Academic centres need to shift their focus from big cities to populations on the “periphery” where the heaviest burden of mortality and morbidity can be found, England’s chief medical officer has advised.Too much research is centred on “north Oxford and north London,” Chris Whitty told the BMJ Research Forum last week (bmjresearchforum.bmj.com), adding that “these are not typical places.” Attention should be paid to areas such as Eastbourne, Hastings, and Blackpool instead.“The classic cycle in the UK is people moving to big cities at 18 and moving out after their second child,” said Whitty. “London will look very similar in 30 years to what it does now, and the rest of the country has to balance the equation. And the further out you go, the older you will get. So age is going to concentrate on the periphery. And if we concentrate on academic interests in the centre, that doesn’t…
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