Thomas Astell-Burt

Thomas graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree in Geography from the University of Leicester in 2004, having spent a period time in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania to explore geographies of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for his Undergraduate Dissertation. Thomas then returned to Leicester in 2005 to undertake the M.Sc. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Human Geography, graduating with 'Merit' and a skill-set including travel-time accessibility modelling in ARC/INFO software. In the same year, he was successful in an application for a +3 ESRC-MRC Open Competition PhD Studentship in the School of Geography and Geosciences at the University of St Andrews, supervised by Professor. Robin Flowerdew, Professor. Paul Boyle (both St Andrews), and Dr. John Dillon (Ninewells Hospital and Medical School). During his PhD studies, Thomas has held positions of conference organiser (Emerging New Research on Geographies of Health and Impairment: ENRGHI 2008), Chair of the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum (2007-2008), and Postgraduate Representative on the RGS-IBG Geographies of Health research group (2007-2008). Whilst writing up his PhD thesis (part-time) in 2008, Thomas moved to the University of Glasgow to work as a Research Assistant with Professor. Richard Mitchell, using GIS to investigate potential associations between exposure to 'green spaces' and health. In 2009, Thomas accepted the offer of a post-doctoral Career Development Fellowship (CDF) at the MRC | CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit to work with Dr. Seeromanie Harding and Dr. Maria Maynard.

Thomas' research interests fall within social epidemiology and medical geography, with emphases in the use of GIS to estimate 'neighbourhood' characteristics and their potential influences on health and social well-being. During his Fellowship, Thomas has acquired skills in cross-classified multilevel modelling and repeated measures longitudinal data analysis in a variety of statistical software. As a result, he is becoming increasingly interested in the use of longitudinal datasets to investigate the extent that exposure to potentially modifiable 'neighbourhood' characteristics may socially and spatially pattern health inequalities through the 'life-course'. Thomas' current research investigates ethnic differences in adolescent mental and respiratory health trajectories and potentially modifiable influences of school and neighbourhood characteristics, using the Determinants of Adolescent Social well-being and Health (DASH) study.