It is a new year with another round of good news for the SalfordFASD team.
According to Expertscape, an organisation which rates individuals or institution according to expertise in a specific biomedical subject, the SalfordFASD group (based at the University of Salford) has been rated as the group with the most expertise on FASD in the UK. Expertscape provides ratings on expertise based on country-wise, regional, city-wide, institutional and individual contributions to the advancement of knowledge in biomedical disciplines. The link to this ranking can be found here: https://expertscape.com/ex/fasd/c/uk
The much-awaited 6th European FASD conference was held in Arendal, Norway from the 12th to 14th September, after two years of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly all continents were represented in this conference with over 20 plenary sessions and over 50 parallel sessions. Several organisations and researchers were present to deliver sessions on the progress of their work in advancing knowledge/awareness about FASD in their respective countries.
Amongst the countries represented, there was the remarkable presence of UK researchers and FASD-focused organisations. See picture!
We are currently looking for two new team members for our exciting new research project on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (a parenting intervention). The parenting intervention is called SPECIFIC and you can read more about it here.
We are most pleased to announce that a member of our research team has been promoted to ‘Professor of Forensic Psychology’. This is the second professorial appointment in one year from our research team!
Today, and with so much excitement, we are happy to announce that one of our researchers has gotten a new appointment. Nicola Hickman is now the Assistant Service Lead at Nudge Education’s FASD and Complex Case Service. Nudge Education is an educational service which helps schools and Local Authorities support those students who are at-risk or have already become chronically disengaged, to help them rediscover a life worth living.
This month, we warmly welcome another member to the SalfordFASD research team – Ruth Morrello!
Ruth is a community midwife who works in central Manchester who has recently carried out a Masters in Public Health at the University of Salford. As a midwife, a large part of her role involves giving health advice to pregnant women to optimise maternal and infant wellbeing. As part of her Masters, she was keen to take up the opportunity to research the prevention of FASD, as she felt that was a key activity for a midwife to be involved in. As part of her master’s dissertation, Ruth worked with the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership to evaluate their ‘Reducing Alcohol Exposed Pregnancy (AEP) Programme’ on midwifery practice. The preventing AEP programme was a suite of activities that had been trialled in two NHS Foundation Trust geographic areas. Ruth’s research explored the effect of the programme on midwifery practice in the intervention areas.
As we enter February, it is slightly late to post reviews of the previous year. However, it was an eventful year, and we feel that it is worth reflecting on some of the achievements. We have made significant progress as a research team over the last year. There are several things to be proud of:
Recently, the SalfordFASD research team received very exciting news: an additional professor has been added to our research team.
Dr Raja Mukherjee (now professor!) was conferred with an Honorary Professorship from the University of Salford. Professor Penny Cook says:
“The University of Salford has awarded Raja Mukherjee Honorary Professor because of his massive contribution to our FASD research at the University of Salford, and because he is a giant in the field of FASD. Thank you for all your hard work, Professor Mukherjee!”
Professor Mukherjee is a consultant psychiatrist with interest in the management of developmental disorders across the lifespan. He is is one of the pioneers of the SalfordFASD research team. Prof. Mukherjee has acted as an advisor to the British Medical Association Board of Science, the Department of Health and the World Health Organisation on the subject of FASD.
Professor Mukherjee and the team at Salford have together produced three book chapters and more than six peer reviewed publications. We have successfully acquired three research grants and have completed two major projects. Professor Mukherjee has also helped supervise Salford PhD students. This has been a highly productive collaboration, and the Honorary Professor position is in recognition of this.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the enlargement of the FASDSalford research team. Cutting across all disciplines and levels of study, our research team is growing bigger with the addition of new members. This month, we are excited to warmly welcome Nicola Hickman.
Nicola Hickman is an Undergraduate student within the School of Health and Society at the University of Salford. Nicola’s previous experience of supporting primary school children with Special Educational Needs within mainstream education has provided her with the opportunity to gain understanding of the difficulties in cognitive functioning that children face daily. Her passion for wanting to raise awareness about cognitive issues in children has motivated her to become a mature student in higher education.