Seminar - Evidence for healthy and equitable population food policies
2018-06-20 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Kathryn Backholer, Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Australia.
Evidence for healthy and equitable population food policies

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
Poor diet is a leading cause of disease burden in Australia and globally. Adults and children who experience greater socioeconomic disadvantage, whether from a lower income, education or from living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, are more likely to consume poorer diets. Population-wide, or “Universal” policies are designed to affect all people regardless of risk or circumstances. These types of policies have the potential to influence overall population diets and health and also health inequalities. However, health equity effects depend on an impact for higher risk population subgroups in proportion to need.
In this presentation I will discuss our research examining the health equity impact of key population food policies. With a focus on price manipulation for healthy eating, I will draw on a range of epidemiological studies to present evidence on how actions can be taken to rebalance the price of foods towards healthier options, thereby improving population health and health inequities.
About Dr Backholer

Dr Kathryn Backholer is a Senior Research Fellow within the Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for the Prevention of Obesity at Deakin University, Australia. She leads a research group that works to build the evidence to support the equitable prevention of diet-related ill-health through policy and practice, with a recent focus on price manipulation for healthy eating. Dr Backholer is the Co-Convener of the Australian Public Health Association Food and Nutrition Special Interest Group and contributes to capacity building and food systems strengthening for the FAO and WHO in the Western Pacific region.
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Seminar - Chris Holmes, Shift Design
2018-07-24 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Chris Holmes, Shift Design, UK.
Food Behaviours – not a lot to do with food but pretty much a symptom of everything else
Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Download Chris Holmes’ presentation
About Chris Holmes

Chris heads up Shift’s Healthy Food programme, developing products and services that catalyse changes in existing food categories that lead to better diets. The team are currently focused on fast food with programmes underway in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Birmingham. This work builds on the success of ‘Box Chicken’, Shift’s development of a healthier fried chicken outlet.
Following a 15-year commercial career in the food industry, most latterly as Marketing Director for Kraft Foods (now Mondelez), Chris has spent the last 12-years applying behavioural science to a variety of social issues with a focus on public health. His particular interest is in childhood obesity and how to harness the competitive dynamics of consumer markets to deliver pro-social outcomes.
When not being ‘Shifty’, Chris can be found in the outdoors and, with his partner, is currently developing a love of sea kayaking with a view to one day touring the West Isles Whisky Distilleries by kayak.
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Seminar - Walking on sunshine: What is the evidence for the effects of walking on mental health?
2018-09-26 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Paul Kelly, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Walking on sunshine: What is the evidence for the effects of walking on mental health?

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Watch Dr Kelly’s presentation on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
The evidence base for the beneficial health effects of walking is well established. However, it is generally focussed on physical health and diseases such as cardiovascular disease or outcomes such as all-cause mortality.
This seminar will look at the evidence base for the mental health benefits of walking. In a recent Scoping Review we found that this evidence base has grown over the last 20 years, but remains fragmented and conflicting on some important outcomes.
In their seminal “Walking to Health” paper in 1997 Morris and Hardman stated that “The pleasurable and therapeutic, psychological and social dimensions of walking, whilst evident, have been surprisingly little studied”. This seminar will discuss the extent to which this statement still holds in 2018.
About Dr Kelly

Paul has been a Lecturer in Physical Activity for Health at the University of Edinburgh since August 2014 is based at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC) led by Prof Nanette Mutrie MBE.
His primary research focus is the measurement of physical activity and the evaluation of physical activity interventions. Paul is a member of the Communication and Surveillance Expert Group for the 2018 Chief Medical Officer Physical Activity Guidelines update – if you have any thoughts on communicating physical activity for health to the public please get in touch!
Paul previously worked at the University of Oxford, where he completed a PhD (2010-2013) in using wearable cameras to measure active travel.
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ISPAH Conference – Sedentary Behaviour Mechanisms Satellite 2018
2018-10-13 09:00 - 16:00 | Moller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, CB3 0DE, United Kingdom
Sedentary behaviour mechanisms: biological and behavioural pathways linking sitting to adverse health outcomes
The Moller Centre, Cambridge, Saturday 13th October 2018

***** NEW! Registration is open – register here

#ispahSBC2018

The ISPAH Sedentary Behaviour Council will run a one day workshop in Cambridge on Saturday 13 October, just prior to the ISPAH Congress in London.
During the course of the day we will examine established and emerging evidence on the biological mechanisms via which sedentary behaviour may affect disease risk. Understanding biological pathways is critical for causal inference. Better mechanistic understanding may also provide insight into the best way to alter sedentary behaviour (reduce total duration vs ’break up’ extended bouts) in order to optimise disease prevention.
We have assembled an exciting programme, which includes Professor Nick Wareham as our keynote speaker. Our morning session will feature talks from distinguished and emerging researchers who will share new findings from mechanistic studies. In the afternoon, we will highlight new methods that can help extend this field of enquiry. Confirmed speakers include:

Professor David Dunstan, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne
Dr Thomas Yates, University of Leicester
Dr Audrey Bergouignan, University of Colorado, and CNRS IPHC – University of Strasbourg

The meeting starts at 09:00 and finishes at 16:00, making it possible to travel from and to London for the day (50 minutes by train).
Registration fee will be £110 for Sedentary Behaviour Council members, and £140 for non-members. Registration includes morning and afternoon tea, lunch and lunchtime games on the lawn.
Only 65 spaces are available for this workshop.
Click here to register to attend the meeting.

View the draft programme
Venue and travel
Accommodation options if required

Please send any questions to SBCsatellite2018@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk

ISPAH Conference - Physical Activity Data Harmonisation Satellite 2018
2018-10-18 09:00 - 17:30 | Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ, United Kingdom
Using existing data for a better future
Opportunities and challenges of harmonising activity data
Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Thursday 18 October 2018
******
Sorry, registration has now closed and we are fully booked.
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#ispahDataCam18
Following the main 2018 ISPAH Conference in London 15-17 October, this one day meeting in Cambridge will create a platform for discussions about retrospective harmonisation of physical activity and sedentary behaviour data globally.
Retrospective harmonisation enables researchers to bring together activity data acquired using diverse methods, settings or populations for co-analysis. Combining data in this way can provide greater heterogeneity, increased statistical power to investigate weak or complex associations, and extended scientific impact relative to individual study analyses.
Visit the main conference web-page: www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/ispahdata18/

Seminar - Can we promote physical activity at the population level? Findings from a community-based cluster randomised trial and a sport fandom-based app study.
2018-10-19 11:00 - 12:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Masamitsu Kamada, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Can we promote physical activity at the population level? Findings from a community-based cluster randomised trial and a sport fandom-based app study.

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract
Effective population strategies to promote physical activity are needed to reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases stemming from physical inactivity. However, evidence from a few short-term trials has highlighted the difficulty of achieving population-level improvements in physical activity through multi-strategic community-wide interventions. In this talk, I will introduce the findings from 1) a community-based 5-year cluster randomised trial and 2) a quasi-experimental study of a sport fandom-based app developed by the Japanese Professional Baseball League (Pacific League) and discuss key strategies to achieve population-level improvements in physical activity.
About Dr Kamada

Masamitsu Kamada, MEd, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Social Behavior at the School of Public Health, the University of Tokyo, Japan. His work focuses on physical activity epidemiology and implementation science. He completed both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Physical and Health Education at the University of Tokyo, and a doctoral degree in Environmental and Preventive Medicine at the Shimane University before completing JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA.
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Improving our diets: more freedom or more control?
2018-10-23 17:30 - 19:00
A Cambridge Festival of Ideas event

23 October 2018, 5.30pm – 7.00pm
McCrum Lecture Theatre, Corpus Christi College
Please note that booking is required for this event. You can book here now.
#freedomorcontrol #cfi2018
Across the world our diets are often poor, damaging our health, and putting pressure on collective resources such as healthcare. And the negative effects of the unhealthy food available in our shops, restaurants and takeaways tend to hit the poorest in society hardest.
Governments, public health agencies and commercial companies have attempted various measures to get us to eat more healthily, including food labelling, taxes, changing the recipes of processed foods, and influencing what shops are on the high street. The choice of which approach to use is not only a matter of what works, but touches on fundamental questions about our responsibilities and freedoms. Do public health policies restrict our individual liberty to make our own choices? Or does the state have a duty to protect us from profiteering corporations and our own worst instincts? Are there universal answers to these questions, or are they different for different groups and individuals in a society?
Join public health and policy experts for a facilitated discussion to explore these questions and the practical and philosophical challenges they raise. Find out how evidence and ethics can help us decide when and how to intervene.
This event is co-organised by CEDAR and the Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Please note that booking is required for this event. You can book here now.
A note about directions
The McCrum Lecture Theatre is down a passage next to the Eagle Pub on Bene’t Street, so the postcode on the map below will not point you directly to it. If you walk down Bene’t Street from Kings Parade, the passage will be on your left immediately after the Eagle Pub. If you enter Bene’t Street from Peas Hill, Guildhall Street, or the Corn Exchange, the passage will be on your right after Jack’s Gelato.
Featuring:

Dr Jean Adams, Centre for Diet and Activity Research
Dr Thomas Burgoine, Centre for Diet and Activity Research
Prof Mike Kelly, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, former Director of the Centre for Public Health at the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
Prof Mike Kenny, Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Prof Jaideep Prabhu, Judge Business School
.

Programme

5.30pm: An opportunity to meet the researchers and learn about their work in dietary public health and policy
6.00pm: Facilitated discussion
7.00pm: Post-discussion refreshments and further opportunity to meet the researchers
.

Seminar - The nexus between food literacy, food security and disadvantage.
2018-11-05 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Professor Danielle Gallegos, Queensland University of Technology.
Social Networks for Health Behaviour Change

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Download presentation
Abstract
High income countries are often described as being food secure and yet sub-populations are still unable to secure sufficient amounts of food necessary to lead a healthy life. Household and community food insecurity is perceived to be an individual issue. Food literacy has emerged as a convenient way of packaging knowledge and skills that individuals need in order to ensure a diet of sufficient quality and quantity. A focus on such strategies place the responsibility for healthy eating on the individual, further marginalising disadvantaged groups and failing to acknowledge the profound impact of social and environmental determinants on food security, and the well-established impacts these have on the food supply. This paper will explore hidden hunger in the Australian context and the complex nexus between food literacy and food security along a continuum of disadvantage. It will highlight the potential benefits and limitations of the incorporation of food literacy approaches to address food insecurity at community and household levels..
About Professor Gallegos

Danielle Gallegos is a social nutritionist and Professor at Queensland University of Technology where she is the discipline leader for nutrition and dietetics and the Director for International Engagement and Recruitment. She currently coordinates Dietetic Honours students. She is a Fellow of the Dietitians Association of Australia and has worked in all areas of nutrition and dietetics including acute care, foodservice, private practice and for the last 15 years in public health nutrition. She teaches public and community nutrition and undertakes research related to the nexus between nutrition and social justice. Her special areas of interest are developing nutrition and dietetics as a profession in Vietnam, food security, food literacy and supporting breastfeeding through the use of innovative technologies. She is currently supervising 10 PhD students, three of whom are from Vietnam.
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CIPH Seminar - Improving access to primary care - evidence from a cluster feasibility trial using a realist perspective
2018-11-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Seminar Room 2, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge Seminar room 11, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the Cambridge Institute of Public Health Seminar by:

Dr John Ford, NIHR Doctoral Fellow in Public Health, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia.
Improving access to primary care – evidence from a cluster feasibility trial using a realist perspective

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

About Dr Ford
John Ford is a Public Health registrar (medically qualified) with research interests in older people’s health, inequalities, health services research, data integration and global burden of disease. He is particularly interested in research which makes a difference to patients and the public, and his research skills include evidence synthesis, meta-analysis, indirect comparison, cohort analysis and service evaluation.
He is currently a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, and his fellowship looks at how disadvantaged older people from rural areas access primary care. The first two years has been spent generating theory based on a realist review, cohort analysis of ELSA using structural equation modelling and semi-structured interviews/focus groups. He is currently undertaking a feasibilty study to improve access to primary care for older people. More information can be found here.

Seminar - Social Networks for Health Behaviour Change
2018-11-14 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Ruth Hunter, Queen’s University Belfast.
Social Networks for Health Behaviour Change

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Social networks (e.g. our friends, family, colleagues) have significant impact on our health and behaviours. However, we know little about how these networks can be utilised to influence health behaviours. The presentation will provide an overview of a programme of work investigating the use of social networks for health behaviour change.
About Dr Hunter

Dr Hunter’s research interests are in the development and evaluation of complex public health interventions for behaviour change at the community and population level.
Her research involves investigating the role of social networks, and the built and social environment for population level behaviour change. Most recently she was awarded a NIHR Career Development Fellowship to investigate the role of social network interventions for behaviour change involving collaborations with the University of Southern California, Harvard University, Yale University and the University of Cambridge.
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Using images at scale to understand environments and behaviours
2018-11-21 11:30 - 15:30 | GR06/07, Faculty of English, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DP, GR06/07, Faculty of English, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3 9DP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the Cambridge Digital Humanities Seminar:
Using images at scale to understand environments and behaviours
Wednesday November 21, 2018
GR06/07, Faculty of English
Convenors:
Dr James Woodcock – Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge
Dr Rahul Goel – Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge
Dr Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb – Reader in Applied and Computational Analysis, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
Dr Anne Alexander – Cambridge Digital Humanities
Book four FREE place online here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/using-images-at-scale-to-understand-environments-and-behaviours-tickets-50737316680
Image big data are increasingly being used to understand the built and natural environment and to observe behaviours within it. Data sources include satellite and airborne imagery, 360 street views, and fixed video or time lapse traffic and CCTV cameras. While some of these sources are newer than others what has been changing are the quality of the images, the geographical coverage, and the potential for assessing changes over time. At the same time improvements in machine learning have made it possible to turn images into quantitative data at scale.
In this workshop we will explore the challenges that researchers face when using images at scale to understand environments and behaviours, building on work at Cambridge to estimate cycling levels, using satellite data to estimate motor vehicle volume, and planned data collection in Kenya using 360 cameras. We will be using the following themes to help structure our discussion.
Data capture and access
What do researchers need to understand about how these images are created in order to interpret them accurately at scale? How do we deal with the challenge of working with ‘image data’ which no longer needs to be rendered into something that humans would recognise as an image for us to work with it? With the increasing drive towards the outsourcing of data capture to various third parties and subcontractors what questions should researchers be asking about these processes in order to build effective models?
Data analysis and triangulation
What theoretical and practical problems arise from efforts to combine heterogeneous large-scale image datasets to model human behaviours? How do we account for different kinds of temporality and spatiality in large-scale image datasets when making statistical inferences and developing models of behaviour – for example if we combine image data composed of a sequence of snapshots from fixed locations such as traffic cameras with data filmed by a drone? What methods should we use to render gaps and ambiguity in the data more visible to end-users of our results?
Identity and human rights
What methods should researchers use to protect the rights of humans who may be identifiable in these datasets? Can we reliably anonymise large-scale image datasets? Whose consent should we seek to capture, process, analyse or publish such datasets and when should we seek it?
Data management, re-use and preservation
What infrastructure do we need to manage large-scale image datasets in the present? Should we be attempting to preserve them for the future?
A sandwich lunch will be available for participants so please help us cater accurately by cancelling your ticket or letting us know if you can no longer attend. Please contact Michelle Maciejewska (mm405@cam.ac.uk) with any special dietary requirements by 14 November.
FREE booking online here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/using-images-at-scale-to-understand-environments-and-behaviours-tickets-50737316680

Lecture: Non-Communicable Disease Policy
2019-01-29 19:30 - 21:00 | Fisher Building, St John’s College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP, St John's College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP
All are welcome to the Cambridge Global Health Lecture by:

Dr Tolullah Oni, Global Public Health Research Programme, MRC Epidemiology Unit.
Fisher Building, St John’s College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP.

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer cause two in every three deaths on our planet. What are the root causes of NCDs? How can we tackle this enormous problem? Join NCD expert Tolullah Oni as we open our 2019 Students for Global Health Lecture Series to learn about the latest in NCD research, and what we can do about it.
For more information about this lecture click here, or to have a look at the full schedule of Cambridge Global Health Lecture Series events, check the following Facebook page.

About Dr Oni

Tolullah Oni is a Public Health Physician Scientist and urban epidemiologist, and a Clinical Senior Research fellow with the Unit’s Global Public Health Research programme.
She completed her medical training at University College London, postgraduate medical training in the UK and Australia, a Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the University of Cape Town, and her research doctorate in Clinical Epidemiology at Imperial College London. She spent 11 years conducting research in South Africa, where she also completed her public health medical specialty training. There, she established a Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE), conducting transdisciplinary urban health research focused on generating evidence to support development and implementation of healthy public policies in rapidly growing cities, with a focus on Africa. Research activities include Systems for Health projects: investigating how urban systems (e.g. housing, food) can be harnessed for health; and Health Systems projects: integrated heath systems responses to changing patterns of disease and multimorbidity in the context of urbanisation. She continues this focus within the GDAR network, focusing on meso- and macro-level determinants of diet and physical activity.
She has published over 40 manuscripts in high-impact journals, and has given presentations at international academic (urban health, HIV, TB) and non-academic meetings including the United Nations High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development, New York; and the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, Davos 2018. She serves on several advisory boards including Future Earth and the African Academy of Science Open Research Platform; and is an editorial board member of Lancet Planetary Health, Cities and Health, and the Journal of Urban Health. Profiled in the Lancet journal in 2016, she is a 2015 Next Einstein Forum Fellow, and Fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study.
Twitter: @drtolullah

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Seminar – Real life investigations of Sustainability Conundrums: Drawing together Human Behaviour and Living Lab approaches
2019-01-30 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Amy Munro-Faure, Living Laboratory for Sustainability, University of Cambridge.
Real life investigations of Sustainability Conundrums: Drawing together Human Behaviour and Living Lab approaches
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract

Understanding how to study theoretical empirical questions in real life scenarios with the messy data associated with it is a complex problem.
In this talk I will address this challenge from two perspectives. Firstly, my PhD research focussed on understanding how human cooperative behaviour changes when it is studied in a laboratory in comparison to large scale naturalistic observational studies.
Secondly I will talk about it from a far more applied point of view using examples of past and present Living Laboratory projects where research has been used to inform operations.

About Dr Munro-Faure

I’ve recently come to Cambridge to work in the University’s Environment and Energy Section running the Living Laboratory for Sustainability.
Prior to this I did a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh looking at Variation in Human Cooperative Behaviour. During this time I did a policy placement at the Royal Society on climate change policy. In Edinburgh I also set up an art-science collaborative and ran workshops to encourage creative and lateral thinking around hypothesis generation and communicating science.
I have a masters in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation from UCL and have worked on a number of research projects varying from conservation metrics at ZSL to bowerbird behaviour with the University of Exeter.

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Seminar - Longitudinal growth modeling: a tool for genetic discovery
2019-02-15 13:30 - 14:30 | Seminar room 2, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, CB2 0SP, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, CB2 0SP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Diana Cousminer, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Philadelphia.
Longitudinal growth modeling: a tool for genetic discovery
Seminar room 2, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, CB2 0SP

Abstract

Distinct growth patterns during adolescence correlate with adverse health outcomes such as poor cardiometabolic health and risk for osteoporosis, but the genetic mechanisms mediating differences in growth trajectories remain largely unknown. Longitudinal modeling using SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) breaks down complex growth trajectories into three components, “size”, “timing”, and “velocity.” We utilize these parameters as phenotypes for input into genome-wide association studies (GWAS), to better understand the genetic determinants of increase in bone mineral density at distinct skeletal sites and height growth.

About Dr Cousminer

Dr Diana Cousminer is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. She received her PhD in Medical Genetics from the University of Helsinki and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland. Dr Cousminer’s work focuses on the genetics of early life traits, in particular the timing of puberty and pubertal growth, and how these traits are linked to later life health outcomes such as diabetes, cardiometabolic health, and osteoporosis.

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Bradford Hill Seminar: Making evidence credible for public health policy
2019-03-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, Forvie Site, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, United Kingdom
Bradford Hill Seminar
Making evidence credible for public health policy
Dr Kathryn Oliver, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Large Seminar Room, 1st Floor, Institute of Public Health, University Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR
Abstract
Debates about the role of evidence in policymaking have tended to focus primarily on how to increase the influence of academic research evidence on policy. This approach to the role of knowledge in policy sidesteps the question of what types of knowledge are used and valued in policymaking, and how different forms of knowledge may interact with policy. Drawing on 55 interviews with policymakers and academics, I explore how personal/institutional characteristics and processes are judged to confer credibility to knowledge for policy in informal and formal contexts. Using the generation of credibility as a lens to understand the effects of these values on scientific and policy processes allows us to understand the broader strengths and limitations of different forms of knowledge within the policy arena. I explore the implications of these strengths and limitations of credible knowledge in policy practices, and place our conclusions within a discussion of current approaches to understanding the role of knowledge in policymaking. I close with some reflections on the importance of transparent and reflexive policymaking and knowledge-generation practices, and the implications of this for public health.
This talk is part of the Bradford Hill seminar series hosted by Cambridge Institute of Public Health.

Seminar - The Economics of Infectious Disease - Flavio Toxvaerd, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge
2019-03-21 11:00 - 12:00 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

The Economics of Infectious Disease
Dr Flavio Toxvaerd, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Watch Dr Toxvaerd’s presentation on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
This talk will give a self-contained introduction to the economics of infectious diseases. This is a growing field of interdisciplinary study which applies ideas from economics, mathematical optimisation and game theory to the study and management of infectious diseases. The talk will first introduce the classical epidemiological models studied in public health and biology and then show how ideas from economics can be used in conjunction with the classical models to inform public health policies.
About Dr Toxvaerd
Dr Flavio Toxvaerd is a University Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge and a fellow of Clare College. His main research interests include microeconomic theory, game theory and economic epidemiology. His research has been published in the Journal of Economic Theory, the RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and the Journal of Theoretical Biology. Outside of academia, he has acted as a consultant for both the private and public sectors. He has also served as the Senior Economic Advisor to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (set up by HM Treasury and the Wellcome Trust).
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Seminar – Responding to Revolution; Utilising new methods to explore the relationship between transport, health and urban design
2019-06-27 12:30 - 13:30 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Dr Jason Thompson, University of Melbourne, Transport, Health and Urban Design Research Hub.
Responding to Revolution; Utilising new methods to explore the relationship between transport, health and urban design
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Abstract

The last decade years has seen increasing encroachment of computer science into domains that were once solely the preserve of health, transport, and/or social scientists. Keeping up with these advancements and understanding how researchers from more traditional scientific domains can integrate new methods into their work plans is challenging.
This presentation will detail multiple innovations Melbourne University’s Transport, Health and Urban Design Research Hub is making that integrate expertise from across computer science, mathematics, engineering, epidemiology, design, and psychology to create truly novel and interdisciplinary research outputs with significant real-world application.

About Dr Thompson

Dr Jason Thompson holds a PhD in Medicine, Masters in Clinical Psychology, and a Bachelor of Science with Honours.
Dr Thompson’s work is focused on the translation of research into practice across the areas of transportation safety, public health, post-injury rehabilitation, and health system design.
Dr Thompson is a current Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Fellow. His DECRA project is focused on challenges associated with the introduction of Autonomous vehicles on the operation and sustainability of Australia’s $5b personal injury insurance market. In particular, how this transition will change injury rates and types, the operation of compensation and rehabilitation systems, and how these systems’ responses will shape the autonomous vehicle market, itself.

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Talk - Challenges and opportunities in developing technology based approaches to assessing dietary intake
2019-06-28 13:00 - 14:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to a talk by:

Clare Collins, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Challenges and opportunities in developing technology based approaches to assessing dietary intake
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

About Professor Collins

Clare Collins is a Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Professor Collins hold a prestigious NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship. She is currently Director of Research for the School of Health Sciences and is Deputy Director of the Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition.
Her research is conducted in collaboration with the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s (HMRI) Cardiovascular Program. HMRI is a partnership between the University, the Hunter New England Local Health District and the community.
Her innovative and world leading research creates new technologies to evaluate nutrition and dietary intake, and how improving nutrition, diet quality, food patterns can facilitate improved weight and health across all ages and stages of life and for those with chronic health conditions.
Professor Collins has developed technology based tools for dietary assessment, including the Healthy Eating Quiz and the Australian Eating Survey.

Seminar – Overview of Road Safety Globally - Dr Kavi Bhalla
2019-09-18 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

Overview of Road Safety Globally
Dr Kavi Bhalla, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences of the Biological Sciences Division & Faculty at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago.

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Abstract
As the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) draws to a close, it is clear that the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing global road traffic deaths by half by 2020 will not be met. In most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), traffic injuries are rising or stable at a high level. In contrast, traffic deaths in high-income countries (HICs) have been steadily declining for five decades. The talk will present econometric analysis of historic data to argue that the success of HICs resulted from establishing regulatory agencies that conducted large-scale safety interventions. We will explore the implications for LMICs, providing case studies of the development of similar institutions and their activities.
About Dr Bhalla
Kavi Bhalla, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences of the Biological Sciences Division at the University of Chicago, and Affiliated Faculty at the Harris School of Public Policy. His research aims to develop transport systems that are safe, sustainable and equitable, with a central focus on road safety in low- and middle-income countries. His recent work has focused on the development of analytical tools for improving estimates of the incidence of injuries in information-poor settings using available data sources. Kavi co-led the injury expert group of the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Project. He is formally trained as a mechanical engineer and his PhD (Cornell, 2001) thesis research focused on the mechanics of material failure, which he later applied to the study of injury biomechanics and vehicle crashworthiness.
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Seminar – Nutritional Psychiatry: recent advances in evidence for diet and nutrition for mental and brain health - Professor Felice N Jacka
2019-10-16 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:

Nutritional Psychiatry: recent advances in evidence for diet and nutrition for mental and brain health
Professor Felice N Jacka, Food & Mood Centre, Deakin University, Australia.

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Download slides of Professor Jacka’s presentation.
Abstract
Unhealthy diet is now the leading cause of early death in men, and number two globally. Professor Jacka has pioneered and led the development of a large and robust body of evidence showing that unhealthy diet is also a key risk factor for psychiatric illnesses such as depression and anxiety and is recognised as a research leader in this new field.
In this presentation, she will provide an up-to-date overview of the evidence regarding the impact of diet on mental and brain health across age groups, countries and cultures. She will then focus on the new research addressing the microbiome-gut-brain axis in mood and behaviour. Finally, she will discuss new evidence for diet as a clinical strategy for improving mental and brain health and discuss the research activities being undertaken at the Food & Mood Centre.
About Professor Jacka
Professor Felice Jacka is director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University. She is founder and president of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR) and immediate past president of the Australian Alliance for the Prevention of Mental Disorders (APMD). Professor Jacka has pioneered and led a highly innovative program of research that examines how individuals’ diets interact with the risk for mental health problems. Her current work focuses closely on the links between diet, gut health and mental and brain health. This research is being carried out with the ultimate goal of developing new, evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies for mental disorders. She is listed in the top ten most highly-cited researchers in mood disorders in Australia (Scopus). She has recently published a book for the general public called ‘Brain Changer’ through Pan Macmillan Press and Yellow Kite in the UK.
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Seminar - Politics, policy and the absence of evidence: decision making about speed restrictions in Edinburgh and Belfast.
2019-11-06 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Politics, policy and the absence of evidence: decision making about speed restrictions in Edinburgh and Belfast.
Professor Mike Kelly, Primary Care Unit, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge.

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Abstract
The cities of Edinburgh and Belfast have both introduced 20mph speed restrictions on certain of their roads in recent years. This has been advanced in both places as offering a mixture of transport and public health benefits. NIHR have funded an evaluation of the consequences of the decisions. One part of that broader investigation has been a study of the way evidence was (and was not) part of the decision making process. This paper reports some findings about the processes involved and the ways that that decision makers worked to get the schemes introduced.
About Professor Kelly
Mike Kelly is Senior Visiting Fellow in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the Institute of Public Health in Cambridge. Between 2005 and 2014, when he retired, he was the Director of the Centre for Public Health at NICE. From 2005 to 2007 he directed the methodology work stream for the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. His research interests include the prevention of non-communicable disease, living with chronic illness, health inequalities, health related behaviour change, end of life care, dental public health, the relationship between evidence and policy and the methods and philosophy of evidence based medicine.
Twitter: @Mk744P
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Seminar - Community engagement to prevent and control diabetes in Bangladesh
2019-11-20 12:30 - 13:30 | Meeting rooms, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC), Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Community engagement to prevent and control diabetes in Bangladesh.
Dr Ed Fottrell, Director, UCL Centre for Global Non-Communicable Diseases.

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Abstract
Learning from experience of community mobilisation to improve maternal and child health, we developed two distinct population based interventions to prevent and control diabetes within rural communities in Bangladesh. The first intervention was an mHealth health promotion strategy delivered to individual’s mobile phones. The second was a participatory community mobilisation intervention whereby community groups identified and addressed key threats to their health in their own communities. The interventions were evaluated using a three arm cluster-randomised controlled trial across 96 villages covering a population of approximately 125,000 individuals. This presentation will describe the development of these interventions, their implementation and impact.
About Dr Fottrell
Dr Fottrell is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology & Global Health at University College London. He is experienced in community health measurement, intervention development and evaluation in Africa and Asia. He has a history of research into maternal, neonatal and child health, verbal autopsy, non-communicable diseases, community interventions and mHealth. Dr Fottrell is Director of the UCL Centre for Global Non-communicable Diseases and is PI of the GACD/MRC-funded DMagic and D:Clare projects – implementation science and cluster trials to address diabetes in Bangladesh.
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Seminar - Assessing the impacts of the introduction of South Africa’s tax on sugar-sweetened beverages
2020-01-23 13:00 - 14:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Assessing the impacts of the introduction of South Africa’s tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.
Nicholas Stacey, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science & SAMRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand.

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Abstract
In response to an increasingly severe obesity and diet-related disease burden, on April 1 2018 South Africa implemented a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages titled the Health Promotion Levy (HPL). Like the UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), this tax is levied according to the sugar content of beverages. Unlike the UK’s SDIL, the HPL does not use discrete rate tiers and is rather levied at a constant rate per gram of sugar (over an initial threshold). This presentation will highlight findings from an ongoing evaluation of the HPL emphasizing heterogeneity in effects by products’ sugar content and heterogeneity in household responses by socio-economic status.
About Nicholas Stacey
Nicholas Stacey is a health economist and researcher at the SAMRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science at the School of Public Health of the University of the Witwatersrand and is a PhD student at the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research interests and published work are on excise taxes and the use of public policy to influence behavioural determinants of health and health inequalities in South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries.
Twitter: @nick__stacey
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Transforming Healthcare: Prevention of type 2 Diabetes - Professor Nick Wareham
2020-01-29 18:00 - 19:00 | Lee Hall, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Barton Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BB, Wolfson College, Cambridge, CB3 9BB
Type 2 diabetes affects almost 500 million people around the world. MRC Epidemiology Unit Director Professor Nick Wareham talks about how efforts to prevent it need to reflect this.

About this Event

Type 2 diabetes is a major cause of ill health and mortality. The latest estimate for 2019 is that 463 million people have diabetes and that by 2045 this number will have risen to 700 million. As 80% of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries and the disorder principally affects people in their economically active years, this global epidemic needs to be seen not only as a clinical and public health problem, but rather as a societal challenge that impacts on sustainable development. The solutions to this growing public health crisis need to reflect this broader societal perspective.
FREE registration at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transforming-health-care-through-prevention-prevention-of-type-2-diabetes-tickets-88484538637

Transforming Health Care Through Prevention - Primary Care at the Forefront
2020-02-19 18:00 - 19:15 | Lee Hall, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Barton Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BB, Wolfson College, Cambridge, CB3 9BB
There is a long tradition of disease prevention in primary care” but “over-stretched primary care teams are struggling to meet the needs of patients with existing disease.
In this lecture Professor Simon Griffin, the Unit’s Programme Leader for Prevention of Diabetes and Related Metabolic Disorders in High Risk Groups, will share some thoughts on how we might square the circle and efficiently deliver effective prevention in primary care.
FREE registration at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transforming-health-care-through-prevention-primary-care-at-the-forefront-tickets-90622756103
This event is part of the Wolfson Explores Transformation lecture series.

Seminar – Applications of geospatial data and methods in environmental epidemiology
2020-02-20 12:00 - 13:00 | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Applications of geospatial data and methods in environmental epidemiology.
S.M. Labib, Department of Geography, School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED), University of Manchester.

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Download slides of S.M. Labib‘s presentation.
Abstract
Geospatial data and methods are widely integrated with environmental epidemiology and public health research. This talk explores the applications of spatial data and methods in research on environmental epidemiology in urban areas. It provides case studies on the availability and applications of spatial data (e.g., satellite and drone images) and modelling approaches (e.g., coupling systems, machine learning) used to identify and understand environmental patterns and processes. Then, it explores how spatial dimensions (e.g., data-resolution, scale) influence the relationships between environment and health outcomes and discusses emerging approaches used to apply spatial data and methods when focusing on urban greenspace and health.
About S.M. Labib
S.M. Labib is a final year PhD student at the University of Manchester (UoM). Labib’s multidisciplinary academic background encompasses quantitative geography, urban planning, and environmental sciences. He completed MSc in Geographical Information Science from the UoM. Before that, he obtained a BSc in Urban and Regional Planning from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, with a specialisation in sustainable urban transportation and emission modelling. His PhD research focused on environmental health issues, Labib is developing new approaches to model green space exposure using innovative geospatial methods and big-spatial data.
Website: www.smlabib.com
Twitter: @smlabib
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The NCD emergency, intergenerational inequality, and the urgent need for systems change
2020-03-06 18:00 - 19:15 | Lee Hall, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Barton Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BB, Wolfson College, Cambridge, CB3 9BB
The only way is upstream: the NCD emergency, intergenerational inequality and the urgent need for system change.
A free public lecture by Professor Martin White, Programme Leader for Population Health Interventions at the MRC Epidemiology Unit.
FREE registration at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transforming-health-care-through-prevention-the-ncd-emergency-tickets-90624019883
This event is part of the Wolfson Explores Transformation lecture series.

Let food be thy medicine - Talk by Professor Nita Forouhi
2020-03-09 19:30 - 21:00 | Wolfson Hall, Churchill College, Storey's Way, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3 0DS, United Kingdom
Type 2 diabetes is one of the biggest global public health challenges, also placing a massive burden in the U.K. on people with diabetes, their families and the wider society. Urgent solutions are needed to help individuals with this condition as well as to prevent those at risk from developing it in the future. Dietary factors can play a pivotal role in the prevention, management and even the possible reversal of type 2 diabetes, but there is also a lot of confusion and noise out there, with conflicting dietary advice.
In this Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR) lecture Professor Nita Forouhi, Programme Leader for Nutritional Epidemiology programme at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, aims to cut through this confusion to provide clarity.
CSAR lectures are open to members only, but CSAR welcome new members and would encourage you join CSAR online in advance of the event you wish to attend.
More information about this talk.

Seminar - Healthy Cities from the Bottom Up: A Human-centred Approach to Urban and Transport Planning
2020-03-18 12:30 - 13:30 | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Healthy Cities from the Bottom Up: A Human-centred Approach to Urban and Transport Planning
Dr Andy Hong, Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford.
Watch a recording of this online seminar on Zoom.
Download the slides from this seminar as a PDF.
Abstract
The rise of chronic diseases coupled with rapid urbanisation presents both challenges and opportunities for cities around the world. However, much of the contemporary urban planning paradigm still rely on top-down approaches to urban development focused on automobility. A more integrated approach to urban and transport planning that supports human-scale urban development is needed. This requires collecting and analysing vast amounts of big data while integrating more nuanced and contextualised information about human behaviours and risk factors.
In this talk, I will discuss some of the key health challenges linked to urban and transport planning, and share lessons and experiences from my research to support and guide local decisions and investments to make healthy cities from the bottom up.
About Dr Hong
Andy Hong is a Lead Urban Health Scientist at The George Institute for Global Health (UK), University of Oxford. Andy is also Co-founder of the Healthy Cities Network, a global nexus of innovators dedicated to sharing cutting-edge information on urban health. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California and his graduate and undergraduate studies at the University of Washington. His research interests lie at the nexus of urban planning, transport, and public health. He has collaborated actively with international experts, particularly for the development of evidence-based policy solutions to a wide range of global health challenges, from promoting physical activity to reducing the environmental burden of disease in marginalised communities. Andy previously held positions at the University of British Columbia, the Korea Transport Institute, and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates.
Website
Twitter: @DrAndyHong
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Seminar - Introducing the Propensity to Cycle Tool and explaining the new health impact calculation methods
2020-04-01 11:00 - 12:00 | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Introducing the Propensity to Cycle Tool and explaining the new health impact calculation methods.
Dr Anna Goodman, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Dr Rachel Aldred, University of Westminster, London.

Watch the seminar by Dr Aldred and Dr Goodman on our Youtube channel.
About the Propensity to Cycle Tool
The Propensity to Cycle Tool (PCT) is an open source transport planning system that was designed to assist transport planners and policy makers to prioritise investments and interventions to promote cycling. The PCT answers the question: ‘where is cycling currently common and where does cycling have the greatest potential to grow?’.
The PCT can be used at different scales, either as a strategic planning tool or on a smaller scale, for example to use the level of commuter cycling along a particular road to estimate future mode share for cycling on that corridor under different scenarios.

Download the PCT Essentials document

About Dr Goodman
Anna has an epidemiology background and specialises in the field of sustainable transport, with a particular focus on promoting walking and cycling. One of her key research interests is the potential to use primary, secondary or register-based data to evaluate population-level transport interventions, including through natural experimental designs. She also collaborates with CEDAR on various projects in modelling the health and environmental impacts of different transport scenarios.
Profile on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine website.
About Dr Aldred
Rachel is Director of the Active Travel Academy and Reader in Transport at the University of Westminster. Rachel has ten years’ experience of researching active travel, and has made contributions to the field in areas including conceptualising and calculating active travel potential, developing methods for evaluation research, near miss studies, applying epidemiological methods to active travel injury risk, and exploring cultures of active travel, including processes of stigmatisation and marginalisation. She has published more than 25 peer-reviewed papers in these areas, and was in 2016 awarded the ESRC Prize for Outstanding Impact in Public Policy.

Rachel Aldred personal website

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