Today I visited the Social And Public Health Sciences Unit of the Medical Research Council based in the constituency at Lilybank Gardens.

Professor Sally Macintyre, Hilary Thomson, Dr Anne Ellaway Michaela Benzeval and Ann McKechin MP discussed topics ranging from the impact on health of neighbourhood regeneration, the benefit system, the distribution by deprivation of alcohol outlets in Glasgow and whether people’s perceptions of their own body size and shape matched up with measurements taken by survey nurses. 

The purpose of the unit is to investigate the social and environmental influences on human health.  Much of our understanding of the social and environmental causes of both mental and physiological illness in our communities comes from the valuable research work done here.  

Speaking after the meeting, Ann said

We had an excellent meeting with medical research staff about many of the socio-environmental and socio-economic related community health problems under research.

I was very impressed by the range and standard of the research undertaken by Professor Sally Macintyre and her team. We should remember that there is a lot of research across a whole range of subjects being undertaken in this constiuency of national and international importance.

I am committed to supporting this research and will continue to promote all this valuable work.