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Reflecting on 2025 and looking ahead to 2026

Fuse Director Sheena Ramsay looks back on a busy year for the Centre and ahead to new opportunities for collaboration and impact in 2026.

As we step into 2026, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on what was an exceptional year for Fuse and share some exciting plans for the year ahead.

Reflecting on 2025

Last year was one of growth, collaboration, and impact. We refreshed our Research Clusters to reflect emerging priorities, introducing a new Public Mental Health Cluster and welcoming new leadership, including Professor Amelia Lake as our Deputy Director. We were delighted to welcome the University of Cumbria as Fuse’s sixth partner university, and our Fuse Awards event celebrated outstanding contributions across collaboration, communication, public involvement, and translational research.

Fuse has had an outstanding year of research and collaboration in the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR), progressing 32 SPHR-funded projects covering a huge range of public health priorities. These included work on mental health and education (supporting children not in school), health equity (including a project with the voluntary sector on discrimination and health), and healthy environments (from sustainable food systems to climate adaptation). They also tackle school health and youth engagement (new food standards, tobacco/vaping policy), explore family and welfare policy impacts, and push forward innovation in involvement and research methods.

Supporting the next generation of researchers is central to Fuse. We were awarded 16 capacity-building opportunities, including a PhD studentship, a SPHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, transdisciplinary placements, summer internships, and five ResNet projects. These early career projects covered everything from oral health promotion and food insecurity to adolescent wellbeing and social media, smoking cessation in pregnancy, and participatory research with grassroots food aid organisations.

Fuse researchers also achieved major success through NIHR Three Schools collaborations, securing 36 awards in mental health, dementia, and prevention. Highlights include the University of Cumbria receiving £130,000 to evaluate the Family Wellbeing Partnership - a transformative initiative led by Cumbria Community Foundation and funded by Sellafield Ltd. In addition, Fuse is leading a collaborative project to assess the impact of the Making Every Contact Count healthcare initiative across Bolton, backed by almost £250,000 from the NIHR Three Schools Prevention Programme.

Elsewhere, a major highlight was our contribution to the government’s consultation on banning energy drinks, a milestone informed by a decade of Fuse evidence. This work attracted global media coverage and demonstrated the reach and relevance of our findings. We also submitted evidence to government inquiries and provided input into key policy reports and guidance, ensuring that Fuse research continues to make a real-world difference.

Fuse researchers secured over £8.8 million in new funding for groundbreaking projects, including programmes in mental health research, health inequalities, and national evaluations, alongside targeted NIHR studies and prestigious fellowships. These investments strengthen our capacity to deliver impactful research across the region and nationally. Impact on policy and practice was equally significant. Fuse research shaped restrictions on hot food takeaways near schools and provided evidence of the benefits of school-based mental health support. It was also announced that Fuse Associate Professor Judith Rankin would co-lead a £50 million consortium to tackle inequalities in maternity care and outcomes.

We also celebrated outstanding achievements: OBEs for Professor Greta Defeyter and Professor Rankin; an Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship for Professor Clare Bambra; a Cross-Sector Experience Award for Emma Adams; and a regional award for a Fuse-supported food access project led by Professor Emma Giles. Over 20 Fuse women were recognised for their contributions to public health research. Balbir Singh received an MBE for his creative health and wellbeing work in the region, including the Fuse Award winning Unmasking Pain project.

We were deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague Matt Capsey, Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Practice at the University of Cumbria and Associate Head of Professional Standards at the College of Paramedics. Matt also previously worked at Teesside University. He was kind, enthusiastic, and had a genuine passion for helping people. His family have set up a tribute page, which includes donation links for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue, for anyone who would like to contribute.

Engagement and Creative Outputs

Fuse continues to provide a wealth of resources and opportunities. The Fuse Open Science Blog now hosts more than 630 posts and has achieved over 1 million page views, reflecting its role as a trusted source of public health insights. Our public partner led podcast has had close to 1,000 unique listens with international reach, and we delivered podcast training to build skills and confidence in creative communication.

We hosted 20 engagement events and training sessions over the past 12 months, attracting participants from across research, policy, practice, voluntary and community sectors, and public partner networks. Topics ranged from healthy ageing and food insecurity to ethics, transport, and creative dissemination. Fuse academics also delivered a two-day Behaviour Change Masterclass, equipping researchers and practitioners with tools to design and evaluate interventions addressing health inequality and sustainability. A new e-learning course, developed by Fuse researchers with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), was launched on the FutureLearn platform to help local authorities use planning powers to promote healthier food environments.

We embraced creative approaches to engagement, publishing a new open access book offering novel insights into meaningful Public Involvement and Community Engagement (PICE) across a wide range of contexts. The book was edited by Fuse Associate Will McGovern and co-curated by experts from across Fuse, including Monique Lhussier, Ruth McGovern, Christina Cooper, Cassey Muir, Emma Adams, Mark Adley, Amy O’Donnell, Claire Smiles, Hayley Alderson, Elaine Bidmead, Zeb Sattar, Pamela Graham and public partners Kira Terry and David Black. The book is aimed at researchers who want to ensure that their work is inclusive, equitable and impactful, and each engaging chapter offers a complete exploration of a specific aspect of PICE work, including real-life illustrative practice examples. It includes powerful reflections and insights from professional groups, marginalised communities and people with lived experience.

Our Public Partner Network now includes more than 100 members, representing a diversity of age, employment and health status, ethnicity, and experience in public involvement.

Membership and Collaborations

Fuse continues to grow as a vibrant research community with more than 600 Associate Members. Our wider Fuse network has expanded to over 2,000 members, reflecting strong engagement across sectors, and our shared interest groups in Embedded Research, Physical Activity, and Peer Research continue to grow.

Partnerships and collaborations have flourished through joint events and deepening ties with NIHR partners: the Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC), School for Public Health Research (SPHR), Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team (PHIRST) Fusion, and Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) in Newcastle, Gateshead, South Tees, and Cumbria. We also worked closely with OHID, the Association of Directors of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, UK Health Security Agency, NHS England, Newcastle Health Research Partnership, Creating Connections, the Transport and Health Science Group, and the Nourishing Futures Network. As well as voluntary and charity sector partners, including Connected Voice, Voluntary Organisations' Network North East (VONNE), Changing Futures, and MumSpace North Tyneside. These are just a few of the many valued partners whose collaboration and support helped us achieve our shared goals in 2025.

Looking Ahead to 2026 and Beyond

The year ahead promises exciting opportunities for collaboration, learning, and innovation to achieve our goal of improving population health and reducing health inequalities. Early highlights include the launch of the Fuse Creative Research, Involvement and Dissemination Community of Practice, and our workshop on Embedding Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Public Engagement. We will also be holding cluster refresh events on Health Inequalities and Healthy Longevity, and a Public Mental Health Research Cluster launch event. Fuse will also play a supporting role at the UK Public Health Science conference in April, and we are excited to join partners in celebrating NIHR’s 20th anniversary throughout the year.

We will also launch our Translational Research Toolkit and introduce new strategies for Communications, Public Involvement and Engagement, and AskFuse to strengthen impact and accessibility. Looking further ahead, planning is underway with our international partners for the Fuse International Conference on Knowledge Exchange in Public Health in summer 2027.

None of this would be possible without the commitment and creativity of our members, partners, and public contributors. Thank you for everything you did to make 2025 such a success. We look forward to working together with you again in 2026!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year.

Sheena

 

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Last modified: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:08:57 GMT