Usher Institute

News 2022

A selection of news from the Usher Institute in 2022.

Annual Recognition Awards

Usher Annual Recognition awards
The Usher Institute is delighted to recognise the contribution of staff and students in our Annual Recognition Awards.

EAVE II shortlisted in HDR UK Annual Awards

Photo of EAVE II group members
The EAVE II project has been shortlisted for Health Data Research UK's Team of the Year Award.

COPS study finds no increased miscarriage risk due to COVID-19 vaccines

Obesity in Pregnancy panel banner
There is no evidence of higher risk of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy following vaccination against Covid-19 or infection with the disease, according to a new study.

Launch of community for data-driven innovation in health and social care

Light bulbs with photographs showing collaboration, health care professionals and data
The Usher Innovation Community will put data at the centre of responses to health and social care system challenges.

Annual Lecture success

We were delighted to host Dr Fiona Godlee for this year's Usher Institute Annual Lecture.

Being Human Festival

The Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society is hosting a series of events as part of the UK Being Human Festival in November.

Vouchers help to quit smoking in pregnancy

Pregnant women in grey tracksuit sat in chair holding photograph of scan
High street voucher scheme helps double the number of women who stop smoking during pregnancy in a UK-wide study.

Life science industry leader appointed Director of Health and Social Care Data-Driven Innovation programme

Marcus Harrison headshot pictured alongside Usher Institute and Data-Driven Innovation initiative logos
Dr Marcus Harrison, formerly Chief Operating Officer at the Medicines Discovery Catapult, will lead the Health and Social Care Data-Driven Innovation (HSCDDI) programme at the University of Edinburgh as it seeks to drive advances in health and social care through the application of data science.

Molecular Epidemiology Group Meeting Comes to Edinburgh

MEG UK Annual Meeting Mon 28 Nov 2022, Edinburgh
Monday 28 November 2022 | ABSTRACT DEADLINE EXTENDED 30 SEPTEMBER

Congratulations Professors!

Congratulations to new Professors Miguel Bernabeu, Jonine Figueroa and Sarah Stock

CO-CONNECT showcases value of PPI

CO-CONNECT, a project working with Usher Institute researchers, recently published two videos highlighting the importance and value of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in health data research.

Novel algorithm facilitates insights into diverse types of problems, from healthcare to finance

image of computer circuit board
A new feature-selection algorithm can be applied to any dataset, yielding faster data analysis.

Substantial and persistent reduction in asthma attacks during COVID-19 pandemic

a woman wearing a medical face mask
A study of a national primary care database of nearly 10 million patients across England has found that rates of asthma attacks were up to 63% lower in 2020-21 than the previous 4 years.

AI better at spotting heart failure than current tests

Man with hand on heart with ECG line superimposed
Artificial intelligence can help diagnose acute heart failure with more accuracy than current blood tests alone, research suggests.

New Usher building celebrates topping out milestone

Aziz Sheikh performs topping out ceremony alongside Lord Provost of Edinburgh and Jonathan Seckl
Construction of the new Usher building at Edinburgh BioQuarter has reached its highest point.

14th International Cleft Congress

Cleft 2022 Congress Logo
11-15 July 2022, Edinburgh

Hebridean study to explore disease and genes link

People with at least two grandparents from the Hebrides in Scotland are being asked to take part in a major genetic study.

Birthday Honours Congratulations

Ruth McQuillan, Aziz Sheikh and Harry Campbell headshots
Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh OBE, Professor Harry Campbell MBE and Dr Ruth McQuillan MBE among this year's Birthday Honours list.

Health Data Science CPD course achieves FEDIP accreditation

Our application for accreditation, from the Federation for Informatics Professionals in Health and Social Care (FEDIP), was approved. Students will now have the FEDIP logo and new text added onto their certificate of completion.

Usher Institute REF 2021 impact case studies

mother and baby
A summary of our key impact case studies from the Usher Insitute as submitted to REF 2021

Professors Bruce Guthrie and Cathie Sudlow - Fellows of Academy of Medical Sciences

Professors Cathie Sudlow and Bruce Guthrie headshots
Professors Cathie Sudlow and Bruce Guthrie becomes Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

MSc Epidemiology nominations for the 2022 student-led Teaching Awards

In 2021, the MSc Epidemiology programme was successfully launched. It has been an outstanding achievement for the meaningful connections the team have already made with their students, and this has been further evidenced by the nomination they received in the 2022 student-led Teaching Awards, in the “Outstanding Innovation in Digital Teaching” category.

Most care homes in SE Scotland still use paper-based management systems

Two older women in conversation, linking arms
Researchers call for digital route map to prevent sector being left behind

New tech spin-out to boost drug discovery with streamlined analysis of genomic data

DNA double helix
Omecu Ltd was developed following an MRC Confidence in Concept project, part-funded by the Usher Institute Health and Social Care Data-Driven Innovation Hub.

Collaboration with Public Health Scotland brings awards

The EAVE II team, led by Professor Aziz Sheikh, Usher Institute Director, is a close collaboration with Public Health Scotland - publishing important contributions to help our understanding of COVID-19.

Professors Gillian Mead and John Norrie - Fellows of Royal Society of Edinburgh

image of Gillian Mead and John Norrie
Professors Gillian Mead and John Norrie from the Usher Institute become Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

A new model of pathogen transmission in developing urban landscapes

an infographic showing pathogen transmission
A new study sheds light on how structures within developing cities can be exploited by new diseases

Genetic study gives insights into severe Covid-19

The world’s largest study of the genetics of critical Covid-19, involving more than 57,000 people, has revealed fresh details about some of the biological mechanisms behind the severe form of the disease.

Lockdown boost for kids’ vaccination rates in Scotland

Infographic summarising key findings that preschool immunisation uptake was improved during the pandemic
Childhood vaccination rates significantly increased in Scotland during the first lockdown compared with the year before the pandemic, according to new research.

Two studies independently find only small increased risk of blots clots in the veins of the brain following COVID-19 vaccination

Infogrphic showing very small increase in risk of blood clots in veins of brain following Oxford-AZ COVID-19 vaccination
Two large studies carried out independently in the UK both found a slight increase in risk of intracranial thromboses in some populations after the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr Ahmar Shah - Director of Innovation

Head shots of Drs Kathrin Cresswell and Ahmar Shah
Dr Ahmar Shah succeeds Dr Kathrin Cresswell as the Director of Innovation for the Usher Institute.

Usher Masters Alumni network

New network for alumni of the Usher Institute launched

Proteins could be key to long and healthy life

image of blood
Two blood proteins have been shown by scientists to influence how long and healthy a life we live, research suggests.

Covid-19 linked to complications during pregnancy

small detail image of larger infographic
Women who have Covid-19 towards the end of their pregnancy are vulnerable to birth-related complications. They are more likely to have complications than those who get Covid-19 in the earlier stages of pregnancy or who haven’t had Covid-19 at all.