Research projects

+++

Evaluating the reach and impact of the Childsmile programme: Scotland’s national child oral health improvement programme 

Supervisors: Professor Andrea Sherriff, Dr Marie Kotzur, Professor David Conway

Background: Child oral health in Scotland has improved over the last two decades however inequalities remain large with 41.6% of children in the most deprived areas having tooth decay compared to 14.2% in the least deprived areas. In addition, children with educational additional support needs, those who have been care experienced and children from some minority ethnic groups experience greater levels of tooth decay than their peers.

The project: The Childsmile programme (https://www.childsmile.nhs.scot/), funded by the Scottish Government, aims to improve child oral health, and reduce inequalities through universal and targeted interventions within the home, educational settings, dental practices, and the wider community. Childsmile is a complex intervention and has been evaluated by the Childsmile Evaluation and Research Team within Glasgow University since it’s inception in 2006 and national roll out in 2011 (https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/medicine/dental/research/childoralhealthchildsmile/). The evaluation comprises both an outcome evaluation (Does it work?) and a process evaluation (For whom; Under what circumstances?) supported by a team of dental public health experts, statisticians, epidemiologists, and behavioural scientists. The outcome evaluation uses our Child Oral Health Data Lab which has linked health and education records of over 1 million children in Scotland to their Childsmile records and uses novel approaches to answer key research questions around the reach and impact of the programme. Findings from this work are fed back to the programme to adapt existing interventions or implement new interventions using novel methods from Implementation Science.

The scope of the Childsmile outcome evaluation is wide and there are many aspects of the programme that are still to be evaluated. We would welcome enquiries from individuals interested in public health improvement programmes, their evaluation and implementation, with a background in public health, statistics, epidemiology, or behavioural sciences to join our group of PhD students. Methods will include: Secondary Analysis of big data using natural experimental approaches; Qualitative Research methods and Mixed Methods.

---

+++

Inequalities in head and neck cancer (epidemiology and qualitative/mixed-methods research) 

Supervisors: Professor David Conway, Dr Marie Kotzur, Professor Andrea Sherriff

Project description: The research focused on understanding and addressing inequalities in head and neck cancer across the cancer continuum. The research could involve descriptive/analytical epidemiological analyses exploring aspects of the disease burden and trends or risk factors or care pathways/outcomes for head and neck cancer and its subsites. Epidemiological methods would be employed on secondary analysis of a range of potential routine administrative datasets and observational studies from Scotland, UK, or globally. The project will be adapted to focus on a specific aspect of inequalities in head and neck cancer across the cancer continuum.

A mixed methods approach could also be undertaken. Complementary qualitative methods could be used to gain an in-depth understanding of the above data via with cancer patients and/or cancer survivors, and healthcare systems research. Current behavioural science/ health psychology theories of behaviour and/or of illness will be used to guide the analysis.

Via the Masters in Public Health, candidates will gain training in statistics/epidemiology, public health, and qualitative research – with the specific taught programme tailored to the specific nature of the PhD project(s) planned.

References

1. Vaccarella S, Lortet-Tieulent J, Saracci R, Conway DI, Straif K, Wild CP. Reducing social inequalities in cancer: evidence and priorities for research. IARC Scientific Publication No.168. World Health Organisation, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon 2019.

---

Overview

The University of Glasgow has been ranked first in the UK for Dentistry in the Complete University Guide 2021.

Our School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing has a thriving community of postgraduate research students, from both the United Kingdom and overseas. The majority of our research students undertake PhD programmes within our two research groups:

• Community Oral Health focuses on health inequalities research across the life course, concentrating particularly on oral health in children, the elderly and adults with head and neck cancer. This is done through developing a better understanding of biological, social and behavioural determinants, in order to design, develop and evaluate appropriate interventions from bench to population level.
• Oral Sciences focuses on the role of micro-organisms in the immune-pathogenesis of oral disease and it’s impact on systemic health, with particular reference to the biofilm lifestyle.

Our PhD students come from a wide variety of clinical and non-clinical backgrounds including:

• microbiology
• immunology
• dental public health
• epidemiology
• statistical modeling
• psychology and behavioural sciences.

We engage in knowledge exchange with policymakers, practitioners, researchers, industry and the public to ensure that policies and practices are based on evidence, and effectively translated into practice.

Specific areas of interest include:

• candidosis
• child oral health
• comparative oral disease
• decontamination Sciences
• endodontic disease
• head and neck cancer
• oral health of older adults
• periodontitis.

Study options

PhD

• Duration: 3/4 years full-time; 5 years part-time

Individual research projects are tailored around the expertise of principal investigators.

MSc (Research)

• Duration: 1 year full-time; 2 years part-time