Durham University: Public health research receives funding boost

Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, is a founding member of the School for Public Health Research (SPHR). Now the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has announced that Fuse will continue to be a member of SPHR for the next five years.

Also, SPHR has been awarded a further £25 million in funding for its third five-year term, which begins in April 2022. Its research themes will be: children, young people and families, public mental health, and place and communities.

Fuse – boundary-breaking health research
Fuse is a collaboration of five universities in the North East of England with a mission to transform public health and wellbeing.

Prof Carolyn Summerbell, from our Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, is Fuse’s Deputy Director. She said: “Being a member of the SPHR through Fuse enables academics from Durham University, and across the North East, to work with communities and practitioners to tackle real-world problems and create solutions that make an impact on people’s lives.

“From looking at food through thinking about mental health, the range of public health is broad but all of it applies to our everyday lives. We’re very excited that we have the opportunity to continue to develop our research in SPHR over the next five years.”

About the SPHR
The renewed NIHR SPHR is a partnership between nine leading centres of academic public health research across England. It aims to build the evidence base for effective public health practice by bringing together expertise in one virtual organisation.

Its previous successes include exploring the nature and acceptability of local authority actions to restrict the spread of hot-food takeaways, which has helped planners and public health professionals to create healthier neighbourhoods.