̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Anna Moore

AI can be good for our health and wellbeing

cjb250 — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 08:00:08 +0000

Cambridge researchers are looking at ways that AI can transform everything from drug discovery to Alzheimer's diagnoses to GP consultations.

CamFest Speaker Spotlight: Dr Anna Moore

zs332 — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 13:42:26 +0000

Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and programme lead, Dr Anna Moore, discusses the NIHR BioResource’s national childhood health research programme, D-CYPHR. ̽��ֱ��groundbreaking programme is a world first and aims to be the largest ever DNA research programme involving children aged 0-15.

Cambridge researchers recognised as Future Leaders by UKRI

lw355 — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 09:23:43 +0000

Future Leaders Fellowships are awarded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to support universities and businesses in developing their most talented early career researchers and innovators, and to attract new people to their organisations, including from overseas.

̽��ֱ��75 'most promising research leaders' recognised today by UKRI will benefit from £101 million to tackle major global issues and to commercialise their innovations in the UK.

UKRI Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said: “UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships provide researchers and innovators with long-term support and training, giving them the freedom to explore adventurous new ideas, and to build dynamic careers that break down the boundaries between sectors and disciplines.

“ ̽��ֱ��fellows announced today illustrate how this scheme empowers talented researchers and innovators to build the diverse and connected research and innovation system we need to shorten the distance between discovery and prosperity across the UK.”

̽��ֱ��four Cambridge researchers are:

Dr Alecia-Jane Twigger (Department of Pharmacology) (pictured)

Breastfeeding has been highlighted by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival”. A major priority of the WHO is to increase the global rate of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months up to at least 50% by 2025. However, many mothers worry about low milk production – a major driver for mothers switching to formula feeding. With funding provided by the Future Leaders Fellowship, Dr Twigger will establish state-of-the-art models of lactation with the aim of developing and trialling treatments to support low-milk production mothers in partnership with breastfeeding advocates and clinical stakeholders.

Dr Amy Orben (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Fellow of St John's College)

Dr Amy Orben will pinpoint how social media use might be linked to mental health risk in teenagers, a time when we are especially susceptible to developing mental health conditions. She will use a range of innovative techniques to study technological designs, such as the quantification of social feedback through ‘like’ counts, that could be problematic and therefore a target for future regulation. As a UKRI Future Leader Fellow, Dr Orben will also collaborate flexibly with youth, policymakers and charities to swiftly address pressing questions about social media and technology, helping to safeguard young people.

Dr Anna Moore (Department of Psychiatry)

Seventy percent of children suffering mental health problems are unable to access services and those who can are waiting longer than ever for help. Working with children, families and Cambridge Children’s Hospital project, Dr Anna Moore is developing easy-to-use digital tools to revolutionise mental health treatment for the young, by helping clinicians diagnose conditions much earlier. ̽��ֱ��system, called Timely, will use AI to analyse patient data, joining the dots to spot the early signs of mental health conditions. ̽��ֱ��tool will be designed to reduce health inequality, improve service efficiency and ensure data use is ethical and publicly acceptable.

Dr Niamh Gallagher (Faculty of History and Fellow of St Catharine’s College)

Dr Gallagher will lead ground-breaking historical research into one of the greatest geopolitical transformations of the 20th century, the disappearance of the British Empire, by investigating how Ireland, the Irish and a series of so-called ‘Irish Questions’ influenced the multifarious 'ends' of the Empire, from 1886 to today. With partners spanning education, public policy and the media, this research will produce a series of innovative outputs and shareable recommendations that facilitate pathways to cohesion in post-conflict Northern Ireland and enhance British–Irish relations in the aftermath of Brexit.

Four researchers are among the UK’s “most promising research leaders” who will benefit from £101 million from UKRI to tackle major global issues and commercialise their innovations.

̽��ֱ��fellows announced today illustrate how this scheme empowers talented researchers and innovators to build the diverse and connected research and innovation system we need to shorten the distance between discovery and prosperity across the UK.

Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive

Alecia-Jane Twigger, one of the Future Leaders

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Largest ever DNA and health research programme for children and young people launches

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 00:00:22 +0000

̽��ֱ��National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) BioResource’s D-CYPHR – the DNA, Children and Young People’s Health Resource – will play a key role in pioneering new treatments and creating better care for children and the adults they will become – everything from improving understanding of mental health to combatting heart disease. ̽��ֱ��programme is led by NIHR BioResource in partnership with the NHS, Anna Freud and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

Many serious health conditions start in the first two decades of life, with over 1.7 million children in England alone suffering from long-term health conditions. However, most health research is carried out with adults, meaning we are not only missing important opportunities to understand how disease starts, develops and its causes, but are limited in developing new treatments.

Dr Anna Moore, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, clinical lead for D-CYPHR, said: “Today we are at the beginning of the most tremendous opportunity which will transform our understanding of genetics for children's health: a moment where families can help much needed health research from home. This will boost all the amazing research happening across the UK.”

̽��ֱ��ground-breaking new programme is open to any child and young person aged 0 to 15 in the UK, to create the biggest health initiative of its kind in this country and a world first – a new national childhood DNA health resource for research from birth through adolescence.

Supporting the programme’s launch, Dr Xand van Tulleken, BBC presenter, urged parents and their children to get involved: “We urgently need research projects that support children’s health and we need children to volunteer to help! Children are amazing – I’m constantly astounded by their bravery in stepping up for causes they believe in. Today, we’re offering the chance to be a hero for healthcare – just by spitting in a tube.

“D-CYPHR will help future children, and it will help all of us in our adult lives. ̽��ֱ��ambition and scope of the D-CYPHR project is awe inspiring and it relies on these incredible volunteers to make amazing discoveries from which all of us, children and adults, will benefit.”

Research has shown the power that understanding genetics can have on outcomes for a range of conditions and illness, from improvements to how diabetes is treated in children, to the national roll-out of whole genome sequencing for babies and children in intensive care. Understanding genetics is vital in helping to understand and treat illness.

D-CYPHR aims to support this, while also mapping development in children and young people. ̽��ֱ��environment and experiences while growing up work together with genetics to affect development, and the likelihood of getting diseases. ̽��ֱ��more we can understand about this, the more treatments can be developed, and tailored to individuals. It even opens up the opportunity for earlier identification of problems, and in the future, we hope to be able to avoid some illnesses, like heart disease and type II diabetes.

Dr Anna Moore continued: “We’ve carefully designed and piloted the programme alongside children, schools and families over two years. This has been very important as this project will also be a way to address inequality in health research – health research needs to benefit everyone, and so we need children and young people from all backgrounds to get involved.

“Each sample joins a resource with thousands of others showing how environment and genetics affect health. ̽��ֱ��potential of D-CYPHR is therefore massive. We’re excited to unlock these secrets together with the young heroes that are agreeing to help us.”

Joining D-CYPHR is simple. Each young person, with parental consent, donates a saliva sample and answers a health and lifestyle questionnaire. ̽��ֱ��information and sample are depersonalised and joins the resource. By studying thousands of DNA samples together with health information, scientists can begin to see the big picture of how our genes and our environment influence our health.

In a world first, the new D-CYPHR programme will support research into any health conditions that begin in or have their origins in childhood – not just a specific condition or age group. This will include mental health conditions, diabetes, heart conditions, rare diseases, immune conditions and many more. It will also help us understand childhood development and what sets the foundations for a healthy life.

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive of the NIHR commented: "We’ve seen that genetics can help us unlock our understanding of diseases. Now we want to build on that knowledge by ensuring that our children and young people can access the power of genetics to transform diagnosis and treatment through this research. This exciting new project will help us develop an understanding of their genetics in a way that is more detailed and focused than ever before.”

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay said: “This pioneering genetic research programme is an exciting opportunity to advance our understanding of the causes of diseases and how they develop from childhood through to adulthood.

“By focusing on the DNA of children and young people we’ll be able to track how genetics affect a child’s development and build a picture of what might impact on their future health. As a result we’ll be able to develop more effective, bespoke treatments and even explore potential preventative measures for a wide range of conditions, including mental health issues and heart disease.”

Find out how you can take part on the D-CYPHR website

Adapted from an NIHR press release

Cambridge researchers are helping launch a nationwide study for children and young people to unlock the power of our DNA.

Today we are at the beginning of the most tremendous opportunity which will transform our understanding of genetics for children's health

Anna Moore

Anna Samoylova

Children playing tug of war

Suzie, mother of a D-CYPHR participant from Salisbury

“I saw my daughter, Sophie's, journey from a very unwell newborn to a vibrant and active seven-year-old, enjoying life to the fullest. She’s now thriving and loves reading, baking, riding, and drama, which brings immense joy to her and our family. But in her early days, she faced significant health challenges. ̽��ֱ��cause of these episodes was unknown, leaving us puzzled and seeking medical answers. Some of these questions remain unanswered, and as a doctor, I know this can happen.

“If by taking part in D-CYPHR, and expanding medical knowledge, then someone else in a similar position gets a better understanding of a cause and so the right treatment, then it’s completely worth it. D-CYPHR is an opportunity for us to support research that might give answers to other parents in our situation, as well as create better treatments for millions of people.”

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