe’s largest annual digital health & care hackathon on February 20-23, 2020.
Collaboration to improve life for ageing population
The University of Edinburgh and Legal & General have announced a major partnership to improve understanding of care in later life and to revolutionise how it is delivered.
Study seeks people with Northern Isles ancestry
People with at least two grandparents who were born in Orkney or Shetland are being asked to join a genetic study aimed at improving medical treatments.
Award Nomination for Scottish Cancer Registry and Intelligence Service (SCRIS)
The Scottish Cancer Registry and Intelligence Service (SCRIS) receives nomination in Holyrood’s sixth annual Digital Health & Care Awards.