Dr Nita Forouhi and Dr Fumiaki Imamura from the Nutritional Epidemiology Group at the MRC Epidemiology Unit have won a University of Cambridge award for best impact for their work building evidence, awareness and policy impact in sugar, fat and health.

The inaugural University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Impact and the Public Engagement with Research Awards were held on Monday 20 June. In the Impact Awards there were 71 nominations, with a winner picked for each School, and an overall winner across the University.

Programme leader Dr Forouhi, and Senior Investigator Scientist Dr Imamura won both the best impact award for the Clinical School, and also the overall University prize. A summary of their entry for the awards is:

Sugar, fat and health – building evidence, awareness and policy impact
The Nutritional Epidemiology Programme is identifying modifiable risk factors that could help reduce the health burden of poor diet. In particular, they have focused on advancing understanding of the health impacts of sugars, fats and foods, using both scale and depth of investigation combining self-report information with objective nutritional biomarkers to inform scientific, public health and policy interest. Their impact work has involved engaging at a national and international level with policy and guidance bodies, as well as using the media to improve understanding of the issues, with the potential for a direct impact on people’s health.

Dr Forouhi said:

“We are delighted to receive this award which recognises our research impact beyond academia. This was only possible through collaborative science across the Nutritional Epidemiology Group and the MRC Epidemiology Unit as a whole.  It has been exciting and important to go the distance between publishing our research in science journals to making an impact through engaging with the media and policy and guidance bodies on diet and health”.

You can read more about the work of the Nutritional Epidemiology Programme at www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/research/research-areas/nutrition/

The Unit overall had a very strong showing at the awards, with five nominations for the Impact Awards, and two for the Public Engagement Awards. These highlighted work across a range of topics and engagements, locally, nationally and internationally.

Impact award nominees:

• Sugar, fat and health – building evidence, awareness and policy impact (Dr Nita Forouhi & Dr Fumiaki Imamura – Nutritional Epidemiology)
• Impact of physical activity and diet on health: House of Commons Health Committee. (All Unit Programmes)
• Mixed modes – achieving impact in active travel research. (Dr David Ogilvie, Dr Jenna Panter, Dr Cornelia Guell, Dr James Woodcock – Physical Activity & Public Health, and Public Health Modelling)
• The health impacts of takeaways – impact on local and national policy (Dr Pablo Monsivais & Dr Tom Burgoine – Social, Economic and Neighbourhood Determinants of Diet)
• Future Reactive – changing schools’ and children’s perceptions of physical activity (Dr Helen Brown & Dr Esther van Sluijs – Behavioural Epidemiology)

Public engagement award nominees:

• GoActive – Student voices explaining our work to the people that matter. (Dr Helen Brown, Dr Kirsten Corder, Fiona Whittle)
• CASE – Effectively engaging stakeholders and young people in research. (Dr Katie Morton)

A full list of winners across the University can be found at www.research-strategy.admin.cam.ac.uk/impact/vice-chancellors-awards-impact

Read more about how the MRC Epidemiology Unit works with practice and policy at www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/take-part/practice-policy