About
Dr Dalia Tsimpida is a Lecturer in Gerontology at the University of Southampton, an Associate Fellow and Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). In the Department of Gerontology, she Co-Chairs the Student-Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC), and serves as the Examination Officer, the Employability Coordinator, and the Website Champion of the Department.
Dr Tsimpida serves as the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) Thematic Cluster Lead (Data Skills & Methods Theme), the Faculty Advisor of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Student Chapter, and Associate Editor of Ageing & Society.
Dr Tsimpida has researched public health aspects of hearing loss in older adults for over a decade, focusing on hearing health inequalities. She is a Special Advisor at the World Hearing Forum (WHF) and a Consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), where she actively contributes to informing global hearing health strategies, policies and plans.
Delivering world-class research, she has been awarded several honours and awards and has developed an international reputation. In 2020, she received the International Society of Audiology (ISA) Scholarship Award for her groundbreaking work in the early identification of individuals with hearing loss in primary care, and its potential to enhance opportunities for healthy and active ageing.
Dr Tsimpida's role as the Primary Investigator of the New National Study of Hearing resulted in the long-awaited update of hearing loss prevalence estimates among older adults in England in 2022, after 40 years. Her research uncovered a previously unknown north-south divide in the prevalence of hearing loss among older adults of similar age profiles, challenging the assumption of the inevitability of hearing loss in older age, commonly referred to as 'age-related hearing loss'. This work revealed that the increasing prevalence of hearing loss may not be solely attributed to ageing but could be linked to social and lifestyle changes. She introduced the concept of 'lifestyle-related hearing loss,' and developed the Conceptual Model of Hearing Health Inequalities (HHI Model), which illustrates the factors that impact individuals earlier in life and, if modified, could reduce hearing loss in older age.
Her work pioneered a new era in assessing hearing health inequalities by proposing the monitoring of the burden and distribution of hearing loss in older adults using routine health information systems, revealing the limitations of current data, and she proposed that prevalence estimates should be based on the already available, actual data that reflect populations' needs, rather than on age projections. Dr Tsimpida's research has significantly influenced policy, prompting the integration of hearing care into health strategies both in the UK and globally. Following engagement with policymakers, the inclusion of hearing loss data collection has been recommended in the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report 2023, which was published in November 2023.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Global Health, Policy and Systems Research
- Healthy Ageing and Longevity
- Environmental and Social Justice in Mental Health
- Socioeconomic Inequalities in Hearing Health
Current research
Dr Tsimpida is a mixed methods researcher in ageing with an interdisciplinary background. Her academic qualifications encompass psychology, hearing health, public health, health policy, and health services research. She also has advanced methodological expertise in social statistics, epidemiology, and spatial analysis.
Dr Tsimpida's research mainly focuses on the social epidemiology and public health aspects of hearing loss, with a particular emphasis on 'hearing health inequalities.' Specifically, her interests lie in exploring the relationship between socioeconomic inequality and the development of hearing loss, as well as examining the impact of hearing loss on the psychosocial well-being and multimorbidity of older adults.
Her recent study first examined noise pollution's link to depression in England. Dr Tsimpida's research aligns with environmental and social justice efforts, addressing the unequal distribution of environmental harms. Her work highlights the need to consider differential impacts on communities, contributing to discussions on injustice mitigation.
Research projects
Active projects
Publications
Teaching
Dr Tsimpida is currently responsible for leading or co-leading the following modules in the Postgraduate Taught Programmes within the Department of Gerontology:
- GERO6013 Researching Ageing Societies (Distance Learning)
- GERO6017 Researching Ageing Societies
- GERO6020 Ageing, Health and Wellbeing (Distance Learning)
- GERO6011 Ageing, Health and Wellbeing
- MEDI3047 SSU Thoughts on Ageing
In addition to these roles, she also delivers guest lectures in various other modules.
She has been consistently teaching in Higher Education in the UK since 2018, covering subjects related to healthy and active ageing, including public health, psychology, sociology applied to medicine, and research methodology. Additionally, She has played a crucial role in curriculum development, integrating evidence-informed approaches and her research findings.
Her dedication to teaching and leadership in Higher Education is acknowledged through her Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
She holds the role of Subject Matter Expert for the British Psychological Society (BPS), where she is involved in designing national Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs for psychological practitioners.
Furthermore, she serves as a supervisor for a doctoral and a postdoctoral researcher. She also acts as an assessor for doctoral students at The University of Liverpool and as an external examiner for postgraduate research at The National University of Malaysia.
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Dr Tsimpida joined the University of Southampton in 2023, following roles as a Lecturer in Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Systems and the School of Medicine at the University of Liverpool (2021-22 and 2022-23). Before that, she had completed two postdoctoral positions at the University of Manchester (2020-22) and conducted her doctoral research, which was funded by a prestigious NIHR doctoral fellowship, also at The University of Manchester (2018-20). Prior to her academic career, she worked for 18 years in the Governmental sector; as a Senior Research Psychologist, she analysed big data, designed and evaluated behaviour change interventions, and provided expert advice to government departments.
Key Career Appointments and Posts:
09/2023-Present: Lecturer in Gerontology, University of Southampton, UK
08/2023-Present: Honorary Lecturer in Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, UK
04/2022-08/2023: Lecturer in Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK
03/2021-05/2022: Associate Lecturer in Medical Education, University of Manchester, UK
03/2020-03/2021: Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Evidence-based Decision Making in Healthcare, University of Manchester, UK
01/2018-12/2020: NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow, investigating Socioeconomic Inequalities in Hearing Health, University of Manchester, UK
10/2000-01/2018: Military Officer/ Senior Research Psychologist, Cultural Analyst, and Strategic Communications Specialist, Ministry of National Defence.