Centre Newsletter January 2016: about our people and their research

2016 has been a busy and vibrant year in the Centre for Health Sciences Research. We have welcomed a large number of new staff and students and had much reason to celebrate: on the professional side we report various awards, promotions and other achievements of staff and students alike. Moreover, several weddings have taken place […]

Santander Travel Award granted for innovative public health research

A Santander Travel Award has been granted to Dr Melissa Marselle (University of Salford) to collaborate with Sara Warber, MD and Dr Brenda Gillespie at the University of Michigan (USA) to investigate the frequency and duration (or dose) of group walks in nature required for positive mental health. Research has shown that interaction with natural environments can […]

Why did the UK give China £3m to invest in football?

Simon Chadwick, professor of sports enterprise, Salford University, explains: In September, ahead of a visit by the country’s president, Xi Jinping, the British government gave £3 million to China to help fund the development of its domestic football. At first glance, this seemed a remarkable gesture; after all, China’s economy is one of the world’s […]

Why tennis match fixing claims threaten to embroil officials

Prof Simon Chadwick discusses: Another week, another scandal: this time it’s tennis, last week it was athletics, last year it was football. Before that, take your pick: snooker, cycling, cricket – the list seems almost endless. For sports lovers everywhere, this begs the question: is anything clean in sport?

China’s financial muscle makes its mark on the global sport industry

The Chinese economy has been growing at break-neck pace for the past three decades. It is the largest in the world by some measures and, as we all know, the Chinese sell the world everything from electronics to iron and steel. But in one industry the Chinese have been rather slow out of the blocks […]

Scientists ‘artificially evolve’ sleeping sickness bacterium

SCIENTISTS at the University of Salford are to artificially evolve a bacterium linked to the spread of deadly sleeping sickness, African Trypanosomiasis. They aim to better understand the genomics of Sodalis glossinidius, a bacteria which, when present in the gut, allows the Tsetse fly to become a carrier of the parasitic disease. Sleeping sickness causes […]

How foetal alcohol spectrum disorders could be a hidden epidemic

The new Department of Health guideline on alcohol says that there is no safe alcohol limit for pregnant women. Alcohol should simply be avoided. Alcohol exposure during pregnancy can cause damage to the body and brain of the baby, causing a range of lifelong problems. These problems are grouped under the umbrella term “foetal alcohol […]

SAM knows the score

A team of academics in Salford Business School has developed a machine which can, among other things, predict sports results. And they are currently testing their creation against one of the top names in UK football. SAM, the Sport Analytics Machine, has been developed by statisticians using a series of algorithms, and is able to […]

New tool developed by SoBE academics wins national competition

A tool for measuring thermal performance of solid walls in homes, developed by academics from Aracada University, in partnership with the School of the Built Environment, has scooped first place in a national competition. Professor Will Swan, Head of the Applied Buildings and Energy Research Group, and his team, worked with colleagues from Arcada University […]