COEH Seminar Series

Concussion and cognitive function in Rugby: the evidence from the BRAIN study in context

Dr Valentina Gallo is a Rosalind Franklin Fellow and Associate Professor in Epidemiology and Sustainable Health at Campus Fryslân, University of Groningen where she is head of the Department of Sustainable Health. She trained in Medicine and Surgery first and Clinical Neurology after, at University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy). Valentina then gained an MSc in Demography and Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2004, and a PhD in Clinical and Experimental Neurology at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 2010. Valentina moved in 2006 to London (United Kingdom) to start her academic career at Imperial College London (ICL), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , and Queen Mary University of London. Valentina was awarded several research grants, including the HEalth and Ageing Data IN the Game of football (HEADING) Study and the BRain health and health AgeINg in retired rugby players (BRAIN) study by the Drake Foundation as a co-Principal Investigator. In total, she obtained the equivalent of £1.3M research funds. Valentina’s research is focused on the epidemiology of neurological disease, molecular and environmental epidemiology. In 2015 and 2018, Valentina was appointed as Visiting Professor at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples (Italy) by Prof Paolo Chiodini.

Long-COVID: Should this be in the occupational disease fast lane?

Dr Lesley Rushton is an epidemiologist/statistician with extensive research experience into occupational and environmental causes of ill health. She has specialised in health studies in various industries, including benzene exposure in the petrochemical industry, lung cancer and silicosis in the silica sand industry and dermatitis in the printing industry. She led the major study estimating the current and future burden of cancer due to occupation in Britain; methods have been extended in many countries including the EU and Canada and have informed risk reduction strategies. She collaborated in team designing and applying an occupational module for UK Biobank to evaluate occupational causes of COPD. Methodological research includes systematic review and meta-analysis in the areas of risk assessment and cross-design synthesis. She has been a member of several UK government committees and is currently the Chair of the UK Industrial Injuries Advisory Council and member of the UK Committee on Carcinogenicity.

Respiratory Hazards of Cleaning

Dr Martin Seed has worked as a consultant occupational physician within the NHS for 15 years based at Bolton and Preston. In parallel with this he has worked as a clinical senior lecturer at COEH since 2018 after several years as an honorary staff member. Following general medical training leading to MRCP he worked for 18 months as a specialist registrar in clinical immunology at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, before changing specialty to occupational medicine. His doctorate thesis, completed in 2013, is entitled ‘The recognition and prediction of chemical respiratory sensitisers with mechanistic hypotheses’ and he has several publications in this field.

The unspoken pandemic: Non-communicable Diseases

Dr Rodriguez-Fernandez is the Global Medical Director of Non-Communicable Disease (NCDs), Workplace Wellbeing/Wellness and Consulting for International SOS based London, UK. He also currently serves as the CEO and Founder of the NCD Asia Pacific Alliance as well as a Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester. He currently acts as Chief Medical Officer to various large Blue Chip Multinationals as well as Heads of State on complex decision making, health policy development, integrated models of healthcare delivery, non-communicable disease prevention and large scale employee centred Workplace Wellbeing interventions. He is also a Cordon Bleu trained chef..

Work and risk of Covid-19 in the UK. Results of the PROTECT study

Martie van Tongeren is Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health at The University of Manchester, and health theme lead within the Thomas Ashton Institute and the Manchester Environmental Research Institute. He leads a theme on Sector Specific studies within the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment. For more information about the PROTECT National Core Study please visit the website.

Asthma mimics; how to spot them in the occupational lung disease clinic

NOTE: A techincal issue occured during the middle of this seminar which requried some video editing. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Exploring contributors to mental ill health at work: have these stayed consistent or have they changed?

Dr Roxane L. Gervais is a Chartered Psychologist and a Registered Occupational Psychologist who provides consultancy services to organisations, using an evidenced-based approach to address their work-related concerns. Her expertise in assessing occupational safety and health issues to promote safe and healthy practices, includes developing and facilitating training in the workplace, inclusive of preventing work-related stress and leadership training. She is an invited speaker at conferences, has published on leadership, mental health, well-being, and leads projects internationally.