John Wright (professor)

Last updated
John Wright
Academic work
Institutions National Health Service

John Wright is a British specialist in epidemiology, an applied researcher, and a doctor in the National Health Service (NHS). [1] He established the Bradford Institute for Health Research, based at Bradford Royal Infirmary, in 2007, based at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Contents

His interests in early life health and disease prevention led to his launching the Born in Bradford longitudinal birth cohort – a research study that has been featured as a long-running BBC Radio 4 radio series [2] 3 hosted by Winifred Robinson for more than a decade.

The project also played a key role in cementing Bradford's successful bid to become UK City of Culture in 2025. [3] Wright also designed a first-of-its-kind study that uses medical research to measure the benefits arts and culture can have on the health and wellbeing of the local population. [4]

He has authored over 500 papers and been awarded over £160 million in research award funding, £60 million as chief investigator. [5]

Professional career

Wright became a consultant in clinical epidemiology at Bradford Royal Infirmary in 1996 and authored three books on health needs assessment, global public health and clinical governance. In 2004 he was appointed Director of Research.

He established the Born in Bradford longitudinal birth cohort study in 2006. The study recruited almost 14,000 mothers and their partners in pregnancy and has followed the lives of 13,500 children born in the city between 2007 and 2011. [6] [7]

In January 2022, plans were unveiled by Wright to build on this study by launching a new health research project called Age of Wonder with the aim of tracking more than 30,000 adolescents on their journey into adulthood. [8] [9] The seven-year study was backed by a £7m grant from the Wellcome Trust.

He leads the ActEarly City Collaboratory programme, funded by the Medical Research Council to develop ways to improve the health and life chances of children living in deprived communities. [10]

He established the Bradford Institute for Health Research in 2007, uniting NHS organisations and the University of Bradford, University of Leeds and University of York to develop a centre for applied health research. In 2019 he established the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research. [11]

He set up the Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Academy in 2013 to support the translation of research evidence into clinical practice. In 2017 he established the Connected Bradford programme [12] to safely and securely link health, education, environmental and social care data for over 600,000 citizens.

He has run an international health partnership with Good Shepherd Hospital in the Lubombo region of Swaziland for over 25 years. In 2002, the link-up benefited from a donation 31 from the Foundation set up by the British singer, pianist and composer Sir Elton John to help fight AIDS. [13] In 2021, he was instrumental in launching City of Research, a new initiative to encourage more volunteers from across Bradford, Airedale and Craven to sign up to take part in health research. [14] [15]

He is also a strong advocate of the new Clean Air Zone being introduced across Bradford [16] [17] Under his leadership, Bradford was recognized as a leading research-recruiting hospital in England for the first time in 2024. [18]

Awards and recognition

He was elected a Fellow of Faculty of Public Health in 2001, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2005 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2022

In 2015 he was awarded the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa, known simply as the Ebola Medal, for his work in leading the response to the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone with Médecins du Monde, also known as Doctors of the World. [19]

It was the first time a medal had been created specifically to recognise those who have tackled a humanitarian crisis. [20] He reported from the frontline on this work in the BBC Radio 4 series Ebola: Six Weeks To Save The World. [21]

In 2020, he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Health by the University of Bradford for his long-standing contribution to the field of healthcare and support for the university and wider Bradford community and by the University of Bristol in 2023. [13] [22]

He is visiting professor at the University of Bradford, University of Leeds and University of York in the UK [23] as well as the University of Adelaide, Australia.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine</span> UK public research university

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institution was founded in 1899 by Sir Patrick Manson, after a donation from the Indian Parsi philanthropist B. D. Petit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Free Hospital</span> Hospital in London, England

The Royal Free Hospital is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and a number of other sites. The trust is a founder member of the UCLPartners academic health science centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Hunt</span> British politician (born 1966)

Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2012 to 2018 and as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament for Godalming and Ash, formerly South West Surrey, since 2005. Hunt also served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak from July to November 2024.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a British public sector healthcare provider located in Cambridge, England. It was established on 4 November 1992 as Addenbrooke's National Health Service Trust, and authorised as an NHS foundation trust under its current name on 1 July 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Royal Infirmary</span> NHS hospital in Yorkshire, England

Bradford Royal Infirmary is a large teaching hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and is operated by the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The infirmary is affiliated with the Leeds School of Medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Luke's Hospital, Bradford</span> Hospital in West Yorkshire, England

St Luke's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on Little Horton Lane to the south-west of Bradford city centre. The hospital is managed by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The main accommodation block is a grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service</span> Publicly-funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom

The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford</span> City in West Yorkshire, England

Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the 1974 reform, the city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. It had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 census, making it the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately 9 miles (14 km) to the east. The borough had a population of 552,644, making it the 9th most populous district in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Stephenson</span> British politician (born 1981)

Andrew George Stephenson FRSA is a former British politician who most recently served as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care from November 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pendle in Lancashire from 2010 until 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ashton (public health director)</span> British public health director

John Ashton CBE is a British doctor and academic. Ashton previously held positions at the University of Southampton, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Liverpool School of Medicine and as Regional Director of Public Health for North-West England for 13 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford Vaccine Group</span> Research group of the University of Oxford

The Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) is a vaccine research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1994 by Professor E. Richard Moxon, was initially based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and moved in 2003 to its current location in the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine (CCVTM) at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England. The group, led by Professor Andrew Pollard since 2001, comprises around 75 members across a number of disciplines, including consultants in paediatrics and vaccinology, clinical research fellows, research nurses, statisticians, post-doctoral laboratory scientists, research assistants and DPhil students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Stevens</span> British health manager and civil servant

Simon Laurence Stevens, Lord Stevens of Birmingham is Chair of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Chair of Cancer Research UK, Chair of King's College London, and an independent member of the House of Lords. In Parliament he focuses on defence and international relations, science, the environment, health, and higher education policy. Stevens was for seven years previously Chief Executive of NHS England. Earlier in his career he was senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister, a senior executive in the private sector, and worked internationally including in Guyana, Malawi, and the United States.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust runs University Hospital Coventry and the Hospital of St Cross situated in Rugby, Warwickshire. The trust works in partnership with the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebola in the United Kingdom</span>

Ebola virus disease in the United Kingdom and Ireland has occurred rarely in four cases to date, namely three health workers returning from treating victims of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa in 2014 and 2015, and a single case in 1976, when a laboratory technician contracted the disease in a needlestick injury while handling samples from Africa. All cases recovered. As of 2023, no domestic transmission of Ebola has occurred in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

Pauline Cafferkey is a Scottish nurse and aid worker who contracted Ebola virus disease in 2014 while working in Sierra Leone as part of the medical aid effort during the West African Ebola virus epidemic. She survived the illness.

Shafi Ahmed is a chief surgeon, teacher, futurist, innovator, professor and entrepreneur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abo Eisa</span> Sudanese professional footballer

Abobaker Mamoun Eisa is a Sudanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Thai League 1 club Nongbua Pitchaya. He represents Sudan national team at international level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Whitty</span> British physician and epidemiologist (born 1966)

Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty is a British epidemiologist, serving as Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyreik Wright</span> Irish footballer

Tyreik Samuel Wright is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger and wing back for Bradford City.

Bradford Clean Air Zone is a road traffic low-emission programme in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Plans were advanced for many cities in England to have Clean Air Zones (CAZ), but of the ones put forward in Yorkshire, only Bradford's CAZ has been taken to an operational stage. The scheme commenced on 26 September 2022, and all vehicles, barring private cars and motorbikes, must be compliant with the scheme or face a charge for entering into the zone. The programme aims to help the district comply with legal limits for air quality.

References

  1. ↑ "Professor John Wright". Bradford Institute for Health Research. 19 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Born in Bradford". BBC. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  3. ↑ "New 10-year study of culture in Bradford - Bradford 2025". bradford2025.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  4. ↑ "Bradford study into how arts and culture impacts people's lives could lead to huge changes". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  5. ↑ "Professor John Wright". Born In Bradford. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  6. ↑ "Born in Bradford awarded new research grant". University of York.
  7. ↑ "Born in Bradford in study partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies – Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust". NHS.
  8. ↑ "Bradford based project could be 'most important health study in a generation'". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  9. ↑ Harley, Nicky (2022-01-20). "UK launches £7m project into study examining children hardest hit by Covid-19". The National. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  10. ↑ Wright; HAyward; West; Pickett; McEachan; Mon-Williams (14 Oct 2019). "ActEarly: a City Collaboratory approach to early promotion of good health and wellbeing". Wellcome Open Research. 4: 156. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15443.1 . PMC   6904987 . PMID   31840089.
  11. ↑ "People". Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research.
  12. ↑ "Connected Bradford brochure". Connected Health Cities. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  13. 1 2 "Honorary degree for Bradford clinician who set up one of world's largest research projects". University of Bradford. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  14. ↑ "Bradford launches campaign to become world's biggest health research community". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  15. ↑ "Bradford volunteers sought to improve city's health research". BBC News. 20 May 2021.
  16. ↑ Young, Chris (2022-06-16). "Traffic fumes 'harm children' as Bradford prepares for driving charges". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  17. ↑ "'Poisonous' air pollution changing children's DNA, professor warns". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  18. ↑ "How Bradford has become the leading research hospital in England - John Wright". Yorkshirepost.co.uk. 3 June 2024.
  19. ↑ "Guiseley doctor who tackled Ebola in Africa has his bravery recognised with a medal". Ilkley Gazette. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  20. ↑ "Bradford doctor who tackled Ebola in Africa has his bravery recognised with a medal". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  21. ↑ "Outlook, 'Six Weeks to Save the World'". BBC.
  22. ↑ "Prof John Wright honoured by University of Bradford". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  23. ↑ "Our staff - Health Sciences, University of York". York.ac.uk.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.