Born in Bradford (BiB) is an internationally acclaimed applied research programme which aims to improve health and wellbeing through the development and evaluation of interventions to promote health and the application of research into practice (www.borninbradford.nhs.uk).
Our new BiB Healthy Homes project will evaluate the impact of retrofitting social housing in Bradford on indoor conditions and air quality, resident health, and economic outcomes. Housing accounts for a fifth of all UK carbon emissions and is linked to mental, respiratory, and cardiovascular health. Retrofitting for energy efficiency can improve the warmth and reduce the cost of heating a home, benefitting low-income and vulnerable groups, while reducing carbon emissions. However, there may be trade-offs with reduced ventilation and worsening indoor air quality. We will monitor the indoor environments of over 400 social homes in Bradford for over 18 months use routine health and housing data from the Connected Bradford dataset to explore the impact of these improvements on resident health, carry out building modelling and health economic analyses, and engage in qualitative and participatory research activities.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an organised, motivated, and enthusiastic Senior Research Fellow with strong project management and quantitative research skills to play a key role in the set-up, coordination, and management of our new NIHR funded ‘Healthy Homes’ project, based within the Population Health Improvement (PHI-UK) Healthy Urban Places consortium.
Working with a major social housing provider, the BiB Healthy Homes project will evaluate the indoor environment, health, carbon emissions, and economic outcomes of retrofitting social housing properties to improve energy efficiency. We will explore trade-offs in indoor conditions and other potential unexpected consequences, along with contextual and system factors which affect implementation and resident experience. Our findings will help understand how to maximise the environment, health, and economic co-benefits of retrofit.
The post will be based within the Born in Bradford team at the Bradford Institute for Health Research. The Senior Research Fellow will work under the supervision of the BiB Healthy Homes co-Principal Investigators (Prof McEachan and Dr Yang) and will be a key member of the BiB team. They will work closely with collaborators at the social housing provider and University of Leeds, University of York, University College London, University of Manchester, and University of Cambridge to ensure the successful delivery of our ambitious research programme.
