Summary
GRACE-Epi is a major new 7-year programme of work on arts and health funded through a £3.5m Wellcome Discovery Award.
Arts and cultural engagement (“ACEng”) is increasingly recognised as having tangible effects on health outcomes. The advent of epidemiological research on ACEng has advanced our understanding of the long-term health benefits of day-to-day engagement. However, we now face major roadblocks relating to the breadth, depth and fundamental assumptions of epidemiological research on ACEng. Through this discovery award, a consortium of global north & south researchers will unite expertise from arts, humanities, social science, epidemiology, data science and molecular biology to radically advance epidemiological research on ACEng.
- In WS1, we will interrogate the fundamental assumptions underpinning the field and develop new testable conceptual frameworks.
- In WS2, we will extend existing epidemiological work to >50 countries, including global ethnic majorities, global south populations, and low and middle-income countries.
- In WS3, we will undertake the first ever molecular epidemiological studies on the biological signature of ACEng and its influence on biological ageing.
- In WS4, we will propose new epidemiological ‘first principles’ for ACEng as a health behaviour and work with global partners to develop research capacity and new policy internationally.
Through multidisciplinary, rigorous and creative science, GRACE-Epi will transform the breadth, depth and foundations of epidemiological research on ACEng.
GRACE-Epi Monthly Methods webinars
Throughout the GRACE-Epi programme we are engaging in open and collaborative science. As part of this we are co-hosting monthly free training webinars considering novel methodologies, theoretical approaches and lenses relevant to the field of arts and health, partnering with universities globally.
On the 29th January 2026 we launched this webinar series with a presentation from Professor Daisy Fancourt, Principal Investigator of GRACE-Epi. Daisy shared an introduction to our major new programme of work on arts and health. A recording of the webinar is available to watch back below.
You can find out more about the Monthly Methods webinar series — including how to collaborate with us, details of upcoming events and recordings of past webinars — on our dedicated webpage.