HYMS student Catherine O’Mahony (centre)

HYMS
shows students from Highfields School how

sheet
to take blood pressure at the recent Science
Trail event at the University of York

April
2011

Students follow the Science Trail

Some 90 secondary school “I was really impressed at the way in

students visited the HYMS

Multi-Function Laboratory
recently as part of the 2011
University of York Science Trail.
Widening Participation Assistant Ellie
Bird and Senior Teaching Fellow in Medical
Education Andy Kardasz laid on PBL-type
sessions for the students.
“The sessions were centred around a
Virtual Patient, Neeta,” explained Ellie.
“She had fainted so the students were
looking at what they needed to investigate
and what tests they might carry out
before drafting a treatment plan for her.”
The sessions were facilitated by first-
year medical students – Catherine
O’Mahony; George Leidig; Elizabeth
Andargachew; Andrew Thompson;
Alexander Brightmore; and Harriet
Crosby. The students arrived in five
groups during the day and enjoyed being
shown how to take blood pressure and
use a stethoscope.
which our HYMS students pitched each of
their five sessions differently, according to
the ages and abilities of the teenagers in
their groups,” she added. “They really
managed to enthuse the school students
and we were most grateful to them for
giving up their time.”
The school pupils from across
Yorkshire and the Humber learnt how
exciting science can be through hands-on
interactive sessions at the university
designed to bring the subject to life.
The trail gave 245 teenagers in total,
aged 14 to 16, the chance to work with
leading academics and current students
across science departments at the
university.
Teenagers from 13 schools sampled
activities including an outdoor session on
climate and weather, working with
genuine archaeological animal bone and
creating a chemical ‘clock’ that changes
colour on cue.
Continued on page 2...
£5 million awarded
The University of Hull’s
Department of Cardiology has
secured £5 million to study the
effect of Clopidogrel and
Aspirin on patients with
chronic heart failure.
The Clopidogrel vs Aspirin in
Chronic Heart Failure study is the
first of its kind in the UK. The five
year study will involve 3,000
patients from 350 sites across the
UK and is funded by the Health
Technology Assessment
programme.
The study is led by Professor
John Cleland of HYMS and
University of Hull and involves
colleagues from the Post Graduate
Medical Institute, Hull York Medical
School and the Hull and East
Yorkshire NHS Trust. 

A ground-breaking ceremony marked the start of the main construction phase of a new
New £19 million community hospital for the East Riding at Swinemoor Lane, Beverley.

hospital for The new hospital will bring a number of services currently delivered in larger hospitals outside the East
© HYMS 2011

Riding into the local community, supported by Neighbourhood Care Teams, which support people with
Beverley long term conditions to live more independently. Plans for the new community hospital include a base
for the Hull York Medical School. 
Students follow the
Science Trail
...Continued from page 1
The event involved staff and
students from 14 university
departments and centres, HYMS
and the York Neuroimaging Centre
who helped the youngsters explore
different aspects of science.
For the first time, some
Science Trail events took place on
the university’s new £750 million
campus expansion at Heslington
East. These included a Psychology
workshop on how we see colours
in a futuristic pod on the lake
outside the Ron Cooke Hub
building.
Other highlights included fun
and games with computing, an
exploration of the solar system in
an inflatable planetarium and DNA
fingerprinting.
The Science Trail 2011 is
supported by The Excellence Hub,
a partnership between the
Universities of Hull, Leeds, Sheffield
and York, which develops exciting
and purposeful opportunities for
gifted and talented young people to
gain new experiences, enriching
their learning in school or college.
Best poster award
for Anna
HYMS Clinical Skills Lead
Anna Hammond has received
a best poster award at the UK
Conference “Communication
in Undergraduate Medical
Education” held in
Manchester.
Her poster entitled “Doctors
as Patients: Exploring the
Challenges for Communication
and the Doctor-Patient
Relationship” was voted for by
delegates at the conference. It was
co-authored by former HYMS
Lecturer in health care
communication Dr Sarah Collins,
former HYMS Academic FY2 Dr
Kate Thomas and HYMS Professor
of Primary and Community Care
Prof Ian Watt.
Further congratulations to
Anna who now takes up a new
role within HYMS as Director of
Communication Skills Teaching.
Ahmed Aburima (centre) with Professor Tony Kendrick and Dr Sarah Elton
First HYMS PhD awarded
Congratulations to Ahmed Aburima (pictured above), the first postgraduate
research student to graduate from HYMS.
Ahmed conducted research into PkA signalling in blood platelets under the
supervision of Professor Khalid Naseem, Head of the HYMS Centre for Cardiovascular
and Metabolic Research.
Mental health grants
HYMS Honorary Senior Lecturer and
Consultant Child Psychiatrist Dr Barry
Wright has received awards for two
studies.
A grant of £239,023 was awarded to Dr
Wright and his colleague Dr Sophie
Roberts to help study mental health
problems in deaf children.
One of the most effective ways of getting
information about the mental health
problems of deaf children is to use a
questionnaire called the Strengths and
Difficulties Questionnaire, which has
versions for young people, parents and
teachers, and is available in over 60
different languages but which has not yet
been translated into British Sign Language
(BSL). This study sets out to translate and
validate a BSL version of the questionnaire. 
A second grant of £248,000 was awarded
to Dr Wright by the National Institute for
Health Research’s Research for Patient
Benefit Programme for a study into
depression in teenagers which starts this
April. 
Paediatric research news
PROFESSOR Colin Garner, a HYMS
Honorary Professor in Pharmacology, has
successfully bid for an EU grant to
investigate how infants, children and
adolescents metabolise well known drugs
such as paracetamol, spironolactone and
midazolam using new techniques and
approaches. 
Hull’s €500,000 EU grant
THE University of Hull has won
international funding to investigate the
links between heart failure and diabetes,
obesity and muscle wasting.
A €3 million grant was awarded by the
European Commission as part of an
international competition, with the
University of Hull, the only UK partner in
the study, awarded €500,000 to fund
research nurses, doctors, equipment and
project and information management.
Partner university cities include St
Petersburg (with which Hull has had
strong trading links for centuries), Berlin,
Rome and Moscow.
Hull is the lead partner responsible for
coordinating international recruitment and
managing the information being collected.
It also has special responsibility for
screening for heart disease in patients
with diabetes. Professor John Cleland,
head of the Department of Academic
Cardiology in the University's Post
Graduate Medical Institute and Hull York
Medical School, is a world leader in
cardiovascular research and one of the
international consortium leaders. 
Advance notice
THE Yorkshire Immunology Group Bi-
Annual Meeting will take place at the
University of York on 8 June 2011. The
event is CPD certified by the Royal
College of Physicians and the deadline for
registration is Tuesday 24 May. 
New programme to of illnesses related to formula feeding
versus breastfeeding. Staff news
promote maternal and There will be an evaluation of the welfare
Welcome to ...
infant nutrition food scheme, Healthy Start, which
distributes vouchers for fresh fruit and Demian Whiting, Senior Lecturer
HYMS is taking part in a £1 million vegetables to low-income families in in Medical Ethics and Professionalism,
collaborative programme with the England. Researchers will examine the who will be based in Hull.
University of York aimed at views of families and staff about how the
scheme is working and ways in which it Goodbye to ...
encouraging improved nutrition for
mothers and infants. could be improved. Gay Fagan, Head of Assessment, who
The programme will also publish an leaves HYMS in April to take up the
A key element of the programme led by post of Associate Professor at
the Mother and Infant Research Unit evidence-based blueprint for promoting
breastfeeding and attachment in neonatal Warwick University.
based in the University’s Department of
Health Sciences, is to help to support units, while neonatal units across Yorkshire Congratulations to ...
women to breastfeed. will be supported in developing practice
to better support and enable women to Dr Sarah Elton, who has taken over
Funding from Government, charities and breastfeed. as Acting Head of the HYMS
the NHS will support a range of research, Postgraduate Centre and Acting
policy, innovation and education projects. A new online multidisciplinary education Chair of the Postgraduate
programme on breastfeeding is being Programmes Board.
The programme includes a new launched to ensure staff working with
educational framework that will be mothers and babies have good quality, and all good wishes to
offered to hundreds of NHS staff and evidence-based information and resources Professor Nick Stafford who now
others who work with new mothers and about infant feeding. steps down from these roles to focus
babies.
The first phase will see this resource on Phase 2 of the Daisy Appeal.
Policy-related research includes an made available free of charge in February
economic analysis of breastfeeding to to 400 NHS staff in Yorkshire and Humber.
examine the cost to the UK health service  Red noses at York
A RED Nose Day goodies sale,
Minds in Motion launches new website organised by Lauren Mathews, Jay
Exley and Jo Needham, rasied £76 for
A new website was launched recently by the
Comic Relief.
award winning community project Minds in
Everyone tried to wear something red
Motion.
and there were lots of homemade
Set up and run by HYMS and University of York
www.mindsinmotion.org.uk students, the project works with dementia sufferers in cakes and sweets available for a
donation to the good cause. There
the York area, engaging with them in a variety of
was even a red nose quiz.
activities from singing to furniture restoration, details of which can now be found on
“A BIG thank you to everyone who
the new website.
contributed goodies or donated to
Project Coordinator and Year 2 HYMS student Emily Wells reports below on
enjoy the many cakes, biscuits, buns
one of the ‘Reminiscence’ sessions:
and tiffin at the Red Nose Day
Minds in Motion run a variety of different activities each month... but what goodies sale,” said Lauren. “We were
exactly happens during one of the sessions? also incredibly impressed (and
The Reminiscence session involves the discussion of past activities, events and entertained) by all the efforts made by
experiences usually with the aid of prompts such as photographs, old newspapers, and the majority to wear red to support
other familiar items from the past. Memory dysfunction is a prominent feature of Comic Relief. A nod to Jeff Barber for
Dementia and reminiscence therapy is thought to improve cognition and general well- the face-painting effort!”
being of sufferers. It is a vital way of promoting self-confidence and self-worth but
also allows volunteers to gain an insight into the patients’ lives.
Sarah Bartlett, a second year Psychology student, described what being the
reminiscence team leader means to her:
“I like feeling that I’m making a positive impact on the patients’ everyday routines,
as I imagine they can become quite repetitive in institutionalised care. It gives me
invaluable patient contact because I can clearly see the varying ways Dementia can
affect an individual; it really helps consolidate the science behind the disease.”
As a team leader, Sarah comes up with a different theme for each session and
volunteers help her run the session by working individually or with small groups of Stop press – Placebo
patients to chat about memories from their past: whether it be the likes of family
holidays, school life, or the royal family!
Effect rises again!
Minds in Motion sessions last an hour and a variety of different activities run each WE hear on the grapevine that a
month: arts and crafts, restoration, singing, dance and movement, and interactive certain well-known student
music. New committee members are currently being sought to take over in York after publication may be returning very
Easter and very recently a new branch of Minds in Motion has been set up in Hull, led soon ... about time, guys! We’ve missed
by Charlotte Friend and Nina Ward.  you!
 Calendar April 18 11
of events Seminar Conference

5 Public and patient

For full details of all
these events, plus
many more lectures,
seminars, conferences
and social events, visit
www.hyms.ac.uk/events
involvement in research
2nd Palliative Care
Specialty Group
Conference
Daisy Building, Castle Hill
Exhibition
Hospital  The Royal York Hotel,
HYMS/Hull School of Art York 
jane.ash@nhs.net
and Design art exhibition
miriam.johnson@hyms.ac.uk
Hull School of Art and Design
May
25
(behind St Stephens), Hull 

6 4
Lecture
Antidepressant medication:
the emperor’s new drugs
Prof Irving Kirsch
ARRC Auditorium,
University of York 
Neurasthenia, masculinity
and chronic fatigue
syndrome in the late 19th
century
Dr Jane Thomas
Dearne Meeting Room,
University of Hull 
Conference
2011 Annual Learning
and Teaching Conference:
Beyond the surface:
student engagement and
deeper learning
Physics/Electronics Exhibition
area, University of York 

Poster proliferation New HYMS society Research publications

HYMS PhD student Vijay Agarwal won
first prize for his poster entitled
‘Expression of PTEN in malignant pleural
mesothelioma’ at the recent Annual
British Thoracic Oncology Group
conference in Dublin.Vijay’s paper on the
subject is published in Lung Cancer
2011;71(Supplement 1): S19.
FINAL year HYMS student Stephen
Bradley will be presenting a poster at the
National Academic Medicine Students’
Conference in Newcastle in May. The
poster details work conducted at the
Department of Surgery, National
University of Ireland, Galway, looking at
how the cost of treating breast cancer
changed over the course of 10 years.
Funded by the Republic of Ireland’s
National Breast Cancer Research Institute,
Stephen undertook the project as a
summer studentship under the
supervision of breast surgeon Professor
Mike Kerin.
Graduation 2011
HYMS students will be graduating at the
University of York ceremony at 9.30am on
Thursday 14 July 2011. 
Stories with the mouse symbol  have more information in the news section
of the HYMS website, where you will also find breaking news, updates and images.
www.hyms.ac.uk/news
THE HYMS Society for Sport and
Exercise Medicine was launched last
month. The Society aims to provide a
formal outlet for HYMS Students to
explore the possibility of taking up a
career in sport and exercise medicine.
Further information from publicity officer
rebecca.marshall@hyms.ac.uk or join the
Society’s facebook group. 
Summer school
A WEEK-long international summer
school will be held in Manchester in mid-
August aimed at helping medical
undergraduates develop a strong clinical,
academic and research portfolio that will
help them to pursue a career in a
competitive surgical or medical speciality
on completion of medical school. 
Healthy? Volunteer!
HYMS is currently recruiting healthy
volunteers. If you have any friends or
relatives who would be interested please
contact kelly.northcott-orr@hyms.ac.uk
or click on the link for further
information. 
this internal bulletin,
please send them to
Recent publications by HYMS
staff include:
Currow DC, Abernethy AP, Johnson
MJ, Bausewein C, Hardy R, Higginson
IJ Measuring the net benefits of
hospice and palliative care: A
composite measure for multiple
audiences – palliative net benefit
Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2011;
14(3):264-265. 
Heidi Lempp, Fowzia Ibrahim, Tamara
Shaw, Darija Hofmann, Helen Graves,
Graham Thornicroft, Ian Scott, Tony
Kendrick, David L. Scott
Comparative quality of life in patients
with depression and rheumatoid
arthritis International Review of
Psychiatry, February 2011; 23(1): 118-
124 
Semple D, Smith K, Bhandari S,
Seymour AM Uremic cardiomyopathy
and insulin resistance: A critical role
for Akt J Am Soc Nephrol 8(1) 2011,
22: 207-215 
If you have any
contributions for
val.parker
@hyms.ac.uk