Date: 25/11/2025
Series 2 Episode 2 – Victoria Giacomelli on Health Literacy in Early Childhood
In this powerful episode of Speaking of Research, we hear from Victoria Giacomelli, a doctoral researcher at the University of Portsmouth, whose work explores health literacy as a modifiable determinant of health in young children.
Victoria explains how health literacy, or the ability to find, understand, and use health information, can shape health outcomes across the life course. Her research focuses on children aged four to eight, a group often overlooked in studies that usually centre on adults or rely on parental input. Drawing on participatory methods, a rights-based approach, and her experience as a parent and school governor, Victoria is working to understand how children themselves engage with health knowledge and how their voices can be better included in research and policy.
Through her systematic review and upcoming interviews with both children and adults, Victoria makes the case for early interventions that match children’s developmental needs and support long-term healthy habits. Her goal is to bring health literacy out of academic settings and into the real-world contexts where it can make a difference for children’s well-being.
This episode is a thoughtful and inspiring listen for anyone interested in child health, education, public health, or inclusive research methods.
🎧 Listen now to hear how Victoria is helping to ensure that even the youngest voices are heard and valued in health research.
Victoria Giacomelli is a full time SCDTP funded doctoral researcher at the University of Portsmouth and is part of the 2024–2025 cohort. She is supervised by Dr Daphne Kaklamanou, Dr Ian Tyndall, and Dr Miznah Al Abbadey. Her PhD project is titled “Health Literacy as a Modifiable Determinant of Health in Early Childhood: A Mixed Method Programme.”
You can listen on your favourite platform:
- Spotify: Listen here
- Apple Podcasts: Listen here
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- Acast: Listen here
Start listening today and join us in celebrating the voices shaping tomorrow’s research.
🎧 Season 2 launches November 2025
New episodes of Speaking of Research Series 2 will be released on Tuesdays between 18 November 2025 to 10 February 2026.
Tune in weekly to hear directly from researchers across our partner institutions as they share their work, insights, and the impact they hope to make.
Curious about how it all began?
Series One of Speaking of Research was recorded at our annual conference at Cumberland Lodge in April 2025. In each episode, Catherine McDonald from Research Podcasts speaks with doctoral researchers about their projects, who might benefit from their work, and the impact they hope to make.
Visit our Series 1 podcast archive to listen to the full first series and discover the stories that launched the conversation.
💬 We’d love to hear from you. If you have comments, reflections, or feedback, feel free to get in touch with us at scdtp@soton.ac.uk.
