Faye’s PhD is titled ‘Building Healthy Cities: Exploring Connections between the Built Environment, Travel Choices, and Health’ and her research highlights the powerful role that housing and neighbourhood environments play in shaping health. Her work brings new insight into which factors matter most across the life course. Focusing both on conditions within the home and the wider built environment, the research shows how issues such as damp, mould and overcrowding can harm mental wellbeing and may even link to measurable biological effects. It also reveals that the location of homes, affecting access to green space, walkability and amenities, has important consequences for both physical and mental health. Using innovative methods such as network analysis, Faye’s research demonstrates that these environmental factors are most influential when considered together, rather than in isolation. It also points to practical solutions, highlighting the potential benefits of active travel like walking and cycling in mitigating negative health impacts. By extending the analysis to children and adolescents, the research provides a comprehensive, evidence-based framework to inform housing standards, urban planning and the development of healthier communities.

After receiving the award, Faye said “It is a real honour to have my research recognised through this award. I hope it helps highlight the important role that housing and neighbourhood environments play in shaping population health. I am very grateful to the selection committee and to Godfrey and Sue Hall for this recognition. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Professor Esther Walton, and my colleagues in the lab for their unwavering support, encouragement, and collaboration throughout my journey at the university.”

The prize is awarded on behalf of Senate by the Godfrey and Sue Hall Doctoral Researcher Prize Committee to a doctoral researcher based on a high standard of achievement. Sponsors of the award, Godfrey and Sue Hall, said “Insert quote.”