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A Day in the Life of Professor Helen Ball

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In this new feature we find out more about Helen Ball, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre (DISC).

Helen has worked at the University for over 29 years. She studies infant sleep and the parent-infant sleep relationship from a biosocial perspective. Having studied monkeys in Puerto Rico for two years as part of her PhD, Helen used her primate research to study night-time infant care behaviour, an area not being researched in the UK.

She has carried out research in hospitals and the community and contributes to national and international policy and practice guidelines on infant care. She is an elected Board Member of the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Infant Deaths (ISPID).

In 2013 Helen received an award for Outstanding Impact in Society from the Economic and Social Research Council, and in 2018 Durham University was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for her research and outreach on parent-infant sleep.

Helen being filmed for infant sleep master classes for a parenting organisation.
Helen being filmed for infant sleep master classes for a parenting organisation.

Helen’s day

7am: Wake up, have coffee, then have an online meeting with collaborators or postgraduate research students (PGRs) in Australia. Go swimming.

9.15am: Catch up on emails and have a DISC team meeting.

10am: Teach.

11am: PGR and dissertation supervisions. Attend a University committee meeting.

1pm: Lunch break. I often change location as I split my time between my Department office, DISC and home depending on the day and whether or not it is term time.

2pm: Attend an external advisory board meeting.

3pm: Write a book chapter and do some marking of undergraduate students

5.30pm: Aim to end the day here but may have an occasional meeting with a PGR or colleagues in the US/Mexico, or simply things to finish that got interrupted or came up during the day.

More about Helen

What do you enjoy about your role?

I enjoy many things about my role. The two main ones are the ability to influence how others think about infant sleep and to change policy and practice, and supporting young academics who are as keen to create change as I was, especially young female academics. They sometimes contact me with trepidation – afraid I’ll not be interested in them or their work. But I would have been so delighted to have older female academics to give me support and guidance 30 years ago.

What are you most proud of?

There are many professional achievements I am proud of. An obvious one to mention was being awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize. I am just about to embark on something that might end up as competitor for the top spot – but it is still under wraps. More on that in a year or so!

My proudest personal achievement is wall papering a 15ft high-arched hallway ceiling in a Georgian house we used to own, all by myself.

What’s the best bit of advice you have been given and also that you would give?

The best bit of advice I remember came from a very eminent paediatric pathologist, Professor John Emery. I gave a presentation on the results of a project about parent-infant bed-sharing that set me at odds with paediatricians and epidemiologists for the next 15 or so years. I argued (based on my data) that their campaigns would not just be unsuccessful but would cause harm. While I was being mobbed by conference attendees at the coffee break – most of whom wanted to explain to me why I was wrong - I felt a gentle pat on my arm and looked around to find Professor Emery. He said: '‘I can see you are very busy my dear, so I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say keep doing what you are doing.''

Those few brief words encouraged me to keep being a disruptor and challenging paradigms in infant sleep research ever since.

The advice I would give is to be kind. Always be kind.

How do you look after your mental health?

I swim every weekday. I also regularly meet up with non-academic friends which helps me avoid being fixated on work and academic life 24/7, as does arranging regular trips with my husband, our daughters, son-in-law and our dogs!

Helen, centre right, with colleagues from the Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre outside Buckingham Palace.
Helen, centre right, with colleagues from the Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre outside Buckingham Palace.

What is your favourite food?

Oh, very difficult – I like food from all over the world. Puerto Rican/Cuban food is a longstanding favourite.

Where has been your best holiday?

Australia – Queensland, both the mountains overlooking the Gold Coast in the South of Queensland, and the town of 1770 on the coast between Gladstone and Cairns further north.

What are your hobbies?

Swimming, gardening, dog walks, yoga classes, travelling, eating out, concerts and shows, planning trips.

Do you have any pets?

Three rescue cats - Fred, Marco and Polo - and Maisie, an almost-five-year-old Maltipoo.

More information about Helen’s area of research and the Infancy and Sleep Centre is available at Prof Helen L. Ball - Durham University

Maisie, Helen’s maltipoo.
Maisie, Helen’s maltipoo.

 

 

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