The Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing celebrated the official launch this month with several events at White City.

As part of the launch the Mohn Centre, based in the School of Public Health, hosted a week of activities in and around Imperial’s White City Campus. This included more than 50 year two students from St Bernadette’s Primary School meeting scientists and learning more about some of Imperial’s research. They visited a variety of interactive stations from the Environmental Research Group, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Child Health Unit and the Musculoskeletal Lab.

The Mohn Centre hosted an afternoon of talks and panels to highlight developments and trends in child health, both locally and internationally. Attendees heard from Keynote Speaker Mark Schuster, Founding Dean and CEO of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, who provided an overview of child health priorities in the US.

Sessions were chaired by young people who have been involved in the work of the Mohn Centre over the past year or so. Opeyemi Lawal and Nishit Joshi are from the Association for Young People’s Health and have led training on ethical practice of engaging young people in research. Catherine James is a Research Challenge sixth form student as part of the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) who has collected data and formed her own research questions as part of SCAMP’s Research Challenge phase.

A future for children’s health in Northwest London

The Mohn Centre was established following a landmark gift from Imperial alumna Dame Marit Mohn (MSc Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology 1973).

The Centre aims to unpick the complex network of interactions between environmental, behavioural, genetic and molecular factors to address important physical and mental health challenges and health inequalities.

Using a community-led approach to transdisciplinary research the Centre provides information and evidence which promote good health to our local community and beyond. The Mohn Centre’s research and partnerships aim to transform urban living for children, particularly those in society’s most deprived communities.

Professor Mireille Toledano, Director of the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, said: “"We are thrilled to celebrate the launch of the Mohn Centre. This initiative is a testament to the power of community-led collaboration. By working hand in hand with local young people, families, schools, and organisations, we aim to create healthier lives for those growing up in urban areas. Together, we can ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive and achieve their fullest potential."