In the news
The launch of ‘50 active years after 50’ – the £50 million research initiative being coordinated by the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (iMBE) – received widespread media coverage. CNN, BBC News, Sky News, the Guardian, the Sun, the Times, the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph all ran stories on the research, which focuses on the areas most affected by age – joints, spine, teeth, heart and circulation – developing new technologies for tissue engineering and regeneration, longer lasting joint replacements and spinal interventions.
Professor John Fisher, director of the institute, was quoted as saying he believed the programme could deliver 10 new products within five years, and halve the time such innovations take to get to market: “By 2015 we absolutely believe we will be delivering improvements for patients, through the NHS or in commercial products that will be sold throughout the world.” Professor Eileen Ingham was also widely quoted.
The Daily Mail and Metro featured research on how male and female fruit flies react differently after mating, with the males going to sleep and the females launching into a frenzy of domestic activity. A study by Professor Isaac (Faculty of Biological Sciences) discovered a ‘sex peptide’ in fruit fly sperm prompted these reactions. Fruit flies are supposedly a good model for looking at human sleep behaviour as they share many traits with us and a better understanding of how chemicals affect sleep patterns could shed light on neurological disorders such as narcolepsy.
New research supported by CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation – showing that motorists give cyclists less room when they are riding in a cycle lane, featured in the Yorkshire Post and the Sun. Ciaran Meyers (Institute for Transport Studies) undertook the research on roads with and without cycle lanes. Ciaran said: “The analysis shows that significantly wider passing distances are adopted by motorists on a 9.5 metre wide carriageway without a 1.45 metre cycle lane with posted speed limits of 40mph and 50mph.”
The Guardian and the Yorkshire Post reported on the progress Timescapes, a huge research project that is tracking the thoughts, feelings and personal stories of 400 ordinary individuals and family groups. In addition, a link-up with a BBC website, Memoryshare, is encouraging as many Britons as possible to add their own memories to the archive. Professor Bren Neale (School of Sociology and Social Policy) said: “Society is so complex and change so rapid, that to understand it we need to track people through time so we can see how their lives unfold. As social scientists, sometimes we become so interested in the big picture that the people get lost. With this project, we’re putting their narratives at the heart of things.”
Michael Arthur, Vice-Chancellor and Russell Group chairman, discussed the allocation of government funding for academic research on BBC Radio 4’s flagship ‘Today’ programme.
The Yorkshire Post and the Daily Mail both reported on the launch of the ‘smart’ drug tocilizumab for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, fearing that it may be too expensive to be available on the NHS. In trials almost one-third of patients went into remission after using the drug for six months. Professor Paul Emery (Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine) said: “This is one of the most exciting therapies to have emerged in the last decade.” Final guidelines for use of tocilizumab will be issued early next year by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
The discovery of the true location of the site of the battle of Bosworth was covered by the BBC News, ITN, Channel 4 News, the Independent, the Guardian and the Times. Visiting Lecturer at the Institute of Medieval Studies Dr Glenn Foard and Axel Müller, director of the International Medieval Congress, were both quoted. The discovery of “extraordinary and unexpected” pieces of artillery near Market Bosworth in Leicestershire put an end to five centuries of searching for one of Britain’s most significant battlefields, where Henry Tudor defeated Richard III to become Henry VII. “Scholars will be settling down from tomorrow to think about what this means for studies of firepower in the development of warfare,” said Axel Müller.
Dr Richard Cleminson (School of Modern Languages and Cultures) featured in a Big Issue article about the involvement of northern British men and women who volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-9, and the treatment of a group Spanish Republicans who were interned in a POW camp in the north of England from 1944-1945.
Further details of press coverage can be found at http://mediacuttings.leeds.ac.uk/index.aspx
