Population Health projects
Consult this page for a list of research projects based in the Division of Population Health.
Self-designed student projects related to food/ nutrition, and/or behaviour change
This will be agreed with the student. Support will be provided.
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Supervisors
Dr Sam Caton (s.caton@sheffield.ac.uk)
Dr Tanefa Apakey (t.apekey@sheffield.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
Happy to supervise any of the following: qualitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, reviews (scoping, systematic, umbrella)
Type of project
Qualitative Project/non-lab based - primarily using qualitative methods
Additional training or teaching
Specific training related to the methodology used for the project will be provided. SPSS will be used for quantitative projects.
Ethics requirements
Non-human tissue - no ethics approval required, Original research involving human tissues/human participants and/or patient details and information - UREC or NHS REC ethics approval needed
Learning Through Earning
What is the impact of part time employment on medical students' development of professional behaviours, communication skills, confidence and resilience?
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Supervisors
Dr Alice Deasy (a.deasy@sheffield.ac.uk)
Professor Ben Jackson (ben.jackson@sheffield.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
The aim of this project is to undertake a mixed methods research study to explore the impact of part time employment on medical students' development of professional behaviours, communication skills, confidence and resilience. In 2025 as part of the 'Earning Whilst Learning' research SSC focus groups were undertaken to understand the impact of working in part-time jobs on medical students. This research highlighted the potential value of part-time roles to the development of key skills for medical students. We are interested in exploring this further in this study.
This study will be in two stages:
- Qualitative stage. Pilot survey questionnaire with short answer questions to a limited number of later years medical students at university of Sheffield working in part-time employment. This will gather preliminary data on working patterns, types of employment and the value they feel that these roles have on development of professional behaviours, confidence and resilience and communication skills. The survey data will be analysed using thematic analysis to identify key themes identified by the students to inform the questionnaire design.
- Quantitative stage. Questionnaire to whole Medical school cohort at University of Sheffield and potentially extended to other Medical schools.
Type of project
Qualitative Project/non-lab based - primarily using qualitative methods
Additional training or teaching
Qualitative research methods- thematic analysis
Ethics requirements
TBA
Delivering care closer to home: understanding how to support the Government’s 10-year plan to shift care from hospital to the community
How can new models of care help to shift care from hospital to community settings?
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Supervisors
Carl Marincowitz (c.marincowitz@sheffield.ac.uk)
Fiona Sampson (f.c.sampson@sheffield.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
You will be working within a research team that includes a range of methodologists (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, co-production expertise) and clinicians from University of Sheffield Centre for Urgent and Emergency Care Research (CURE). You will be able to develop your own project or contribute to existing projects within the “Delivering Care Closer to Home” Theme of the Yorkshire and Humber NIHR Applied Research Collaboration.
You can choose to undertake systematic reviews, service provision mapping exercises, analysis of routinely collected health care data, and qualitative methods to provide evidence for how new services providing an alternative to acute hospital care should develop. The type of new care models you can help evaluate includes: Mental Health Emergency Departments, Neighbourhood Health Centres, enhanced models of ambulance service care and community services to support patients to be left at home after an ambulance call-out.Type of project
Qualitative Project/non-lab based - primarily using qualitative methods
Additional training or teaching
Additional training will be provided where required by staff within the section of Health Service Research, ScHARR, and through the Yorkshire and Humber Applied research collaboration. Funding will be available to attend relevant conferences where abstracts are submitted.
Ethics requirements
- Secondary data or tissue samples - UREC or NHS REC ethics approval already received for the intended research project
- Original research involving human tissues/human participants and/or patient details and information - UREC or NHS REC ethics approval obtained already
- Service Evaluation - NHS Service Evaluation number obtained (UoS Ethics will additionally be required)
Haemodynamic and autonomic profiling from reconstructed right heart catheterisation waveforms in pulmonary arterial hypertension
Can detailed reconstruction and analysis of right heart catheterisation (RHC) waveforms provide haemodynamic and autonomic indices that predict clinical outcomes in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)?
The student allocated to this project will be eligible for the Skolnick-Cannings Bursary.
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Supervisors
Dr Marcelle De Paula Ribeiro (m.depaularibeiro@sheffield.ac.uk)
Professor Alex Rothman (a.rothman@sheffield.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease driven by vascular remodelling and right heart dysfunction. This project aims to reconstruct and analyse right heart catheterisation (RHC) waveforms from a large clinical database to extract detailed haemodynamic and autonomic parameters.
Using advanced signal processing and statistical modelling, students will derive pressure-based indices and heart rate variability metrics, integrating these with demographic, functional, and outcome data (eg survival, functional class). The study will assess how autonomic and haemodynamic patterns interact to predict clinical outcomes and disease progression.
The project combines computational physiology with outcome-based research to identify novel prognostic markers in PAH. Students will gain experience in waveform reconstruction, physiological signal analysis, and clinical data integration for precision cardiovascular assessment.
Type of project
Clinical or Surgical project - based in the clinical environment with patients/including service evaluation
Additional training or teaching
Students will receive training in pre-processing and reconstructing RHC waveforms, deriving haemodynamic and autonomic indices, and performing statistical analyses. They will learn to link physiological metrics with clinical outcomes through data integration and modelling.
The project provides multidisciplinary experience in cardiovascular physiology, signal processing, and clinical research, equipping students with skills to explore autonomic and haemodynamic predictors of disease severity and prognosis in PAH.
Ethics requirements
Secondary data or tissue samples - UREC or NHS REC ethics approval already received for the intended research project
Scoping review of literature on increases in alcohol-specific mortality and morbidity in high-income countries since 2019
Why has alcohol-related mortality and morbidity increased in some high-income countries since 2019?
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Supervisors
Dr Laura Fenton (l.m.fenton@sheffield.ac.uk)
Dr Abi Stevely (a.stevely@sheffield.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
The project will involve conducting a scoping or similar form of systematic review of published research on rises in alcohol-specific mortality and morbidity in high-income countries since 2019.
While we are principally interested in literature containing explanations for the increases, an initial aim of the project will to establish the size of the literature to determine if there are a sufficient number of studies to justify this focus. If not, the student may be asked to first conduct a review of literature detailing patterns in alcohol-specific mortality and morbidity, and then to conduct a review of literature containing explanations of these patterns.
Type of project
Qualitative Project/non-lab based - primarily using qualitative methods
Additional training or teaching
The student will be offered 'on-the-job' training and support with conducting literature searches and organising a scoping review or similar form of review.
Ethics requirements
Scoping review - no ethics required.