Title: International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health: Transition Funding
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: For the last decade the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health (ICLS) has worked to unite approaches from the social and biological sciences. ICLS's work necessitates a multidisciplinary approach- our team includes researchers with expertise in epidemiology, sociology, biology, statistics, psychology, clinical sciences and demography. Our work looks at how the social circumstances in which people live translate into poor health and unfavourable social outcomes across all stages of the lifecourse - 'how life gets under the skin'. ICLS's work aims to improve understanding about the stepping stones from childhood towards a healthy and productive working life and the maintenance of health and wellbeing in the later years. During the transition phase the core aims of the Centre are: - to deliver our scientific programme in 4 areas: child and adolescent health and wellbeing; work and retirement; the social-biological interface; and translational research - to maximise the impact of the Centre's programme of research - to build capacity in the quantitative analysis of longitudinal data, and in the communication of findings Emphasis is given to maximising the impact of our research, past and future, and to fostering impact readiness amongst ICLS researchers. ICLS has three key strategic priorities; - to build capacity in the analysis of quantitative longitudinal datasets; - to bridge the social and biological sciences; - to extend our international reach. The UK is renowned for its wealth of studies that collect information on large numbers of people from birth and throughout their lives. However, there continues to be a shortage of scientists with the requisite skills to analyse these complex data. A priority for ICLS continues to be building capacity in this area. We know that the contexts in which people live gets under the skin, but little is known about how this happens - how do social circumstances get into the cells and molecules to cause disease and early death? Our approach helps to develop ideas on how best to combine information collected in longitudinal studies, on social circumstances, psychological characteristics and biological profiles in ways that are theoretically plausible from both social and biological perspectives. The scientific programme proposed during the transition phase builds on previous ICLS work and is organized around four streams of research. - Child and adolescent health and wellbeing - here the focus is on the pathways to good health and educational achievements from birth through to adolescence - Work and retirement - where the health consequences of changing roles of men and women in relation to paid and unpaid work are examined, as are the health consequences of working in 'poor quality' jobs - The social-biological interface - informing the debate on the utility of using biodata to address questions of interest to the social sciences e.g. does using genetic information add to our understanding of causal relationships? - Translational elements of ICLS's research - exploring how ICLS's work could be incorporated into interventions and trials. ICLS's impact activities will build on and extend the successful work undertaken to date which has focused on: i) identifying potential beneficiaries; ii) sharing our research plans and our findings using a range of on and offline platforms; and iii) building relationships and working with groups and individuals to maximise the potential of our work to have impact. In the transition phase, we expect earlier, current and new work to impact even more directly on policy and practice. We expect our policy evidence on good quality jobs to have both economic and societal impact, creating a healthier and more resilient workforce and reducing social inequalities.


Research activity codes: 2.6 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE