Biological Measures of Well-Being

Colin R. Martin RN, BSc, MSc, PhD, MBA, YCAP, FHEA, C.Psychol, AFBPsS, C.Sci is Professor of Clinical Psychobiology and Applied Psychoneuroimmunology and Clinical Director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Suffolk, UK. He is a Chartered Health Psychologist and a Chartered Scientist. He also trained in analytical biochemistry, this aspect reflecting the psychobiological focus of much of his research within mental health. He has published or has in press well over 300 research papers and book chapters. He is a keen book author and editor having written and/or edited more than 50 books. These outputs include the prophetic insight into the treatment of neurological disease, Handbook of Behavior, Food and Nutrition (2011), Nanomedicine and the Nervous System (2012), Oxidative Stress and Dietary Antioxidants in Neurological Disease (2020), Zika Virus Impact, Diagnosis, Control and Models (2021), Factors Affecting Neurodevelopment: Genetics, Neurology, Behavior and Diet (2021), Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury (2022), The Neurobiology, Physiology, and Psychology of Pain (2022) and The Handbook of Lifespan Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Childhood, Adolescence, Pregnancy, Adulthood, and Aging (2023). Professor Martin is particularly interested in all aspects of the relationship between underlying physiological substrates and behavior, particularly in how these relationships manifest in both acute and chronic psychiatric disorder. He has published original research germane to significant mental health disorders including the areas of schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, alcohol and drug dependency, high secure forensic mental health and personality disorder. He has a keen interest in the impact of postviral illness and is actively involved in clinical research post-Covid pandemic and in particular, the impact of Long Covid on psychological, neurological, physiological and social functioning. He is involved in collaborative International research with many European and Non-European countries. Vinood B. Patel, BSc, PhD, FRSC, is currently Professor in Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Westminster. In 2014 Dr Patel was elected as a Fellow to The Royal Society of Chemistry. Dr Patel graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a degree in Pharmacology and completed his PhD in protein metabolism from King’s College London in 1997. His postdoctoral work was carried out at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical School, NC, USA studying structural-functional alterations to mitochondrial ribosomes, where he developed novel techniques to characterize their biophysical properties. Research is being undertaken to study the role of nutrients, antioxidants, phytochemicals, iron, alcohol and fatty acids in the pathophysiology of liver disease. Other areas of interest are identifying new biomarkers that can be used for the diagnosis and prognosis of disease and understanding mitochondrial oxidative stress in neurological disorders and iron dysregulation in diabetes. Dr Patel is a nationally and internationally recognized researcher and has several edited biomedical books related to the use or investigation of active agents or components. These books include The Handbook of Nutrition, Diet, and Epigenetics, Branched Chain Amino Acids in Clinical Nutrition, Cancer: Oxidative Stress and Dietary Antioxidants, Toxicology: Oxidative Stress and Dietary Antioxidants, Molecular Nutrition: Vitamins, The Neuroscience of Pain, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. He is Editor of the ten-volume series Biomarkers in Disease: Methods, Discoveries and Applications Dr Rajkumar Rajendram is a clinician scientist with a focus on internal medicine, anaesthesia, intensive care and peri-operative medicine. He graduated with distinctions from Guy’s, King’s and St. Thomas Medical School, King’s College London in 2001. As an undergraduate he was awarded several prizes, merits and distinctions in pre-clinical and clinical subjects. Dr Rajendram began his post-graduate medical training in general medicine and intensive care in Oxford. He attained membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 2004 and completed specialist training in acute and general medicine in Oxford in 2010. Dr Rajendram subsequently practiced as a Consultant in Acute General Medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Dr Rajendram also trained in anaesthesia and intensive care in London and was awarded a fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) in 2009. He completed advanced training in regional anaesthesia and intensive care. He was awarded a fellowship of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FFICM) in 2013 and obtained the European diploma of intensive care medicine (EDIC) in 2014. He then moved to the Royal Free London Hospitals as a Consultant in Intensive Care, Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Medicine. He has been a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP Edin) and the Royal College of Physicians of London (FRCP Lond) since 2017 and 2019 respectively. He is currently a Consultant in Internal Medicine at King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Heath Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Dr Rajendram’s focus on improving outcomes from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has involved research on point of care ultrasound and phenotypes of COVID-19. Dr Rajendram also recognises that nutritional support is a fundamental aspect of medical care. This is particularly important for patients with COVID-19. As a clinician scientist he has therefore devoted significant time and effort into nutritional science research and education. He is an affiliated member of the Nutritional Sciences Research Division of King’s College London and has published over 400 textbook chapters, review articles, peer-reviewed papers and abstracts.Professor Preedy has been elected as a Fellow to the following Royal Societies: The Royal Society of Biology, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, the Royal Society for Public Health, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Royal Society of Medicine. He was founding Director of the Genomics Centre at King’s College London and held the post from 2006 to 2020. He is a leading expert on the science of health and has a long-standing interest in disease processes, biomarkers, and tissue pathology. He has lectured nationally and internationally. Professor Preedy has published over 750 articles, which includes peer-reviewed manuscripts based on original research, abstracts and symposium presentations, reviews and numerous books and volumes.

• Section 1: Introductory1. Bio-psycho-social aspects of mental health: a focus on the school environment2. Happy faces: biological measures with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), eye-tracking3. Epidemiology of well-being and socioeconomic inequalities4. Linking in the environment and measures of mental well-beingSection 2: Blood and Body Fluids as Biological Correlates of Well-Being5. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor as a biomarker and links with quality-of-life measurers6. Well-being and circulating neurotransmitters: a focus on obese postmenopausal women7. Circulating analytes: serotonin, wellbeing and beyond: the influence of dance8. Blood measures of immune response and well-being: The example of yogaSection 3: Physiology and Imaging as Biological Correlates of Well-Being9. Happiness and sadness recognition: features of neuroimaging10. Intracranial brain activity (EEG).and well-being: the example of music11. Neural structural connectivity and well-being: the example of mindfulness12. Magnetic Resonance imaging and well-being in older people: the example of yogaSection 4: Genetic Correlates of Well-Being13. Genetics and impact on quality of life: the COVID-19 scenario14. Dopamine and well-being: a genetic approach15. Genes associated with immune response and interferon signaling in meditation16. Pro-inflammatory gene expression and mindfulness meditation17. Genes, polymorphisms and linkage with physical measures (muscle strength and quality of life)