AWRC

18 February 2026

UK obesity congress to take place in Sheffield

AWRC theme lead, Dr Cath Homer, is co-leading the 11th UK Congress on Obesity (UKCO) which will come to Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield on 17–18 September 2026, with a focus on 'obesity through different life stages.'

Healthy and Active 100 Living Well with a Health Condition

12 February 2026

Using place based systemic approaches to build active communities

We know that physical activity is good for us, yet many of us find it difficult to reach recommended levels. PBSA works on the assumption that rather being due to individual failures, the environments and social systems in which we live have a much more significant impact on our habits.

Lunch and Learn Transforming Places

11 February 2026

AWRC Voices: Undertaking a T-Level placement at the AWRC

Tom Ashforth is a T Level Digital Support Services student at Barnsley College. In this edition of AWRC Voices, Tom reflects on the year he spent on on placement at the AWRC.

AWRC Voices Training and Education

4 February 2026

AWRC responds to National Cancer Plan for England

The Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre welcomes the publication of the UK Government’s National Cancer Plan for England, which was released today. We strongly support the plan’s shift toward treating cancer as a long-term condition, but caution a unilateral shift to digital first, without appropriate consideration of the wider-system factors that influence engagement and access in communities.

Living Well with a Health Condition

3 February 2026

AWRC-led PACC consortium secures £600k funding to continue national peer-led physical activity promotion programme

The PACC programme, which is run by a consortium including Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine and Intelligent Health, provides free training to healthcare professionals across NHS England, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to promote physical activity as part of routine patient care.

29 January 2026

Professor Rob Copeland steps down as AWRC Director

Professor Rob Copeland has stepped down from his role as Director of the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre after six years in post.

28 January 2026

AWRC signs digital healthcare research agreement with Jeju National University

Researchers co-locating at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre have formalised a strategic research partnership with South Korea's Jeju National University, marking a significant milestone in international digital healthcare research collaboration.

Healthy and Active 100 Training and Education Transforming Places

12 January 2026

AWRC Voices: Bringing AI and sports engineering together in an international hackathon

Mahaa Irshad, a Sports Engineer in the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) and based at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, reflects on the group's first ever Hackathon in collaboration with the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico.

AWRC Voices Technological and Digital Innovations Training and Education

12 November 2025

We want to hear about your experiences of long-term or metastatic breast cancer support

The Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) is working with Pfizer to support people with advanced breast cancer to help manage their condition and cancer progression effectively. Our researchers are looking for UK based healthcare professionals and people with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to participate in the research by completing a survey.

7 November 2025

AWRC joins regional leaders for South Yorkshire Life Sciences Summit

Director Rob Copeland joined Prof. James Catto of the University of Sheffield, Lucy Melleney of Darnall Well Being, Christopher Gibbons of Sheffield City Council, and host Katharine Hammond of SYMCA on a panel exploring the importance of prevention and early diagnosis in health policy.

6 November 2025

Teams celebrate outstanding IPC inspection result for second year running

Last year, our operations, technical, domestic and security teams worked together to achieve an outstanding 98% in our annual NHS infection prevention and control (IPC) inspection. We’re delighted to announce that this year we’ve raised the bar even higher, achieving 98.11%