A new exhibition at University of Galway will focus on the topic of mental health and the nature of expressing mental health issues from an artistic perspective with each piece being grounded in contemporary academic research. Mindscapes will take place from July 12 to August 2 and is a unique exhibition resulting from collaborations between Arts and Sciences.  Taking mental health as its central theme, Mindscapes features artworks from 10 artists in collaboration with 14 academic researchers from the Universities of Galway, Oxford, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and London. Each artist chose a mental health topic and then was paired up with an academic who conducts research in that specific area. Topics include wellbeing, bipolar disorder, sleep, illusions, and emotions. Mindscapes is the first project from the Scientific Arts Lab at the University of Galway and directed by Dr Jane Conway, SFI-IRC Pathway Fellow and Research Lecturer with the School of Psychology at University of Galway.             Dr Conway said: “This exhibition is testament to the strength of Galway’s cultural community. It demonstrates that people from the arts and sciences can come together to create original pieces that express the nature of the mind. In keeping with the aims of the Scientific Arts Lab, it explores ideas through artistic media but with respect to the research that iteratively builds those very ideas, and values the necessary critical reflection on the evidence, thinking about ‘how we know what we know’.”  The free exhibition will run from 10am to 6pm from July 12 to August 2 in the University’s Art Gallery in the Quadrangle. The exhibition will be officially opened on Saturday July 15 at 3pm by James Harrold, former Galway City and County Arts Officer. Ends

A new report published today by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Ryan Institute at the University of Galway has found that the increasing frequency and severity of extreme storms, flooding and sea level rise, means that some communities in Ireland are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change, due to much of Ireland’s population residing in coastal zones. The IOM report, Assessing the Evidence: Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECC) in Ireland, also includes advantages and opportunities for Ireland to strengthen climate resilience, including by better supporting vulnerable communities and improving understanding of the advantages of human mobility and of people on the move.             Director of the Interdisciplinary Ryan Institute at University of Galway, Professor Charles Spillane said: “The report synthesizes the mounting evidence that climate change impacts on human migration in Ireland. It includes future projections of escalating vulnerability and risk as well as recommendations for strengthening national responses regarding human mobility changes in response to climatic and environmental changes in Ireland.” The report is the first Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECC) Country Profile in Europe and adds to IOM’s growing number of country reports which assess the evidence of the effects of climate change on migration. Climate change is reshaping migration patterns around the world, with disasters now being the leading cause of internal displacements. Last year alone, 32.6 million new internal human displacements were caused by disasters, according to the 2023 Global Report on Internal Displacement, published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.             Dr Soumyadeep Banerjee, IOM Regional Migration, Environment and Climate Change Specialist, highlighted that in response to the climate crisis, IOM now has extensive activities underway on the migration, environment and climate change nexus, working with governments and partners on solutions at each stage of the migration cycle: “Climate and migration is a growing issue for countries around the world, including for Ireland. This report includes solutions for people to move, people on the move, and people to stay.”             Darya Silchenko, one of the authors and a graduate of University of Galway’s Masters in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, said: “The report found that there is a scarcity of research and policy efforts that integrate climate change and environmental hazards in Ireland with their impacts on human migration. With climate change adaptation as an increasingly urgent national and global priority, it is vital to adopt a precautionary approach that considers the impacts for vulnerable communities. Further aligning migration and climate policies will be essential to build capacity for addressing present and future challenges through an inclusive and human-centered approach."             Dr Peter McKeown, Coordinator of the Master in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security programme, said: “It is so important to education and train the next generation of ‘change agents’ such as Darya, so that they can make practical and significant contributions to climate action. As the frequency, duration and intensity of natural hazards worsens in the context of climate change, the number of climate disasters is expected to rise considerably with knock-on effects on human displacement.”             International development, climate and migration expert Dr Una Murray within the Ryan Institute said: “The IOM Country Profile for Ireland encourages government and relevant stakeholders to consider key challenges and opportunities arising from the migration, environment and climate change nexus.”  The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 10.7 calls on countries to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies. The IOM Country Profile makes a contribution to the realisation of SDG target 10.7 in Ireland, the EU and globally. The report was compiled by a team from IOM and the University of Galway, including Darya Silchenko, Andrew Chisholm, Dr Una Murray, Dr Peter McKeown, Professor Charles Spillane and Lalini Veerassamy.  The full IOM Country Profile ‘Assessing the Evidence: Migration, Environment and Climate Change in Ireland’ can be accessed through the IOM Environmental Migration Portal here. Ends

Researchers call for clearer messaging to help public and policymakers to better understand the disease of obesity. Conflicting understandings of the word ‘obesity’ jeopardise diagnosis and treatment. Clinicians are expressing concern at shortages of drugs which have been approved to treat obesity.   We must change the way we talk about obesity to improve public understanding of the disease, according to a new study. Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) and University of Galway are calling for ‘obesity’ to be renamed in order to help the public and policymakers to better understand the disease of obesity, and drive advances to treat and prevent it. Published in Obesity Reviews, their study highlights ongoing confusion about the term ‘obesity’, which currently can refer to the disease of obesity or to a BMI range, or a combination of the two. Dr Margaret Steele, a postdoctoral researcher in UCC’s School of Public Health, and Professor Francis Finucane, Consultant Endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine in the University of Galway, explored different or conflicting understandings of the term ‘obesity’. The researchers suggest it is time to reconsider whether the term ‘obesity’ conveys the reality of this complex disease that centres on environmental, genetic, physiological, behavioural and developmental factors, not on body weight or on BMI. New appetite-control medications are generating phenomenal demand worldwide, but patients with obesity may be sent to the back of the queue on the mistaken assumption that they do not need the medication as much as patients with diabetes. The researchers suggest that clearer terminology could play a role in addressing this inequity. Dr Margaret Steele said: “Our focus should be on the underlying pathophysiology and not on body size. For people with the disease of obesity, treatment is not optional or cosmetic. A different diagnostic term such as ‘adiposity-based chronic disease’ could more clearly convey the nature of this disease, and avoid the confusion and stigma that may occur if we keep using the term ‘obesity’, which has become synonymous with body size.” Professor Francis Finucane described new Irish Medical Council guidance warning doctors against using Ozempic for obesity as morally problematic. Professor Finucane said: “Semaglutide is approved as a treatment for obesity, just as it is for diabetes. There is a deeply stigmatising idea out there that people with obesity are looking for an easy way out, that these medicines provide a low-effort alternative to healthy diet and lifestyle. But for people living with the disease of obesity, these drugs don’t make behavioural change unnecessary, nor do they make it easy – they just make it possible.” The researchers point out that this is very different from celebrities using drugs like semaglutide to become “fashionably” thin. Dr Steele said: “This is why we need to clarify what we mean by obesity. Many of the people we see on TikTok or Instagram reporting on their semaglutide journeys do not have the disease of obesity. When we talk about treating and preventing obesity, our focus should be on healthy food environments, and appropriate treatment for people living with chronic metabolic diseases. We hope this new research will help drive home the point that this is about helping people live well, not making everyone skinny.” ENDS