Leeds, England, United Kingdom
I never imagined managing Departments and School's of Psychology. And for 15 years, I did just that. Now, I am again focused on teaching and research. My career journey was driven by the opportunity to engage in research at Leeds during my undergraduate studies. From that fortunate start, I have been working in obesity research throughout my professional life. Both have allowed me to work with some incredible people who have influenced me greatly, personally and professionally. Who am I? A psychologist working in Obesity Practice and Policy. My focus is on appetite and eating behaviour and weight management interventions targeting this (behavioural, nutritional, pharmaceutical and surgical - traditional or digital). What do I do? Broad interests in the psychology of obesity, including links between mental and physical health, stress and coping, stigmatisation, and the experience of living with obesity. My Experience? Interests also include policy on food insecurity and food inequalities in families, unhealthy food marketing to children, food labelling, and increasing access to obesity services and support. Spent time in management, and for fifteen years in various departments, institutes, and School leadership roles, helping staff develop and organisations through change, before refocusing on obesity and mental health. Work extensively with stakeholders, including societies, NGOs, policymakers, industry, and advocacy groups, to promote healthier foods and develop more effective approaches to weight management. Most Recently? Very much enjoy working with the patient community, who have had an incredible impact on my research and teaching over the last few years. This has very much brought into focus the language we use about obesity, not just as stigmatisation, but also as a real barrier to access to treatment. This has also led me to focus on psychological approaches to obesity management and the real impact Trauma has on the lives of people living with obesity. Working with colleagues is the most enjoyable aspect of my role(s). Giving colleagues, patient advocates, and students access to opportunities is a key activity. Other Stuff? I am a keen, if not very skilled, gardener, a (former) over-obsessed gym-goer (with very limited results) and an enjoyer of music of many different genres. Keen to engage on Obesity Solutions and Advocacy for People Living with Obesity, Psychological, Behavioural and Mental Health Aspects of Obesity Food Insecurity and Inequalities in Health [email protected] See also links to WOF, EASO and ECPO below.
It is great honour to start my term as president. Thanks so much to the EASO family. Great thanks to the out going president Nathalie Farpour-Lambert. A great presidency & hard act to follow. My priorities are to continue to stress personalised approaches to treatment, and to recognise the lived experience of patients, and to continue to improve the overall food environment (essential for general public health, not only for prevention of obesity, but also for improving weight maintenance post-intervention). On the treatment side we need work to ensure People Living with Obesity (PLWO) seek and receive help far sooner in their struggles with weight, and that healthcare professionals better understand the full implications of obesity as a disease. On the food environment we still need to push on marketing, advertising, nutritional labelling, reformulation and taxes. But much more than that we need to look at the food systems underpinning this. We need to make sure the healthy and sustainable option becomes the default option, and that those options are inexpensive, accessible, attractive and affordable — and importantly — are what people want. The COVID pandemic and my work with ECPO have really brought home the mental health issues associated with living with obesity. Even before the pandemic, issues of depression and anxiety were widely recognised. However, loss of access to treatment and the usual coping mechanism, combined with isolation, loneliness and fear, have added additional stresses to the lives of PLWO. In response to this, EASO will be developing a new Psychology, Behaviour and Mental Health group to guide education, research, and advocacy in this area. I look forward to meeting the national societies and their members and working with the EASO regional vice presidents (Volkan, Dana and Jorn), listening to your feedback, serving your needs, and providing support wherever I can. Finally, congratulations to Volkan on becoming president elect.
Established in 1986, EASO is a federation of professional membership associations from 36 European countries. It is the voice of the European obesity community, representing scientists, health care practitioners, physicians, public health experts, early career researchers, students and patients. EASO is in formal relations with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, coordinates the EU Obesity Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) and is a member of the EU Health Coalition and the Biomedical Alliance in Europe. The Objectives of EASO are: - To establish obesity as an urgent and relevant health and wellbeing priority - To develop evolving evidence-based approaches for preventing and treating obesity across the lifespan - To promote effective solutions through research, education and policy. Find out more at www.easo.org.
Working collaboratively across Europe to improve the lives of people who are living with and are affected by the chronic disease of obesity through advocacy, policy and education. Initially established in 2013, to help the European scientific and clinical community better understand the patient experience. From this, the Patient Council developed into a strong voice for people living with Obesity & the patient community across Europe. We are now an independent patient led, managed, and run organisation working collaboratively across Europe. Our Vision: The EASO ECPO is a patient led, managed and run organisation working collectively to be the authoritative patient voice in Europe with respect to evidence-based approaches for obesity prevention, treatment, ongoing management and policy, by facilitating knowledge exchange, research and educating people who live with and are affected by the chronic disease of obesity. https://eurobesity.org/patient/jason-g-c-halford/
Leeds is among the top ten universities for research power in the UK. Our academic breadth, commitment to quality and determination to make a genuine impact on the world around us enables us to achieve extraordinary results in: • Creating knowledge through research and innovation. • Disseminating it through excellent student education. • Applying it to make a difference to society, culture and the economy. We have over 34,000 students, over 7,000 members of staff and a global network of more than 240,000 alumni. Integrating research and learning and teaching is at the heart of our strategy. Our courses are taught by staff who are engaged in world-class research and cutting-edge professional practice. We have strong ties with industry, and work with organisations of all sizes. Our outstanding entrepreneurial record of commercialising our research has seen us launch more spin-out companies on the AIM stock market than any other UK university. VIDEO LINK - https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-leeds/videos/ #TogetherLeeds Arrived in Leeds during the pandemic. Great to be back (if only virtually at the moment)
Our pioneering reputation attracts students, experts and partners from around the world. Delivered Education: • Research Methods in Psychology, • Biopsychology of Motivation • Eating Behaviour and Appetite Control RESEARCH • Developed the original Kissileff lab (named after Dr Harry Kissileff), and later associated eating behaviour labs into one of the largest such facilities in Europe. • Developed collaborative multidisciplinary research in obesity through the Liverpool Obesity Research Network (LORN), unpinning collaborations with Professor John Wilding (underpinning industry funded clinical trials and experimental medicine studies such as REBA, ENERGIZE, RESILIANT) • Commenced research on the impact of advertising on children’s eating behaviour (Initial paper Halford et al., 2004) which led to work with the World Health Organisation on regulatory guidance and monitoring and has fed into calls on banning junk food adverts. • Developed impact through collaboration with food industry to develop function ingredients and healthier foods (American Beverage Association, California Prune Board, Coca-Cola, Danone, Dupont, Ingredion, Kemin Health, Lipid Nutrition, National Starch, Nature’s Remedies, Nutraveris, Tate and Lyle, Unilever) • Co-ordinated two large EU funded studies SATIN (Framework 7, 18 partners, €6 million) and SWEET (Horizon 2020, 29 partners, €8 million) • Local lead on the WRAP weight management in primary care trial (lead from the University of Cambridge), N8-Agrifood and the iKnowFood food systems resilience collaboration (both led by the University of York) • Collaborated with the Pharmaceutical Industry in developing novel treatments for obesity or mitigating drug induced weight gain (Astra Zeneca, BMS, Eli Lilly, GSK, Orexigen, Novo Nordisk, Predix Pharmaceutical Holdings, Prosidion OSI, Sanofi-Aventis, Servier)
Merged three Departments of Psychology (Applied, Clinical and Experimental Psychology). Worked to form/consolidate research groups, building collaborative research. and focused on research performance, Including tenure as HoD in Experimental psychology, Psychology at Liverpool rose in ranking in the REF 2014 into the second quartile. Research income rose consistently - RAE 2008 (£6M), REF 2014 (£15.5M), REF 2021 (£24+M)
Research Lead for the Institute and it's three Departments (Public Health,, Primary Care and Psychology)