Professor Nairn Wilson CBE, Dean and Head of King’s College London Dental Institute (KCLDI), joined colleagues and students from Portsmouth in welcoming the first cohort of fifth-year dental undergraduates from Kings and meeting representatives from the local dental community.

Students attended their first seminars in the building and had their first sessions in the brand new state-of-the-art clinic. Meanwhile over 80 people from local dental practices toured the new £9 million facility and had an opportunity to see for themselves where dental professionals of the future are being trained. Staff, students and representatives from the South’s dental practices also converged to hear a lecture by Professor Wilson on The Future of Dentistry.

The Dental Academy is a brand new purpose-designed facility to train final-year undergraduate dentists and dental care professionals.  It represents the innovative educational partnership set up between the University of Portsmouth and KCLDI.

The arrival of the first cohort of 20 students from KCLDI marks a significant milestone and the successful culmination of over two years preparatory planning. Professor Wilson said that it was a pleasure to welcome the new students from KCLDI and returning students from the University of Portsmouth to the Dental Academy where he looked forward to a long and successful partnership.

Every year around 80 student dentists from KCLDI will join dental hygiene therapy and nursing students from Portsmouth to train and work together in a team-based model of primary care dentistry for 10 weeks each. Together they will provide high quality, prevention-based minimal intervention care to a diverse range of patients in and around Portsmouth, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The new building development more than doubles the scale of the pre-existing William Beatty building on the Ravelin Park site and adds a further 20 dental training chairs, a radiography suite a state-of-the-art instrument decontamination centre and a suite of teaching rooms.

The Dental Academy plans to work with key stakeholders including local dental professionals, health and other organisations to raise the oral health aspirations of local communities. It will also offer a proactive and dynamic programme of continuing professional development training events for local dental care professionals.

Building and set up costs were funded by grants from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the NHS. The additional annual running costs will be funded by a contract with Portsmouth NHS and the Dental Service Increment for Teaching (DSIFT).

The University of Portsmouth Dental Academy will sit within the Faculty of Science and replaces the existing School of Professionals Complementary to Dentistry which opened in 2005. The official opening of the new facilities will take place later in the year.

The report, by Dr Lorenzo Stafford of the University of Portsmouth’s psychology department, says heavy caffeine users are the only known ‘drug users’ to see their habit in a positive light.

His study investigated people’s underlying feelings about caffeine and the results are published in the latest issue of Psychology of Addicted Behaviors.

He said: “Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, cola, Red Bull and even in chocolate. It is the most widely consumed drug in the world, with all of the hallmarks of more addictive drugs, including withdrawal symptoms, tolerance and dependence.

“Our findings show that the more caffeine a person consumes, the more it is likely they will see caffeine as a good thing.”

For the purposes of the study, Dr Stafford focused on tea and coffee drinkers. The research used an implicit association task to test the underlying opinions of people who drink no caffeine, those who drink one-three cups a day, and those who drink five or more cups a day. To disguise the true nature of the study, participants were asked to drink only water from the night before they took part.

The findings show that those who never drink caffeine and those who are moderate users were more likely to associate the word caffeine with negative words, including ‘slime’, ‘failure’ and ‘bad’.

Heavy caffeine drinkers on the other hand were faster to categorise caffeine with positive words including ‘joy’, ‘success’ and good’.

Dr Stafford said: “We were surprised that moderate users of caffeine categorised caffeine as negative. It was also interesting that despite their different opinions on caffeine, both moderate and high coffee drinkers showed withdrawal symptoms compared to those who never drank tea or coffee.

“Heavy smokers usually associate tobacco with negative things in similar tests, possibly related to the theory they might ‘need’ tobacco but not ‘like’ it. Caffeine is also addictive but heavy consumers of coffee and tea evidently don’t feel their habit carries a social stigma.”

Childhood brain tumour research charities Ali’s Dream and Charlie’s Challenge have jointly committed £400,000 and Brain Tumour Research, which represents a consortium of brain tumour charities and other partners, has committed a further £100,000. The money will enable the University to undertake further dedicated brain tumour research.

Brain tumours are the most lethal and devastating tumours. They are the most common cause of death in children after accidents and the most common form of cancer in people under 40 but brain tumour research receives less than 1 per cent (0.7%) of national cancer research spending in the UK.

The £500K funding will pay for a further four research posts at the university to pursue crucial research into the killer disease in both adults and children. They will work under the guidance of Geoff Pilkington, Professor of neuro-oncology.

Professor Pilkington said: “Currently a disproportionate amount of UK research funding is channelled into leukaemia and the more pervasive cancers such as breast and prostate. We need to significantly increase the level of funding that goes into brain tumour research.

“Continuity of research programmes is essential if we are to secure the critical biological knowledge to under-pin the development of successful treatments and turn round the fortunes of those diagnosed with a brain tumour. The generous funding from the Brain Tumour Research member charities will help ensure that the long-term aim to find a cure for brain tumours is maintained and secured.”

Sue Farrington Smith, Director of Brain Tumour Research, said: “We would like to see a commitment from the newly-elected Government to help establish a working group to review how UK cancer research funding is allocated across different disease types.”

Julie Phelan, set up the charity, Ali’s Dream, along with family and friends, following the loss of her daughter, Alison, three weeks before her eighth birthday in 2001. She said:

“People with brain tumours rarely survive – the number of young adults and children who die is scary compared with other cancers, but the brain tumour world is let down by lack of funding as it is a relatively rare cancer.

“I am determined to see brain tumour charities having the same voice as the big charities – we need to be heard and to be taken seriously.”

Professor Pilkington said: “The work my colleagues and I are doing in the laboratory will eventually result in benefits for patients. These real people who are desperate for a cure provide a firm focus for our sustained research efforts.

The University of Portsmouth has four neuro-oncology researchers graduating with PhDs this summer – more than the rest of the UK produces on average in two years.

Arthur Butt, professor of cellular neurophysiology in the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science, is one of only two UK scientists to be part of a new 3million euro EC-funded European School of Glial Cell Research. He has also won £350k from the Medical Research Council to further his own research in the field.

Glial cells are named after the Greek word for glue – reflecting the historical concept that glia are the connective tissue of the brain. They are the most abundant cells in the brain but have remained relatively ignored until recently because scientists thought that they were simply the ‘packing’ around the brain.

But scientists now believe that they could be integral to crucial discoveries about some of the world’s currently incurable brain diseases.

“It’s staggering that glial cells are so important yet we know so little about them. Most people haven’t even heard of them and even neurologists are often unaware of their importance. Any strategy which aims to promote brain repair will involve glia so it is crucial that we drive research to understand them,” said Professor Butt.

The brain contains two kinds of cell, nerve cells that transmit information and glial cells which were always thought to be simply the ‘polystyrene packing around the expensive gadgetry’ of the brain. Only in the last 20 years it has become evident that these highly active cells are essential for the nerve cells to function correctly and are involved in virtually every aspect of nervous system.

The £350K funding from the Medical Research Council will allow Professor Butt to study a specific protein called Kir4.1, which is essential for glial cells to operate. His work has already shown that loss of the Kir4.1 protein, which helps to mop up certain chemicals in the brain, can cause brain damage.

“Glial cell research is fundamental – it’s relevant to every pathology in the brain and these recent grant wins are recognition of the importance of the work. I am very hopeful that we can make some groundbreaking discoveries into the causes of brain disease,” said Professor Butt.

Portsmouth and Manchester are the only two UK Institutions involved in the project which will be lead from Germany and which brings together researchers from Sweden, France, Israel and the Czech Republic.

The European School of Glial Cell Research is a virtual centre which will see scientists from across the globe sharing research, discoveries and advances in glia science and working together towards new breakthroughs.

It will be led by the Max Plank Institute in Germany where pioneering work on glial cells really began. The UK arm will be lead by Professor Butt at the University of Portsmouth and by Professor Alex Verkhratsky at the University of Manchester.

Professor Butt said: “Germany has dozens of glia experts but the UK has less than half a dozen so our involvement in this significant and puts the University of Portsmouth firmly on the map. The opportunities for research here are going to be very exciting indeed.”

We started the academic year with over 800 students in the School on courses ranging from pre-degree to Professional Doctorate. We have added two new courses this year, FdSc Speech, Language and Communication Science and BSc (Hons) Acute Clinical Healthcare, which is a top-up degree for Diploma/Foundation Degree graduates. We have welcomed for the first time, full-time students to our FdSc Paramedic Science who will, with continued support from our partners South Central, Isle of Wight and South East Coast Ambulance Services bring a new paramedic workforce into the region in two years’ time.

We are in the planning stages of bringing the ExPERT Centre into the School in the spring and building on our shared expertise in simulated clinical skills learning. The high fidelity simulation resources in ExPERT will complement the School’s new X-Ray and VERT simulation suites and our much-used Clinical Skills Laboratory. These extensive resources enable us to develop students’ clinical skills in a safe, protected simulated environment before they develop those skills further working with real patients in clinical practice.

Social work students face an exciting future too. We look forward to hearing the outcomes of the Social Work Taskforce review shortly as the recommendations will impact on the training and education of social workers across the country.

We are working with our partner organisations, including the South Central Strategic Health Authority, to ensure that our courses meet the demands of the employers and so that we can contribute to the health and social care workforce by providing practitioners and associate practitioners in the numbers needed and who are fit for purpose.

I can only give you a brief flavour of what is happening within this dynamic School.

Jeannette Bartholomew
Head of School of Health Sciences and Social Work (SHSSW)

The seminars are free with a sandwich lunch provided. To book a place on a seminar please call Louise on 023 9284 4408 or email louise.pulley@port.ac.uk. A location map is available upon request. Times: 12–2pm (James Watson-based seminars) and 1–2.45pm (Park-based seminars).
31 March
Park Building Room 3.03 University of Portsmouth
‘Children, Food and Health: Assuming the Worst’?
Dr Joseph Burridge, lecturer, SSHLS
28 April
Park Building Room 3.03 University of Portsmouth
Freaks, geniuses or ‘biological citizens?’: Discourses of mental distress in British television documentaries
Dr Stephen Harper, senior lecturer, SCAFM
13 May
James Watson West Room 0.322/0.323

University of Portsmouth
Re-modelling healthcare interventions for the internet: opportunities and challenges
Professor Lucy Yardley, School of Psychology, University of Southampton
26 May
Park Building Room 3.03 University of Portsmouth
Who are the middle classes?
Dr Simon Stewart, senior lecturer, SSHLS
14 June
James Watson West Room 0.322/0.323
University of Portsmouth
Screening for risk drinking in pregnancy
Dr Lesley Smith, School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University
23 June
Park Building Room 3.03 University of Portsmouth
Research with vulnerable groups of children and young people: methodological and ethical issues and implications
Kim Bown, senior lecturer, SHSSW

Women also experience a ‘happiness bounce’ towards the end of their working lives but it is much smaller than men’s.

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth studied 5,000 public sector workers as part of a study with spin-out company Quality Of Working Life Ltd (QoWL). Their results show that employees aged over 60 have a significantly higher quality of working life than their middle-aged colleagues and this pre-retirement ‘bounce’ is more pronounced in men.

The research also shows that quality of working life tends to be high in young workers but those aged 25-59 have the lowest quality of working life, as measured by the Work-Related Quality of Life scale.

Dr Darren Van Laar, of the university’s psychology department, said: “Previous research has shown that women are generally happier than men at work. However, this study shows that as we get older the difference in happiness narrows and the happiness factor of men and women completely reverses at around age 60.

“At this age, men, with several years of working life still to go, become much happier at work than women for the first time.

“Men might be happier as they approach retirement because they tend to have jobs that offer more flexibility and they are able to wind down more and reduce their stress. Also, men may typically have the prospect of a much higher pension, which also provides more flexibility and options.

“The differences between men and women might also have something to do with gender differences in attitudes towards work and retirement. Men may look forward to retirement much more and see it as an opportunity to stop working and spend more time doing the things they like doing.

“Women on the other hand may value work for the social opportunities and networks it provides rather than simply as a means of earning money. The prospect of more leisure time may not seem nearly as attractive because they may see themselves as ‘still working’ but at home and in a different way. And the prospect of more time at home with their husbands may not be a cause of joy and happiness.”

The researchers say six core factors affect an individual’s quality of working life:

• job and career satisfaction
• general well-being
• stress at work
• control at work
• home-work interface (work-life balance)
• working conditions

Dr Van Laar said: “While we are only now beginning to identify the factors that contribute to quality of working life, this research underlines the potential benefits from taking action to improve the work environment and experience for all age groups.

“This becomes more than of academic interest when the trends are analysed more closely in the light of the planned increases in retirement ages.”

Quality of Working Life Ltd will now work with employers to find out why men see work in a more positive light after the age of 60 and to see if those factors can be extended to help women too.

Quick Links

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The event was hosted by Dr Evan Harris MP in the superb surroundings of the Members Dining Room and showcased the UK’s excellent medical research base, including the significant contribution made by medical research charities.

Julie has received almost £60,000 from the National Osteoporosis Society to help find ways of reducing the number of falls in hospitals and care homes, and was invited to attend the Westmintr summer reception to talk about her work. Julie’s study will investigate the psychological effects on patients in hospitals and care homes who are given advice and aids to help them move around, such as using handrails and walking aids. It will focus on talking to patients and their carers in hospitals and care homes and finding out what they think about the advice and practical measures recommended for preventing falls.

Speaking at the event, Professor Sir John Bell said: ‘The UK’s achievements as a leader in medical research should be celebrated. Investment in UK medical science has consistently provided research innovations that have a major impact on our healthcare. Key to delivering this agenda is a workforce of talented researchers and doctors, who are appropriately trained and supported throughout their careers. We must continue to invest in our aspiring researchers and doctors, allowing them to translate the latest breakthroughs in medical science into direct patient benefits.’

Julie’s research will be carried out over the next two years and the results are intended to help formulate guidelines for healthcare professionals to improve quality of patient care and the advice and treatment they receive to prevent a fall.

PEP is a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course for health professionals developed and delivered by the University. This one-day conference offered an update to past participants on more recent developments in the area and highlighted key features of this CPD programme to health professionals.

Organised by SHSSW and funded by NHS Education South Central, the conference covered a variety of topics on evidence-based practice – from its history, to current use of clinical guidelines, to practical sessions on searching NHS Evidence, as well as interactive exercises on understanding research and undertaking change management.

The keynote speakers for the event included Professor Paul Glaziou (Director of Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford) and Dr Gillian Leng (Chief Operating Officer for NHS Evidence). The morning session chaired by University of Portsmouth Vice-Chancellor Professor John Craven included sessions on history of evidence based practice and its future directions. The afternoon session chaired by Dr Yeo, Chief Executive of Hampshire Partnership Trust concentrated on sources of evidence and implementation of evidence- based practice.

To view the presentation handouts or for further information, please visit www.ebp4nhs.org.uk

The system is being used to demonstrate radiography techniques practised in UK hospitals to radiography students and was selected due to its advanced digital imaging capabilities, user-friendly interface and future proof design. Visual demonstrations across a range of subjects including image manipulation techniques for scenarios such as leg fracture examinations are enabling students to gain greater knowledge across the radiography and imaging spectrum.

Derek Adrian-Harris, SHSSW Professional Lead for Radiography, said: ‘We are not just preparing students for the first day of their radiography careers, but for their initial years in practice. This system is an example of the direction in which X-ray is moving; it has advanced digital capabilities, a sensible user interface and the flexibility to provide a patient orientated service.

‘It has opened the door to new ways of teaching and we have only scratched the surface of its capabilities. We now lecture and demonstrate a broader range of subjects in more depth, such as contrast density resolution, pattern recognition, feature extraction, lesion identification and pathology techniques, enabling students to gain a better understanding of radiography and imaging as a whole.’

Lecturers have identified synergies between the system’s strengths in a teaching environment and in a clinical setting. The Ysio Wi-D’s straightforward user interface reduces the input required by lecturers to produce an image, enabling them to focus on their students, just as a radiographer would their patients.

Jane Schwieso, Regional Sales Manager at Siemens Healthcare said: ‘These systems are being embraced by hospitals across the UK and it is important that students are being taught on equipment that realistically reflects the technology used in a clinical setting.

‘The students at Portsmouth will be prepared to use the Ysio Wi-D in practice and we are delighted that Siemens technology is enhancing the education of the next generation of medical professionals.’