So far, I successfully complete IEEE Standards Association | IEEE SA training program 🎓, dedicated to guide Ethical Assessment and Product Improvement using the CertifAIEd framework.
The following Wednessday 26th of March 2025, as a part of NCCA Research Seminars, I am looking forward to briefly demostrate the potentials of earned skills in the following talk:
Title:Ensuring the Quality of Autonomous Intelligent Systems: A Guide to Ethical Assessment and Product Improvement using the IEEE CertifAIEd framework.
Description: Many products employ Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS) including: transportation (self-driving cars), manufacturing, retail / customer service, healthcare, finance, education (AI learning platforms). The use of a quality framework to manage the risks of AIS is crucial to protect users and grow product adoption. The standards association IEEE offers the ability to evaluate the quality of any AIS using an evaluation framework – CertifAIEd. Having recently completed the first stage of IEEE CertifAIEd training, I will present an overview of the potentials of CertifAIEd and the route to become an authorized assessor.
Dr. Nicolay Rusnachenko
Research Fellow at Centre For Applied Creative Technologies PLUS (CFACT+)
Bournemouth University
Tuesday 18th March Drs. Pramod Regmi and Nirmal Aryal from the Department of Nursing Sciences presented our work on risk of kidney disease in Nepalese migrant workers in the Middle East and Malaysia. The presentation was at the Project Impact Seminar in the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester organised by The Colt Foundation, the funder of our research.
The title was: ‘Risk of kidney injury among returnee Nepalese migrants: a mixed-methods’ which was conducted in the one of areas of Nepal with a high proportion of people working abroad as migrant labourers. Over the past decade there have been increasing concerns about possible chronic kidney disease (CKD) in migrant workers returning to Nepal.
This important study has resulted in one publication in PLoS One (1) and one more recently submitted. The event was good for networking to discuss possible collaborations. We also had the pleasure of meeting former colleagues from the University of Aberdeen, now based at the University of Stirling. This dissemination event is the latest in a long line of research publications focusing on the health and well-being of migrant workers from Nepal from the BU team in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences [1-35].
Paudyal, P., Wasti, S.P., Neupane, P., Sapkota, J.L., Watts, C., Kulasabanathan, K., Silwal, R., Memon, A., Shukla, P., Pathak, R.S., Michelson, D., Beery, C., Moult, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Cassell, J. 10, (2025) Coproducing a culturally sensitive storytelling video intervention to improve psychosocial well-being: a multimethods participatory study with Nepalese migrant workers, BMJ Open 15:e086280. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086280
Mahato, P., Bhusal, S., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2024). Health and Wellbeing Among Nepali Migrants: A Scoping Review. Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1): 79–90. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v12i1.72699
Paudyal, A.R., Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P. R., Sharma, C. (2024). Returning Home to Nepal after Modern Slavery: Opportunities for Health Promotion. Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1): 125–132. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v12i1.72713
Regmi, P., Aryal, N., van Teijlingen, E., KC, R.K., Gautam, M. and Maharjan, S. (2024). A Qualitative Insight into Pre-Departure Orientation Training for Aspiring Nepalese Migrant Workers. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 9 (7).
Chaudhary, M.N., Lim, V.C., Faller, E.M., Regmi, P., Aryal, N., Zain, S.N.M., Azman, A.S. and Sahimin, N. (2024). Assessing the basic knowledge and awareness of dengue fever prevention among migrant workers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. PLoS ONE, 19 (2).
Aryal, N., Regmi, P., Adhikari Dhakal, S., Sharma, S. and van Teijlingen, E. (2024). Moral panic, fear, stigma, and discrimination against returnee migrants and Muslim populations in Nepal: analyses of COVID-19 media content. Journal of Media Studies, 38 (2), 71-98.
Chaudhary, M.N., Lim, V.C., Sahimin, N., Faller, E.M., Regmi, P., Aryal, N. and Azman, A.S. (2023). Assessing the knowledge of, attitudes towards, and practices in, food safety among migrant workers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 54.
Adhikari, Y., Regmi, P., Devkota, B. and van Teijlingen, E. (2023). Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers. Journal of Health Promotion, 10, 1-4.
Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., Aryal, N., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Excessive mortalities among migrant workers: the case of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences,4:31-32. https://doi.org/10.46405/ejms.v4i0.455
Regmi, P., Dhakal Adhikari, S., Aryal, N., Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Fear, Stigma and Othering: The Impact of COVID-19 Rumours on Returnee Migrants and Muslim Populations of Nepal, International Journal of Environmental Research & PublicHealth 19(15), 8986; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19158986
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. and Regmi, P. (2022). Migrant Workers in Qatar: Not just an important topic during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Health Prospect: Journal of Public Health, 21 (3), 1-2.
Simkhada, B., Sah, R.K., Mercel-Sanca, A., van Teijlingen, E., Bhurtyal, Y.M. and Regmi, P. (2021). Perceptions and Experiences of Health and Social Care Utilisation of the UK-Nepali Population. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 23 (2), 298-307.
Aryal, N., Sedhain, A., Regmi, P.R., KC, R. K., van Teijlingen, E. (2021). Risk of kidney health among returnee Nepali migrant workers: A survey of nephrologists. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 12(12), 126–132. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v12i12.39027
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., Sedhain, A., KC, R.K., Martinez Faller, E., Rijal, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Kidney health risk of migrant workers: An issue we can no longer overlook. Health Prospect 20(1):15-7
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Trenoweth, S., Adhikary, P. and Simkhada, P., (2020). The impact of spousal migration on the mental health of Nepali women: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (4).
Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Dhungana, R.R., KC, R.K., Regmi, P., Wickramage, K.P., Duigan, P., Inkochasan, M., Sharma, G.N., Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E. and Simkhada, P. (2020). Accessing health services in India: Experiences of seasonal migrants returning to Nepal. BMC Health Services Research, 20 (1), 992.
Adhikary P, van Teijlingen E. (2019) Support networks in the Middle East & Malaysia: A qualitative study of Nepali returnee migrants’ experiences’ – International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health 9(2): 31-35.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., Faller, E.M., van Teijlingen, E., Khoon, C.C., Pereira, A., Simkhada, P. (2019) Sudden cardiac death and kidney health related problems among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 9 (3), 788-791. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v9i3.25805
Adhikary P, van Teijlingen E., Keen S. (2019) Workplace accidents among Nepali male workers in the Middle East and Malaysia: A qualitative study, Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health 21(5): 1115–1122. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10903-018-0801-y
Dhungana, R.R., Aryal, N., Adhikary, P., Kc, R.K., Regmi, P.R., Devkota, B., Sharma, G.N., Wickramage, K., Van Teijlingen, E. and Simkhada, P. (2019). Psychological morbidity in Nepali cross-border migrants in India: A community based cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 19 (1).
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. and Mahat, P. (2019). Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: a call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal. WHO South-East Asia journal of public health, 8 (1), 38-41.
Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.R., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A survey of health problems of Nepalese female migrants workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia, BMC International Health & Human Rights 18(4): 1-7. http://rdcu.be/E3Ro.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sharma, A., Bissell, P., Poobalan, A., Wasti, S.P. (2018) Health consequences of sex trafficking: A systematic review, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 4(1): 130-49.
Adhikary P, Sheppard, Z., Keen S., van Teijlingen E. (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, International Journal of Migration, Health & Social Care 14(1): 96-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-12-2015-0052
Adhikary, P, Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: accidents among Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar & Saudi Arabia, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10.
Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., Mann, S. (2016) Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health28(8): 703-705.
Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
Adhikary P., Keen S., van Teijlingen E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-75. www.hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf
Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, AE. (2008) Health & Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK BMC International Health & Human Rights8(6). Web address: www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6.
The message in the paper is that client-centred counselling appears promising for weight management in Black African women with overweight or obesity. Long-term follow-up studies are needed to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of these interventions in this population over time.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
Reference:
Olaoye, I., Myrissa, K., Kelaiditi, E., Tsofliou, F., & Brown, N. (2025). Effectiveness of client-centred counselling on weight management among Black African women with overweight and obesity in high-income countries: a systematic review. Psychology & Health, 1–32. [Published online: 11 Mar 2025] https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2025.2475161
In the 1990s after I had completed my Ph.D. in Medical Sociology my first lectureship was in Public Health at the University of Aberdeen where my job title included that of coordinator of the B.Sc. Health Sciences. At the time I was required to do a variety of training modules and workshops on education at university level. Since there was the option to register for the Master of Education (M.Ed.) in the Department of Education at the University of Aberdeen, I thought I might as well gain more insight into education and learning than the required basic training and get a degree out of it at the same time. For a long time, I considered myself as odd, starting a lower degree after having completed a higher one. I bit like the guy I met thirty years ago who had completed to Ph.D.’s, one in Chemistry and then afterwards one in Divinity.
My view changed a few years ago when a colleague (with a Ph.D.) commenced an M.Sc. for a different reason. On this occasion to become a qualified practitioner, through the completion of a practice-based M.Sc. in Mental Health Nursing. The M.Sc. programme started a decade after the completion of a Ph.D. in Public Health.
And the idea for this blog sprang on me this morning when a colleague with a Ph.D. in Statistics and Epidemiology asked me for a reference to support his application for a place on an M.Sc. in Neuroscience. His argument for starting such M.Sc. is that he is actively involved in several neuro-psychology research projects and as a quantitative researcher he wants to have a greater understanding of the underpinning science and the wider topic area.
Having successfully passed your Ph.D. viva is evidence that you study and learn effectively on your own, the subsequent M.Sc. can offer licensure (the right to practice) or greater insight into an academic field different from your Ph.D. one.
Today, Saturday morning, BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada from the University of Huddersfield was guest speaker at the third Nepal Dialogue UK webinar series of the Centre for Nepal Studies UK (CNSIK). His presentation was titled Is Nepal’s Health System fit for Purpose? Reflections on Transformations, Maladies and Future Needs. He outlined the state of health (epidemiology) as well as that of the health system. He presented a lot of change in the health of the population, in the health system, as well as issues around human resources, including the high rate of migration of health workers. He highlight that there is in Nepal insufficient investment in health, unethical practices,
He introduced some the key findings from our recently completed study on the effects of the federalisation process on Nepal’s health system. Padam was one of the co-applications on this study together with academics from the University of Sheffield, Canterbury Christ Church University and Bournemouth University in the UK, and colleagues in Nepal from Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal. The project was funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative (Grant ref MR/T023554/1). For more information on the Nepal Federal Health System Team, see: https://www.nepalfederalhealthsystem.com/. This interdisciplinary study has been disseminated in the form of eight published papers [1-8].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMWH
References:
Koirala, B., Rushton, S., Adhikary, P., Balen, J., et al. (2024) COVID-19 as a challenge to Nepal’s newly federalised health system: capacities, responsibilities, and mindsets, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health (online first) https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539524125012.
Sapkota, S., Rushton, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2024) Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal. Health Research & Policy Systems, 22 (No.7) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01092-5 .
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., et al. (2023) Selection of Study Sites and Participants for Research into Nepal’s Federal Health System, WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health12(2):116-119.
Sapkota, S., Dhakal, A., Rushton S., et al. (2023) The impact of decentralisation on health systems: a systematic review of reviews. BMJ Global Health 8:e013317. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013317.
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Rushton, S., et al. (2023) Overcoming the Challenges Facing Nepal’s Health System During Federalisation: An Analysis of Health System Building Blocks, Health Research Policy & Systems21(117) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01033-2
Sapkota, S., Panday, S., Wasti, S.P., et al. (2022) Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal, Journal of the Nepal Public Health Association 7(1):36-42.
Adhikary, P., Balen, J., Gautam, S., et al. (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system, Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences 3 (3): 1-11.
Rushton, S., Pandey, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2021) An Investigation into the Impact of Decentralization on the Health System of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v7i1.43146
Professor Matthew Bennett and Dr Sally Reynolds write for The Conversation about their research at White Sands National Park, where they have found the earliest evidence of prehistoric transport…
Fossil footprints reveal what may be the oldest known handcarts – new research
If you’re a parent you’ve probably tried, at some point, to navigate the supermarket with a trolley, and at least one child in tow. But our new study suggests there was an ancient equivalent, dating to 22,000 years ago. This handcart, without wheels, was used before wheeled vehicles were invented around 5,000 years ago in the Middle East.
Recently our research team discovered some remarkable fossil traces which might give a hint. These traces were found alongside some of the oldest known human footprints in the Americas at a place called White Sands in New Mexico.
In the last few years, several footprint discoveries at this site have begun to rewrite early American history – pushing back the arrival of the first people to enter this land by 8,000 years.
There is some controversy around the age (23,000 years old) of these footprints, with some researchers unhappy with our dating methods. But they provide a remarkable picture of past life on the margins of a large wetland at the end of the last ice age.
The footprints tell stories, written in mud, of how people lived, hunted and survived in this land. Footprints connect people to the past in a way that a stone tool or archaeological artefact never can. Traditional archaeology is based on the discovery of stone tools. Most people today have never made a stone tool but almost all of us will have left a footprint at some time, even if it is only on the floor of the bathroom.
Today, modern shopping trolleys can be found rusting in canals, rivers or abandoned in shrubbery. But ancient versions would have probably been of wood and simply rotted away. We know that transport technology must have existed.
Everyone has stuff to transport, but we have no record of it until written histories. At White Sands, we found drag-marks made by the ends of wooden poles while excavating for fossil footprints. Sometimes these appear as just one trace, while at other times they occur as two parallel, equidistant traces.
A pole or poles used in this fashion is called a travois. These drag-marks are preserved in dried mud that was buried by sediment and revealed by a combination of erosion and excavation. The drag-marks extend for dozens of metres before disappearing beneath overlying sediment. They clip barefoot human tracks along their length, suggesting the user dragged the travois over their own footprints as they went along.
To help interpret these features, we conducted a series of tests on mud flats both in Dorset, UK, and on the coast of Maine, US. We used different combinations of poles to recreate simple, hand-pulled travois.
In our experiments the pole-ends dragged along the mud truncate footprints in the same way as the fossil example in New Mexico. These features in the fossil examples were also always associated with lot of other human footprints travelling in a similar direction, many of which, judging by their size, were made by children.
We believe the footprints and drag-marks tell a story of the movement of resources at the edge of this former wetland. Adults pulled the simple, probably improvised travois, while a group of children tagged along to the side and behind.
The research team has benefited from the insight of the Indigenous peoples we work with at White Sands, and they interpret the marks in this way as well. We cannot discount that some of the marks may be made by dragging firewood, but this does not fit all the cases we found.
Travois are known from historical documents and accounts of Indigenous peoples and their traditions. They were more commonly associated with dogs or horses, but they were pulled by humans in our tests.
As such they represent early examples of the handcart or wheelbarrow, but without the wheel. The earliest record of a wheeled vehicle dates from Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), in 2,500BC. We think the travois were probably improvised from tent poles, firewood and spears when the need arose.
Maybe they were created to help move camp, or more likely, transport meat from a hunting-site. In the latter context the analogy with the shopping trolley comes to the fore, as does the pained expression of the adults faces as they quest for resources with a gaggle of children in tow.
This is a landmark collaborative initiative between BU’s NanoCorr, Energy and Modelling (NCEM) Research Group led by Professor Zulfiqar Khan and team members including Dr Adil Saeed, Dr Mayank Anand and Aerk Dimri and Lush Cosmetics Ltd a major stakeholder in the conurbation. “Born in Poole, Lush offers a range of quirky and unique handmade bathing and cosmetic products with signature ‘Lush’ scents. The brand boasts an extremely ethical promise to consumers with all products being cruelty free, vegetarian and ethically sourced.” [Source]. “Lush Limited is a British cosmeticsretailer which is headquartered in Poole, England. It was founded in 1995 by trichologistMark Constantine, his wife Mo Constantine and five other founders.” [Source].
“We laid the foundation for capitalising on tidal energy sources and providing clean energy solutions for local and regional domestic and commercial applications through Community Interest Company (CIC) / Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), Poole Tidal Energy Partnership (PTEP), more than a decade ago, said Professor Zulfiqar Khan, one of the founding directors of PTEP.
This work led to UK based energy company collaboration in BU’s energy research: capture, conversion and storage through full funding of two PhDs, two Post Docs, one PhD in-kind support, industrial labs resources and funding patent applications, a three quarter of a million pound sterling research portfolio led by Professor Zulfiqar Khan. This has yielded in commercial patents in the US and GB, covering novel nano fluids, energy systems (capture, conversion and storage).
“This recent collaboration with LUSH is a testament of our full commitments to UNSDGs, UK and EU clean energy directives, initiatives which has led to emergence of BU as a global leader in Clean Energy Systems,” Professor Zulfiqar Khan added.
Dr Saeed said, “we provide opportunities for our UG/PGT courses to benefits from our research collaborations to enhance students learning and teaching experience through research informed educational provisions.” Dr Saeed, the Programme Leader of Mechanical Engineering course, said, we currently have three final year projects in energy systems which have been inspired and are linked to BU-LUSH collaborative project.
LUSH Creative Technologist Jim Woodward said, “We look forward to starting this journey with Professor Khan, his colleagues and students at Bournemouth University, researching the potential tidal energy in our beautiful Poole Harbour. We welcome the newly appointed PGR and wish him good luck in this exciting PhD project with us. What a force – Lush a local Poole company working with a fantastic local University.”
Would you like to build a media profile and take your research to a global audience by writing for The Conversation?
Join Conversation editor Grace Allen for an in-person workshop at Talbot Campus on Wednesday 5th March to find out more about working with The Conversation and share your article ideas.
The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics, researchers and PhD candidates working with professional journalists.
Since we first partnered with The Conversation, articles by BU authors have had over 11 million reads and been republished by news outlets across the world.
In this interactive session, you’ll find out more about communicating your research to the public, what The Conversation is looking for, and have the chance to discuss your research and pitch potential story ideas.
It runs from 2pm – 4pm in the Fusion Building on Talbot Campus.
The future of the NHS is the subject of the first Spotlight Public Lecture delivered by Bournemouth University.
The Spotlight Public Lecture Series will shine a light on societal issues and areas of university strength, focussing on research conducted at the university and its real-world impact.
The event will be hosted at Royal Bournemouth Hospital from 5.30pm on Tuesday 18 March, with free tickets available. University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD) CEO Siobhan Harrington will be opening the event.
Guests will hear from Professor Tom Wainwright, an expert in orthopaedics who also works at UHD; Professor Vanora Hundley, an expert in midwifery and women’s health; and Professor Lee-Ann Fenge, a leader in social work and care. The panel will each share their own research and how their work can help to inform future NHS plans and help people live better for longer.
Professor Sarah Bate, Interim Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Bournemouth University, said, “I am always amazed by the work of our wonderful experts here at BU, who advance knowledge, solve societal issues and conduct research for a better future.
“I am excited for this first research-focused public lecture, centred around the health of the NHS – we want to see the NHS thrive and have academics actively working alongside NHS colleagues to support the health of people in the local area – I’m pleased that we’re able to share this research with you at this event.”
Future dates for events in the series will be announced shortly, with topics including tackling misinformation and the power of the past.
The Centre for Science, Health, and Data Communication Research invites you to our Spring 25 speaker series. Featuring researchers from BU and around the world, these online talks are open to the public and encompass topics on the exploitation of seaweed, the adoption and use of VR, communicating numbers, AI migration governance, and using AI to build ‘databases from below’.
All events take place on zoom– Wednesdays 14:00-15:00 UK time
The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre are welcoming colleagues from Plymouth University to talk about the ICONIC project (see more details below) and showcase some of the technologies they have created.
The team are interested in talking to any BU colleagues who work on co-design/digital health or immersive technologies and AI so please do come along (and let Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk know if would like to give a short presentation about your research).
12th February 2025
11-1pm (presentations will be first and then tech showcase)
P222, Poole House, Talbot Campus
ICONIC Project
The ICONIC (Intergenerational Co-design Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities) project is exploring how co-design of novel technologies can support digital inclusion in Cornwall and Devon. The project recruited 99 participants to join intergenerational co-design workshops to create technologies that support access to environment, heritage, and community resources. The technologies include a social game, immersive heritage and underwater experiences, and a voice AI system accessed via a telephone call. The research team will be sharing their insights from the co-design process for each technology and discuss the effects of participation on digital inclusion.
Dr Rory Baxter is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Technology, University of Plymouth, working on the EPSRC funded Intergenerational Codesign Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities (ICONIC) project to address digital exclusion in Cornwall and Devon. The project involves the intergenerational co-design of technologies for supporting access to heritage, environment, and community resources. His previous work includes the ESRC funded GOALD and ERDF funded EPIC projects, which focused on digital health innovation co-design and evaluation to support healthy ageing. Prior to that he completed an EPSRC funded iCASE PhD, exploring human navigation and search behaviour, during which Rory developed VR-based experimental tasks using Unity, which were adapted for online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Oksana Hagen earned a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from NCTU (Taiwan), MSc in Computer Vision and Robotics through the Erasmus Mundus ViBOT program, and a PhD in Computing at the University of Plymouth. After a brief period in industry, Oksana joined Aldebaran AI Lab (France) under a Marie Curie Fellowship to focus on research in machine learning. She subsequently contributed to social robotics research for AgeIn project at the University of Plymouth. Currently, she is part of the ICONIC project, developing VoiceAI and underwater telepresence applications through co-design. Her research interests include machine learning, robotics and HCI.
Dr Marius Varga’s expertise sits at the intersection of game technology and user experience, with a focus on serious games and immersive experiences. Currently, a Research Fellow part of the ICONIC project, using a co-design approach, Marius leads the development of a multiplayer Social Game focused on seagrass conservation and for Extended Reality (XR), he is developing an immersive heritage experience in partnership with National Trust. Marius is also involved in digital health projects such part of Bridging project – focused on using XR training with autistic employees and employers and Glider project – addressing challenges in frailty through robotics, play and immersive technology.
Dr Linan Zhang holds an MA in East Asian Studies (Japanese) and an MSc in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. She later earned a PhD with Transtechnology Research at the University of Plymouth, where she developed a philosophical framework to ease the paradigm conflicts in knowledge sharing, drawing inspiration from an international health collaboration, a global health crisis, and the development discourse. She is currently an Associate Lecturer for i-DAT, a Research Fellow in Orbital Science, and the Media and Admin officer for the ICONIC Project at the University of Plymouth. Additionally, she serves as an Associate Editor for Leonardo Review.
Image Copyright Dorset Wildlife Trust. Dr George McGavin (President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust) during a visit to a local school.
Join Dr George McGavin https://www.georgemcgavin.com/, one of the UK’s leading entomologists and authorities on the natural world, as well as an acclaimed TV and radio presenter, along with Prof Genoveva Esteban (microbial ecologist from SciTech in Life and Environmental Sciences), at the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Kingcombe Visitor Centre. Together, they will examine the captivating world of pond life, including microbes. Find full details about the event and location here: Dipping into Pond Life | Dorset Wildlife Trust
Date: Saturday 8th March 2025. Two drop-in sessions: 10:30am to 12:30pm; and 1:30pm to 3:30pm
The event is free. No booking required. Everyone is welcome. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
We will meet at Kingcombe Visitor Centre, Kingcombe Rd, Toller Porcorum, Dorchester DT2 0EQ. Parking is available on site.
This event is organised by Prof G. Esteban in collaboration with the Dorset Wildlife Trust as part of the Dorchester Science Festivalhttps://discoverdorchester.co.uk/dorchester-science-festival/, an exciting programme of events to celebrate British Science Week, 7 – 16 March 2025.
Would you like to build a media profile and take your research to a global audience by writing for The Conversation?
The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics, researchers and PhD candidates working with professional journalists.
Since we first partnered with The Conversation, articles by BU authors have had close to 11 million reads and been republished by news outlets across the world.
Find out more about working with The Conversation and have the chance to pitch your ideas directly to one of their editors in our upcoming training sessions:
In this interactive session, you’ll find out more about communicating your research to the public, what The Conversation is looking for, and have the chance to discuss your research with a Conversation editor and pitch potential story ideas.
One-to-one session with an editor from The Conversation
Between 2pm – 4pm (20 minute bookable slots), Wednesday 2nd April (online)
This one-to-one session with one of The Conversation’s editors is tailored to you and your research.
You’ll have the chance to discuss potential pitches and receive personalised advice and feedback on communicating your research to a general audience and turning your expertise into articles.
Director Robert Zemeckis’s new film Here is adapted from the comic strip turned graphic novel of the same name by Richard McGuire. It tells the non-linear story of the inhabitants of an American house throughout multiple time periods, from one fixed point of view – a corner of the living room.
Like the graphic novel, the film uses inset frames – small oblong windows of different moving images with a white border. They are placed over a larger main image to show the same physical location during different fragmentary moments in time. However this technique isn’t used nearly as frequently as in the book.
Paul Bettany, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright play the same characters – members of a family that have lived in the home since the 1940s – from their 20s through to old age. To show their lives progressing throughout the years, the film makes distracting use of digital ageing and de-ageing.
In the graphic novel, the intersecting and overlapping moments of different eras inhabit nearly all of the double page spreads of the 300-page book. This encourages the reader to make comparisons and connections between different time periods. But the film only shows these fragments of other times at the end of each scene, as a transition to the next.
This means the movie often focuses on scenes of romance and melodrama, rather than the intriguing moments of humanity in play and conflict found in the graphic novel’s panels. Memorable images and lines of dialogue from the graphic novel are kept occasionally, but the expansion of micro-vignettes into much longer scenes often drags the film into mawkish sentimentality.
Split-screen cinema
In our research, we’ve compared the book Here with other graphic novels – One Soul by Ray Fawkes (2011) and From Hell by Alan Moore (1998). In these books panels set in different periods act like a time machine for the reader.
In From Hell the act of reading these panels reinforces the novel’s claim that “time is a human illusion”, as readers jump instantly between images of Victorian London and the present day.
Films and TV shows that use similar split-screen effects to depict different time periods are rare. Some notable examples include The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Sisters (1973), Dressed to Kill (1980), Kill Bill Part One (2003) and the second series of Squid Game (2024). The technique is usually used to create tension when moments in different locations play out simultaneously.
Even fewer films have used this technique for the entirety of their running time, as Here does. Some British directors experimented with it in the 1990s and 2000s in the films Timecode (2000), A.K.A. (2002), Prospero’s Books (1991), The Pillow Book (1996) and The Tulse Luper Suitcases trilogy (2003-4).
Through this technique, their directors aim the viewer’s attention at a particular image by letting the sound related to that image dominate. This prevents an assault on the audience by a cacophony of sounds from different periods as well as images.
At one point in Here, Zemeckis experiments with blending the sounds of multiple screens. A wedding scene is soundtracked by an insert of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan show, which continues from the preceding vignette.
For this scene, the inset image stays on screen much longer than any other example in the movie. This is closer than any other scene to the style of the original graphic novel. But in general the constant contrast of startling images which makes the book of Here so memorable is severely underused in the film adaptation.
When interviewed in 2015, McGuire noted how the book uses images in repetitive ways that are like melodies and leitmotifs found in jazz. As such, a soundtrack that also mimicked this kind of musicality could have worked well in the film.
Hauntings
One scene in Here shows the son of Hanks’ character Richard Young dressed as an old-fashioned ghost under a sheet with eye holes.
Ironically, a film which better exemplifies the theme and circular time frame of Here than Zemeckis’s adaptation is David Lowery’s A Ghost Story (2017). In it, a similarly attired character finds themselves trapped in both the future and past of a house after they die.
The film of Here, the graphic novel, and McGuire’s original 1989 short comic strip are all about fragments of time that are haunted by similar moments in the past, or which predict similar moments in the future.
In his graphic novel, McGuire suggests a futility to humanity’s existence by showing a Jurassic landscape that precedes us and the post-apocalyptic world that follows us.
Zemeckis’s film also shows dinosaurs and the ice age preceding the dawn of mankind – with the majority of the film set in the 20th century – but he omits the scenes set in the future. Despite this, his film’s eventual tragedy of lives that end, generation after generation, is ultimately more melancholic than the graphic novel.
In McGuire’s work, there is a joy in the minutiae. The repetitions of the house’s layout and inhabitants’ dialogue suggest communal experiences and shared meanings between our lives.
The film, however, rarely allows the viewer to see such a kaleidoscope of moments on screen at the same time. Ironically, the trailer does this more than the film itself, embracing the possibilities of the format, rather than just flirting with it.
Zemeckis mostly removes the playful multiplicity of overlaying moments that make the comic so unique. This prevents the film from presenting the same sort of uplifting tapestry of moments we see so beautifully on the graphic novel page.
Last month we reported on this Bournemouth University Research Blog (click here!) that Ms. Amshu Dhakal, presented findings from our Nepal Federal Health System Project in Nepal. Amshu’s presentation at the Nepal Health Conclave 2024, organised by the Ministry of Health and Population and supported by WHO (World Health Organization) Nepal and UNFPA, resulted in an online article in Nepal. This article in Nepali in Swasthya Khabar Patrika features lessons learnt and evidence from our research project “The Impact of Federalisation on the Health System of Nepal.”
Our project ran from 2020 to 2024, and it was funded by the Health System Research Initiative, a UK collaboration between three funders: the MRC (Medical research Council), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the Welcome Trust. This joint project was led by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, Canter Bury Christ Church University and two institutions in Nepal, namely Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences and PHASE Nepal. In 2023 further funding was awarded by the Medical Research Foundation to Prof. Julie Balen, from Canterbury Christ Church University, to disseminate the findings in Nepal. Furthermore, to date we have published eight papers from this interdisciplinary project [1-8].
This is one of several news articles from this project which have appeared in both English and Nepali in national media in Nepal. In early 2024 two daily English-language media outlets: The Annapurna Express and Gazzabkoo Magazine published articles covering our project. The latter used the title ‘Strengthening Health Systems for Better Health‘ and the former opted for the headline ‘Forum on health system strengthening’.
In the same month last year three UK professors: Julie Balen (Canterbury Christ Church University), Simon Rushton (the University of Sheffield) and Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University) were interviewed (see interview here) about the study. Our interdisciplinary research project ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’ was also previously reported in several national media in Nepal in the spring of 2023.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
References:
Koirala, B., Rushton, S., Adhikary, P., Balen, J., et al. (2024) COVID-19 as a challenge to Nepal’s newly federalised health system: capacities, responsibilities, and mindsets, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health (online first) https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539524125012.
Sapkota, S., Rushton, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2024) Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal. Health Research & Policy Systems, 22 (No.7) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01092-5 .
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., et al. (2023) Selection of Study Sites and Participants for Research into Nepal’s Federal Health System, WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health12(2):116-119.
Sapkota, S., Dhakal, A., Rushton S., et al. (2023) The impact of decentralisation on health systems: a systematic review of reviews. BMJ Global Health 8:e013317. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013317.
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Rushton, S., et al. (2023) Overcoming the Challenges Facing Nepal’s Health System During Federalisation: An Analysis of Health System Building Blocks, Health Research Policy & Systems21(117) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01033-2
Sapkota, S., Panday, S., Wasti, S.P., et al. (2022) Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal, Journal of the Nepal Public Health Association 7(1):36-42.
Adhikary, P., Balen, J., Gautam, S., et al. (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system, Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences 3 (3): 1-11.
Rushton, S., Pandey, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2021) An Investigation into the Impact of Decentralization on the Health System of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v7i1.43146
Today and yesterday (January 7-8) academics involved in MIHERC (Maternal and Infant Health Equity Research Centre), the successful interdisciplinary collaboration to address challenges in maternity care, met in Bournemouth. MIHERC is led by Sheffield Hallam University, along with Bournemouth University, South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub (SYDHH) and the Health Determinant Research Collaboration, Doncaster. In addition, a range of local and national partners are recognised. MIHERC is one of the nine groups of UK universities making up the new NIHR Challenge Maternity Disparities Consortium. This NIHR Consortium aims of tackling inequalities in maternity outcomes, focusing on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy.
Our second planning meeting highlighted our collective strengths including our expertise in community engagement and PPIE (Public & Patient Involvement & Engagement); intelligent digital solutions in maternity service delivery; research into under-served communities; and capacity building of both communities and maternity staff. The first planning meeting was held late last year at Sheffield Hallam University.
MIHERC is the only midwifery-led collaboration with a strong community engagement and digital inclusive research. MIHERC will work with various NHS Trusts as well as charities such as the Active Pregnancy Foundation, Active Dorset, and Maternal Mental Health Alliance.
This weekend a new issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives appeared online [1]. Its latest editorial focuses in part on research ethics. The editors highlight the new World Health Organization (WHO) guidance for best practices in clinical trials [2]. The new WHO guidance was picked up at the 24th FERCAP International Conference “Maximizing Benefits through Responsible Conduct of Research” held in November 2024 in Nepal. FERCAP is the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region.
FERCAP reminded us that research as a social activity should improve health and quality of life for both targeted and general populations. One notable message from this recent conference was the need for shorter and more comprehensible consent forms to make them user-friendly without sacrificing clarity. The other interesting development is that of so-called “decentralized clinical trials”. Decentralized or point-of-care trials can increase the diversity of clinical trial enrollment by increasing its accessibility, for example where elements of the trial are delivered at home and/or data are collected electronically by trial participants instead of researchers. These are exciting new developments in thinking about research ethics.
The Journal of Asian Midwives is Gold Open Access and hence freely available online.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
References:
van Teijlingen, E., Musaddique, A., Jan, R. (2024) Editorial – Dec 2024. Journal of Asian Midwives, 11(2):1–2.
World Health Organization (2024). Guidance for best practices for clinical trials. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240097711 (accessed Jan. 2025)
BU staff can login below:
Other services
Don’t miss a post!
Subscribe for the BU Research Digest, delivered freshly every day.
Last month we reported on this Bournemouth University Research Blog (click here!) that Ms. Amshu Dhakal, presented findings from our Nepal Federal Health System Project in Nepal. Amshu’s presentation at the Nepal Health Conclave 2024, organised by the Ministry of Health and Population and supported by WHO (World Health Organization) Nepal and UNFPA, resulted in an online article in Nepal. This article in Nepali in Swasthya Khabar Patrika features lessons learnt and evidence from our research project “The Impact of Federalisation on the Health System of Nepal.”
This is one of several news articles from this project which have appeared in both English and Nepali in national media in Nepal. 
Our interdisciplinary research project ‘
Further CMWH contributions to 2026 ICM congress
New PhD publication on Nepal’s migrant workers
Six BU contributions 2025 Festival of Social Sciences
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease