Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo Cognition abilities are critical to educational and occupational achievement, daily function, and even movement. Unfortunately, cognitive performance declines on average in late life and the prevalence of dementia nearly doubles every five years after the age of 65 years. My research identifies has two focuses: 1) to optimize cognition across the life course and to prevent dementia in late life; 2) to promote strategies to 'live well' with dementia. In particular, I investigate the role of physical activity in the prevention of dementia and improvement of well-being among people living with dementia.
Research Associate in History and Philosophy of Science, King's College London Lena Springer gained her Dr. phil. in Sinology at the University of Vienna. She researches the transmission of scientific and medical heritage. In the project team “Cosmological Visionaries” www.cosmovis.uk, Springer investigates scientists’ and shamans’ efforts at reforestation in Southwest China and Siberia to tackle climate change. As a research fellow of Sichuan University, she investigated multi-ethnic folk medicines in China’s West. In a database team at Charité Medical University Berlin, she contributed to the translation, scientific identification, and interdisciplinary accessibility of Chinese historical pharma-recipes. Springer publishes on ethnicity in Western China, on ethnographic archivers and medical-history-writers in China, on spatial and social migration to Europe and on the anthropology of science. She has taught Sinology, organised summer schools for Sinologists and pharmacognosists in China, and provided consultancy service based on her research and fieldwork throughout China`s diverse regions. Lena is also an Affiliate of the Lau China Institute. Research interests and PhD supervision Environmental Sciences and Forestry in China To tackle global climate change, developments in China are crucial. The involved environmental sciences fall into different disciplines of science, which include forestry and philosophy and have national and ethnic histories in countries, such as in China. Based on its biological diversity, as well as ethnic knowledge and technology of nature preservation, Southwest China is a global hotspot of this crucial human project. History of Science, Chinese Medicines, and Botany in China Materia Medica are a unique case that challenges the current Euro-centred academic mainstream and its historiography. This undercurrent in world science, and the early, medieval and folk history in this multi-disciplinary field, are easily overlooked and still understudied, especially in the vast West of present-day China. Ethnography and Oral history in China The available historical record in Western China is more focussed on pre-modern sources and scattered surveys than in the East of China. As a consequence, Chinese folk culture and multi-ethnic regional dynamics shed light on heritage and history of science in China, even in the modern and contemporary context. Spatial and Social Mobility in Higher Education and Academia Elite and outcasts are most often researched in separate projects of migration studies. Academic migrants from China in Austria are one case where China plays a strong role on both levels, especially through mobility in healthcare and higher education, both as a source of tradition and of scientific innovation.
Senior Research Associate and Honorary Neurology Consultant, University of Cambridge Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti is a Senior Research Associate, Honorary Neurology Consultant, and Group Leader within the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Cambridge University (UK), and Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London (UK). Luca obtained his MD from the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele of Milan, Italy (2007). He completed a residency program in Neurology at the same University (2013) and a following PhD in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge, UK (2018). During his early graduate studies, he was a visiting scientist in major European universities, such as the University Hospital in Zürich (Switzerland), the University of Aarhus (Denmark), the Laboratory of Stem Cells and Restorative Neurology of Lund (Sweden) and the University of Innsbruck (Austria). He later progressed towards a post-doctoral position at Cambridge University (2018) and then became Group Leader within the Cambridge Center for Myelin Repair (CCMR) and Department of Clinical Neurosciences (2020). Over the last 10+ years, Luca has made key contributions to the understanding of the pathobiology of inflammation in central nervous system (CNS) diseases. His research in regenerative neuroimmunology led to novel experimental advanced therapeutics with neural stem cells, acellular therapeutics (e.g., extracellular vesicles), and small molecules for the treatment of ischemic stroke, spinal cord injury, and progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Luca’s most recent work is focusing on cellular metabolism and mitochondria to find novel ways to modulate chronic inflammation and favour CNS regeneration. To this aim, he has developed unique tools to model metabolic/mitochondrial dysfunctions in vitro (using human cells and gene editing techniques) and in vivo (with animal disease models); as well as cutting edge techniques to detect metabolic changes in rodent and human cells and tissues. His multi-disciplinary approach is setting the stage for a new series of interventions that target cell metabolism in immune cells, as the next opportunity to promote the healing of the persistently inflamed CNS. Luca’s laboratory activity is documented in >60 PubMed indexed publications - including Cell Stem Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, and Nature Chemical Biology - which have received >8,300 citations, having a Hirsch Factor of 27.
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh Laura Sochas' research focuses on how power, institutions, and social policies affect health inequalities. She takes a critical feminist stance, engaging with theories such as intersectionality and Reproductive Justice. Her work has been published in high-impact journals such as Social Science & Medicine, the Socio-Economic Review, Demography, Health Policy & Planning, and BMJ Global Health. Her Leverhulme-funded project is titled: “Policing Reproduction via Migration and Family Policies: Stress, Stigma & Health”. Through this research, she is exploring how migration and family policies in Europe affect parents’ rights to have children and to parent with dignity, and how this affects their health, formulating a quantitative approach to Reproductive Justice. She has previously published on topics such as: collective bargaining and health inequalities; researching intersectionality using quantitative and mixed methods; modelling the indirect mortality effects of epidemics; how health service environments and health facility rules affect maternal health inequalities; how interviewers affect the likelihood of reporting an abortion. Laura obtained her PhD in Demography from the Department of Social Policy at LSE (2020). She holds an MSc in Social Research Methods (2016) and a Masters in Public Administration (2011) from LSE, as well as a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (2007) from the University of Oxford. Prior to her PhD, she worked as a consultant on public health programmes in African and South Asian countries, for clients such as UKAID, the Gates Foundation, and UNFPA. She is happy to be contacted in relation to the following topics: health inequalities; Reproductive Justice; collective bargaining and trade unions; maternal and reproductive health in the Global South.
Professor of Dental Public Health, The University of Queensland I am a dentist by background. I commenced my research career in early 2000s. I was a Professor at the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, University of Adelaide. I have moved to University of Queensland School of Dentistry since January 2021 as Professor of Dental Public Health.
Assistant Professor of Engineering, George Mason University Lucas Henneman’s research focuses on air pollution and health. He is most interested in telling success stories—for example, about how environmental regulations have improved our air quality and health—and the opportunities to create more success stories by identifying air pollution sources that make people sick. His day-to-day research leverages large datasets and computer models to track pollution after it’s emitted to where it is breathed in by people like us. For example, he found that emission reductions at coal power plants over the last twenty years have left the entire country healthier and increased life expectancy. Henneman studied environmental engineering through his PhD and then landed a job in public health right after graduation. Through the experience, he learned the importance of communicating complex environmental phenomena to a multidisciplinary audience. He is passionate about giving students the tools they’ll need to measure, model, and communicate information about the environment so that they can lead the world to a healthier future.
