Departmental news

A study led by University of Warwick Professor Jianfeng Feng has found that regularly sleeping too little is associated with depression and brain loss in emotion areas, while sleeping too long is associated with cognitive decline and degenerative diseases.

Sleeping the right amount is crucial for long term health. 7 hours has recently been proposed as the average amount of sleep to aim for as an adult, yet some people regularly get too little, while others get more than they need.

Warwick Medical School is part of one of five new Incubators announced by the NIHR to support research careers. The NIHR Knowledge Mobilisation Incubator will develop a national learning network of experts in knowledge mobilisation and practice.

According to the QS International Trade Rankings 2025Link opens in a new window, WMG, at the University of Warwick’s MSc in International Trade, Strategy and OperationsLink opens in a new window (ITSO) programme has been placed 4th in the world, and 2nd in the UK

Recognised for its cutting-edge curriculum and strong industry ties, the programme excels across six key criteria:

• Trade programme

• Graduate outcomes

• Industry engagement

• Innovative teaching

• Reputation

• Research

Warwick Chemistry spinout company, Medherant, charts a course towards testosterone TEPI patch for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in postmenopausal women.

This week we are delighted to interview Associate Professor Dr John Snape, for our Warwick Law School Staff Spotlight series.

Prof Remzi Becer et al. collaborate with CreateMe Technologies to develop revolutionary thermoreversible adhesive technology poised to transform the fashion industry.

The THRIVING Food Futures project, a consortium of researchers including Professor Thijs van Rens of the University of Warwick, has been awarded a five-year funding grant by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

This new research hub aims to develop policy solutions that reduce the carbon footprint of our diets whilst maximising health benefits.

It will bring together the public, policymakers and academics to co-design and evaluate policies for healthy, sustainable diets, with a focus on changing how food is marketed and sold.

As well as helping the country meet its legal Net Zero targets, sustainable diets can address public health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and health inequalities.

Members of the THRIVING Link opens in a new windowhub include researchers from Oxford, Cambridge, Strathclyde, Warwick, Queen Mary University London and City St George’s University London.

Professor Thijs van Rens will lead a team working on the development of metrics, algorithms and tools to support the project. A new Nutrient and Environmental Profiling Model will classify and rank foods based on their nutritional content and environmental impact, to help inform policies for healthy, sustainable diets.

The team will also create novel digital tools, such as smartphone apps, to collect data and evaluate the effect of interventions in real-world shopping environments. These tools will allow for large-scale testing of proposed policies independent of commercial partnerships, and enable rigorous evaluation of how different policy approaches influence food choices and sustainability.

Thijs said:

We cannot deliver on net zero promises without significant change to our diets, because production of food, particularly of ruminant meat, is responsible for a third of carbon emissions globally. At the same time, making diets healthier to halt the obesity epidemic and the public health crisis is just as urgent.

Healthier, more sustainable diets are a responsibility of all. But we cannot wait for everyone to be on board, and we cannot rely on the large commercial players in the food system to do the right thing. Urgent action is needed now.

In the THRIVING project, we want to not only clarify what foods are good for human and planetary health, but also find ways build public support for these diets, and gather real-world evidence on what policies will be effective in encouraging dietary change.

Pete Scarborough, Professor of Population Health at Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, and project lead, added:

“The THRIVING Food Futures research hub is a great opportunity to reshape the UK’s food system in a way that benefits both our health and the environment.

“By working closely with policymakers and the public, we will create evidence-based solutions that are not only effective but also widely accepted and viable. If implemented, these policies can contribute to a healthier population and a healthier planet.”

This ambitious project is part of a new wave of transdisciplinary research hubs funded by UKRI and NIHR, designed to support transformative change. The THRIVING Food Futures project will not only provide valuable real-world evidence but also develop tools and policy maps that can be used beyond the life of the project.

• For more information about the project and its goals, please visit the THRIVING Food Futures webpageLink opens in a new window

Warwick LLB students Olivia Cooper and Leo Rudd have been working to develop a written resource to help staff better understand, support and accommodate the needs of our neurodivergent students. EDI reps OIivia and Leo are working on this really important issue to ensure Law School staff are fully equipped to offer the right support.

This work was conducted by Sedigheh (Mobi) Ghanbarzadeh and Darius Koester in close collaboration with collaboration with theorists Sami Al-Izzi and Richard Morris from the School of Physics, UNSW Sydney (both alumni of Warwick) and discusses how different levels of ATP (our loved fuel for molecular motors and other cellular processes) can lead to different dynamics and patterns of force generation by membrane tethered actomyosin networks. Inspired by experimental observations, we developed a new way of using a hydrodynamics approach to describe a hierarchical system of membrane tethered actin networks with a layer of force generating myosin motors atop that interact with each other while taking into account how myosin motor activity and affinity to actin depends on ATP concentrations. Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window

TRAC-VT (isrctn.com identifier: ISRCTN84509594) was a prospective, multicentre, observational single-arm study enrolling patients at five hospitals in five European countries. The study evaluated the safety and efficacy of the DiamondTemp RF ablation system modulating power (based on real-time tissue temperature) in patients with sustained monomorphic VT and ICM/NICM. Headline results: Acute procedural success was 100% (95% CI, 91–100%). No primary safety endpoints were observed. Six-month follow-up was completed in 92% of patients with 81% (95% CI, 65–91%) freedom from sustained or treated VT.

Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window