News
Researcher perspectives: Aaron Mitchell
Aaron Mitchell is one of our PhD students. He is exploring the relationship between obesity and colorectal cancer progression using genetic epidemiology and cell biology. He is supervised by Professors Lavinia Paternoster, Emma Vincent, Gibran Hemani and Richard Martin. In July 2026 we spoke to Aaron about his academic journey,…
Healthy Madrasas programme may help physical activity access for Muslim children in Bristol
A childhood obesity prevention programme developed in Bradford’s madrasas could be adapted for use in Bristol, according to research supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Bristol. The Healthy Madrasas programme supports healthy eating and physical activity through Islamic religious settings. The qualitative study…
Self-reporting sleep quality may underestimate sleep problems in dementia, study finds
People with cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease or Lewy body disease may underestimate how disturbed their sleep is when asked to report it themselves. This sleep discrepancy (the gap between how well participants thought they slept and how they slept according to objective measurements) could have broader diagnostic value,…
Mindful eating may reduce food intake, but evidence in real-world settings remains limited
Mindfulness and mindful eating practices could help people eat less in controlled settings, according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis published in Clinical Psychology Review. Researchers found that the effects of mindfulness and mindful eating were larger in laboratory settings and there was no clear evidence…
UK food insecurity interventions for families are limited and need stronger evidence
A new systematic review has found that UK interventions aimed at tackling food insecurity among children, families and pregnant women are limited in quality, scope and long-term impact. In addition, few address the full range of factors shaping whether families can reliably access healthy food. The review,…
Specialist children’s weight services need long-term investment and flexible care
Specialist NHS services for children and young people living with severe obesity need long-term investment, strong multidisciplinary teams and flexible support if they are to deliver lasting benefits, according to new research involving Sheffield Hallam University, Leeds Beckett University and the…
Trial participation may offer benefits beyond medication for autistic adults, study finds
Autistic adults could be supported to start and continue taking an antidepressant or placebo medication within the context of a randomised controlled trial (RCT), according to new research supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Bristol. Participants in both the treatment and placebo groups of the STRATA…
Open-source atlas aims to improve use of epigenetic tools in paediatric studies
Researchers at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and University of Bristol worked together to complete the first systematic review of DNA methylation profile scores (MPSs) used in children and young people. The review highlights opportunities for earlier disease research and prevention, while warning that many…
AI and saliva proteins could help improve early detection of head and neck cancer
Researchers supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Bristol have shown that artificial intelligence could help improve the early detection of head and neck cancer using saliva samples. Crucially they’ve demonstrated this can happen even when only small numbers of patient samples are available for study. In…