A conversation with our new Forum chair
Heather Whalley joins us in our second rotation of Forum chairs at a key moment, as we transition from planning into action. She brings deep expertise in biomedical and longitudinal research, along with a strong commitment to fostering an environment where Longitudinal Population Studies (LPS) can reach their full potential. In this conversation, Heather shares her motivations for stepping into this leadership role, her approach to advocating for the needs of the LPS community, and her vision for ensuring that community voices are central to our decision-making.
Heather, you are the Chief Scientist for Generation Scotland, and a Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health. How have these positions shaped your perspective on the needs and priorities of the LPS community?
Over many years, I’ve worked with a range of LPS, particularly in mental health and brain imaging, which has given me valuable insight into both the challenges as well as the power of these data from a user’s perspective.
In my role as Chief Scientist for Generation Scotland, I’ve gained a broader, more interdisciplinary appreciation of these cohorts beyond mental health, and gained experience in what it takes to support cohorts – from recruitment, infrastructure and governance to participant engagement and issues around sustainability.
I’ve also gained appreciation of the dedication of the research teams behind these LPS and the commitment and loyalty of their research participants.
Through this experience, I’ve come to truly appreciate the UK LPS as a unique valuable national resource that offers unmatched depth to understand health and wellbeing.
Your research centres on mental health and scalable, population-based longitudinal studies. What do you see as the most promising opportunities and the most pressing challenges in advancing this research?
I see one of the biggest opportunities as the ability to link longitudinal studies with health, administrative, and other linkable data (including brain imaging!), which can give us a much richer understanding of health and wellbeing across the population at scale with minimal participant burden.
I’m also particularly excited about integrating mobile or other digital data collection approaches, as it can make studies more scalable and responsive with deeper contextual information to complement linked data. There are real opportunities here also I think for co-produced research with participants to inform studies and research.
At the same time, there are challenges: ensuring AI readiness is a complex balance, keeping data secure, and being transparent with participants about how their data are used while making data available for researchers in a safe and acceptable way.
Inclusivity is also a challenge for many LPS, and I think there needs to be a deeper appreciation of both the importance of including under-represented communities, but also the extra time and resources needed to make sure they are part of conversations around these kinds of studies and the benefits of taking part.
Collaboration across different disciplines, initiatives and organisations is vital in longitudinal research. What do you believe are the most effective strategies for fostering meaningful collaboration within the LPS community?
The landscape of longitudinal population studies is complex, so fostering meaningful collaboration requires in depth and ongoing understanding and responding to the needs of the community, in the broadest sense.
Key strategies will include continuing to engage these stakeholders as we at Population Research UK have done over the past year (including the teams behind the studies themselves, researchers, service providers, policymakers, and industry) – to identify their challenges and priorities, as well as providing updates about the sets of activities that are being planned after initial consultations.
In essence, generating platforms where we can capture the needs of the broad community, and being clear about what we as an organisation can offer, means we can begin to address real challenges faced by the LPS community.
Your work on adolescent brain development has had tangible impact. Could you share key insights or lessons from your experience, particularly around translating research into real-world change?
I am really interested in the developmental period of adolescence for a number of reasons. It represents the peak period of onset of many psychiatric disorders but is also a period of significant brain development/maturation that can represent an important opportunity for early intervention with long term implications.
Some of the work we have been involved in has helped shape Scottish sentencing laws based on evidence of timings of brain maturation.
This is a great example of real word change, but working in a co-production framework with young people shaping mental health research I think also has the real capacity to impact meaningful change. For example, conducting fundamental co-produced research that can inform guidance and policies around social media use.
Community engagement is a central part of Population Research UK’s work. How do you envision supporting and strengthening this engagement through your role as Forum chair over the coming year?
Community engagement is really central to what PRUK does, and as Forum chair, I’d focus on both strengthening existing connections and building new ones.
I’d support events and workshops that bring stakeholders together and look for ways to involve new communities. I see my role as making sure people understand the value of these studies, hear their perspectives, hear what we can offer, and feel that their input shapes what we do – while also creating opportunities for collaboration across different disciplines and sectors.
Looking ahead, what would success look like for you in your role as Forum chair, particularly in terms of advancing collaboration, advocacy, and community engagement across the LPS ecosystem?
For me, success as Forum chair would mean seeing stronger, more connected relationships across the LPS landscape across all four nations.
That includes researchers, study teams, policymakers, industry, and participants working together more effectively, sharing expertise and insights, and avoiding duplication.
I’d also see success in broadening engagement – bringing in new communities – and making sure their perspectives help shape research priorities.
Ultimately, it would be about fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and responsive community where LPS resources are used to their full potential to generate real-world impact.
About Heather Whalley
Heather Whalley is the Chief Scientist for Generation Scotland, and a Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the University of Edinburgh. Her work integrates complex data – biosamples, multi-omics, brain imaging, and electronic health records – from large UK and international cohorts to investigate disease mechanisms across the lifespan. Heather has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, using cohorts such as UK Biobank, Generation Scotland, ALSPAC, GUS, LBC, ABCD, and international consortia like ENIGMA.
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