Severo Ochoa Webinars - The Impacts of Active Transport: a Multi-Disciplinary Research and Practice Field - Session 1
2020-06-03 08:00 - 11:30 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
Aims of the seminars

Bring together the international research and practitioner community in transport impact assessment
Learn about readily available tools to assess transport impacts or components of it (e.g. transport demand models for active travel)
Learn about state-of-the-art methods for the evaluation of transport impacts
Learn from practitioners and decision-makers what evidence and tools are useful to support investment in active travel
Establish an international transport impact assessment community

First Session
3 June 2020, 08.00-11.30h BST;
(Other time zones: 09.00 – 12.30h CEST (Central European Summer time), 17.00 – 20.30h AEST; 19:00 – 20.30h NZST)
First session agenda

Alex Macmillan, University of Otago | Mixed methods for achieving change in the community and in policy: Te Ara Mua Future Streets
Dhirendra Singh, RMIT University | Panacea or pain: Should my next transport system model be agent-based?
Joe Stordy, Transport for London | Measuring London’s progress towards Vision Zero
Emily Coldbeck, Infrastructure Victoria | Actively deciding and prioritizing: the challenges of planning and delivering active transport in Victoria
Bert van Wee, Delft University of Technology | How to assess the health impacts of active transport?
Audrey de Nazelle, Imperial College | Reducing air pollution: making the case for a systems approach
María José Rojo, Polis Network | Post-lockdown mobility planning. Reallocating space to promote active travel
Alexandre Santacreu, ITF/RPA | Preventing road deaths through mode shift: lessons from the ITF Safer City Streets network and micro mobility safety research
James Woodcock, University of Cambridge | Transport and health modelling next steps?

First session chairs

Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, ISGlobal
Belen Zapata-Diomedi, RMIT University

Register for the first session
The webinar session will take place via Zoom. Prior registration is required.
Please register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0vwo1r1pSu21i1rhgzeVPg
Do you want to ask the speakers a question? Submit it here!

Severo Ochoa Webinars - The Impacts of Active Transport: a Multi-Disciplinary Research and Practice Field - Session 2
2020-06-03 16:00 - 19:30 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
Aims of the seminars

Bring together the international research and practitioner community in transport impact assessment
Learn about readily available tools to assess transport impacts or components of it (e.g. transport demand models for active travel)
Learn about state-of-the-art methods for the evaluation of transport impacts
Learn from practitioners and decision-makers what evidence and tools are useful to support investment in active travel
Establish an international transport impact assessment community

Second Session
3 June 2020, 16.00-19.30h BST;
(Other time zones: 17.00 – 20.30h CEST (Central European Summer time), 17.00 – 20.30h AEST; 19:00 – 20.30h NZST)
Second session agenda

Rolf Moeckel, Technical University of Munich | Modeling Travel Behavior and Health Impacts
Susan Handy, University of California, Davis | Evaluating the benefits of bicycle and pedestrian projects in California.
Kelly Clifton, Portland State University | Representing Pedestrians in Travel Demand Models: Opportunities & Challenges
Neil Maizlish, Centre for Climate Change and Health | Advances in ITHIM Practice and Research, United States
Thomas Götschi, University of Oregon | HEAT Global: Adapting WHO’s Health Economic Assessment Tool for walking and cycling (HEAT) for a global audience
Rachel Aldred, University of Westminster | The Propensity to Cycle Tool: methods for modelling cycling potential for research and policy
Stefan Gössling, Lund University | Why cost-benefit analyses could (and should) inspire transport policies
Verónica Sánchez, Barcelona City Council | A new model of sustainable mobility: can public space change the way we move?

Second session chairs

Haneen Khreis, Texas A&M University
James Woodcock, University of Cambridge

Register for the second session
The webinar session will take place via Zoom. Prior registration is required.
Please register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TAq_mi8jTP2S5GCpkEcYUQ
Do you want to ask the speakers a question? Submit it here!

Seminar - The Greek National Survey on Health and Nutrition (the HYDRIA Project)
2020-06-09 14:00 - 15:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
The Greek National Survey on Health and Nutrition (the HYDRIA Project)
Dr Elissavet Valanou, FSA – European Food Risk Assessment (EU-FORA) Fellow, Hellenic Health Foundation (HHF), Greece

Watch a recording of this seminar.
Download the slides from Dr Valanou’s seminar as a PDF.
Abstract
The presentation will be focused upon presenting the methodology followed in the Greek National Health and Nutrition Survey (HYDRIA) aiming to collect highly standardized data which is comparable to other European countries’ data on health status, dietary intakes, prevalence of overweight and obesity, and health-related lifestyle choices in a representative sample of the Greek resident population. Special emphasis will be given on the development of the automated 24-hour dietary recall instrument and the harmonization of the collected consumption data to the Foodex 2 classification and description system.
About Dr Valanou
Elissavet a Nutritionist with a Ph.D in Epidemiology with more than 12 years working experience in the field of epidemiology, nutrition and physical activity at the Medical University of Athens, Department of Epidemiology and, at the Hellenic Health Foundation. My main interest involves the assessment of the population health status by adopting international standards (protocols). While working on various EU and EFSA projects, as well as on the Greek National Dietary Survey, I gained expertise in the methodology of collecting, analysing, and evaluating consumption data, as well as an in-depth knowledge on the development and evaluation of a web-based 24-hour dietary recall tool.
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Seminar - Gestational Diabetes: a nutritional disorder?
2020-06-22 13:00 - 14:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Gestational Diabetes: a nutritional disorder?
Dr Claire Meek, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, UK.
Download the slides from Dr Meek’s seminar as a PDF.
Abstract
Gestational diabetes is the most common medical complication of pregnancy and is increasing in incidence worldwide. In this seminar we will cover the following topics:

aetiology and risk factors for gestational diabetes
diagnosis and clinical management
dietary aspects to gestational diabetes
interventions focusing on diet and physical activity.

About Dr Meek
Claire Meek is a consultant metabolic physician and a new group leader at the Institute of Metabolic Science. Her research interests include gestational diabetes and obesity in pregnancy. She has recently been awarded an intermediate clinical fellowship by Diabetes UK and a future leaders’ award from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes in association with the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
During her fellowship, she will run the DiGest study, a randomised, controlled, blinded clinical trial of a dietary intervention during late pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes. The aim of the study is to identify if a reduced calorie diet can reduce gestational weight gain and improve both pregnancy outcomes and maternal postpartum glucose homeostasis. Claire Meek works in the Institute of Metabolic Science and Metabolic Research Laboratories at the University of Cambridge.
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Seminar - INDDEX24: A Digital Solution for Streamlining Dietary Assessment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries - Dr Jennifer Coates
2020-07-28 14:00 - 15:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
INDDEX24: A Digital Solution for Streamlining Dietary Assessment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Dr Jennifer Coates, Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Watch a recording of this seminar and download the slides as a PDF.
Abstract
Individual-level quantitative dietary data are often viewed as prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to generate, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The length and cost of this process is due, in large part, to the lack of available and accessible dietary data research infrastructure (i.e. food composition data, recipes, food descriptors, portion conversions, digital data collection tools). INDDEX24 is a novel solution to many of the challenges of scaling up dietary data collection in LMICs. It is comprised of a mobile application (app) for dietary data collection that is linked to a web app for managing and sharing dietary data inputs. To maximize the time and cost saving benefits of the platform, a concerted effort will be needed to populate the web app with dietary data inputs from LMICs.
About Dr Coates
Jennifer Coates, PhD is an Associate Professor of Food Policy and Applied Nutrition at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Dr. Coates’s research focuses on the development of methods for improving the design, implementation, and evaluation of international nutrition and food security programs. She also works to develop novel metrics and tools, including those related to food security and dietary assessment, for use in low and middle income countries. Dr. Coates has served on several advisory committees, including as Co-Chair of the WHO-UNICEF Technical Expert Advisory Group for Global Nutrition Monitoring (TEAM), and teaches graduate-level courses in food policy and program monitoring and evaluation at the Friedman School.
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Seminar - Need for standardization in the global surveillance of physical activity of children and youth
2020-08-25 13:00 - 14:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Need for standardization in the global surveillance of physical activity of children and youth
Dr Salomé Aubert, Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Center; Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance
Watch a recording of this seminar and download the slides as a PDF.
Abstract
Objective
To present findings from the available global surveillance systems of physical activity (PA) for children and youth (0-17 year-old), and to highlight research gaps and needs for their improvement.
Methods
Narrative review of the international surveillance systems, studies, and global initiatives collecting or compiling evidence on the PA among children and youth.
Results
PA surveillance systems lack standardization and are not conducted regularly. Surveillance data are mostly focused on older children and adolescents and are especially scarce for PA trends over time, vulnerable populations, and in resource-limited low-middle-income countries. Variation in the geographic patterns of PA levels are observed between studies, which could be attributed to the diversity of approaches used to measure PA.
Conclusions
There is a need for globally accepted and standardized measurement, reporting, and accountability protocols that countries can universally follow in order to have meaningful progress in the global surveillance and promotion of PA among children and youth.
About Dr Aubert
Salomé Aubert grew up in New-Caledonia but moved to France to complete three bachelor’s degrees at the Université de Rennes 2 between 2009 and 2012 in health and physical activity sciences.
She followed that with the completion of a MSc in which she worked on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the student’s lifestyle behaviour and conditions of living way of life in the city of Rennes. She has just completed her PhD in Population Health at the University of Ottawa under the supervision of Dr Mark Tremblay. Her work is focused on the international promotion of an active heathy lifestyle among children and youth.
Dr Aubert is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance. In her free time, she is also an artist and an outdoor enthusiast.
Twitter: @SalomeAubert
Instagram: @Salome.Aubert
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Seminar – Health as an asset: estimating the causal effects of health conditions and health behaviours on social and economic outcomes using Mendelian randomization
2020-09-15 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Health as an asset: estimating the causal effects of health conditions and health behaviours on social and economic outcomes using Mendelian randomization
Dr Laura Howe, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol
Watch a recording of this seminar and download the slides as a PDF.
Abstract
A vast body of literature describes the social determinants of health, identifying stark inequalities in many health conditions and health related behaviours. But relationships between health and social factors (such as socioeconomic position, social contact, and wellbeing) are potentially bidirectional; poor health may limit a person’s ability to achieve their full potential in education, employment or in their social life. Studying the social and socioeconomic consequences of health is fraught with difficulties due to the strong potential for confounding and reverse causation. In this talk, I will describe the use of Mendelian randomization to enhance causal inference in this topic, describing findings from UK Biobank and ALSPAC.
About Dr Howe
Laura Howe is a Reader in Epidemiology and Medical Statistics at the University of Bristol. Her two main interests are: i) the life course epidemiology of obesity and cardiovascular disease, and ii) the complex and bidirectional relationships between social factors (socioeconomic disadvantage, adverse childhood experiences) and health. Laura’s research uses statistical techniques for repeated measures data, and methods for the integration of genetic data into epidemiological studies.
Twitter:
@laurahowe_epi
@mrc_ieu
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Seminar - Road User Charging: what does existing evidence tell us?
2021-02-23 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar with:
Road User Charging – what does existing evidence tell us?
Dr Anthony Laverty, Imperial College London.
Watch a recording of this seminar and download the slides as a PDF.
Abstract
The UK treasury has confirmed that it is actively considering introducing a national Road User Charging (RUC) scheme. This would involve charging motorists directly for their use of roads and have potential major impacts on transport behaviours and health. Although detailed proposals are yet to be released, a key motivation is to address projected declines in motoring taxes which raise £40 million pa (£34million of which is from Fuel Duty) for the UK Treasury as the country transitions away from combustible engine vehicles.
This presentation will discuss emerging evidence from a review of the health impacts of such schemes in other places as well as analyses of secondary data on the western extension zone in London.
About Dr Laverty
Anthony Laverty is a Lecturer in the Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit in the Department of Primary Care & Public Health.
HIs post is funded by the NIHR School of Public Health Research, a collaboration of eight leading academic centres in England with a focus on the generation of useful evidence for local decision makers. His research has a strong focus on the transport systems and health. He leads an assessment of the potential transport, health and inequality impacts of the introduction of road user charging in England. Previous work on transport and health involved an examination of the health benefits of the free bus pass for older people in England (together with Christopher Millett), an Understanding Society Biomarker Data Project Fellowship, and assessment of the health impacts of public transport (with Richard Patterson).
Twitter: @anthonylav
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Seminar - From a pragmatic weight management intervention to bariatric surgery
2021-03-23 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
From a pragmatic weight management intervention to bariatric surgery
Dr Helen Parretti, University of East Anglia.
This seminar will be broadcast live online, please register in advance for this meeting:
https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAkcuCvrzouG9O_jSAFbhMqJOqO1uDbHgUI
Please use your institutional email address for registration (if possible) and complete your registration at least 30 minutes prior to the seminar so that you will receive the confirmation email/access link before the seminar (your registration will be manually checked and approved).
If you do not receive the confirmation and link within 12 hours of registration please check your junk/quarantine/spam email folders, and if it’s not there contact us at seminars@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk so that we can check your registration and resend the confirmation email.
Abstract
Pregnancy can be a high-risk time for weight gain. However, the postnatal period may present an opportunity to offer weight management support. PIMMS-WL was a NIHR funded randomised controlled cluster trial investigating the feasibility and acceptability of a brief weight management intervention for postnatal women embedded within the national child immunisation programme.
This seminar will start by presenting the results of PIMMS-WL. The remainder of the seminar will focus on the long-term management of patients after bariatric surgery. The multiple health benefits of bariatric surgery are well established. However, in the longer term patients can become vulnerable to procedure specific problems, which can have long term consequences. Issues and research around the management of patients who have had bariatric surgery will be discussed.
About Dr Parretti
Dr Helen Parretti is clinical senior lecturer in Norwich Medical School. Prior to this she completed a NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship in Birmingham. She has a research interest in obesity.
Her research has mainly focussed on novel pragmatic interventions for weight management (e.g. Weigh2Go and PIMMS-WL trials) and the long-term care of patients after bariatric surgery. She led the development of the RCGP guidance for the long-term management of patients post-bariatric surgery and was a member of the expert subgroup commissioned by NHS England Obesity CRG to develop bariatric surgery follow-up guidelines.
She is the RCGP representative to the RCP JSC for diabetes and endocrinology and the RCP Advisory Group for Nutrition, Health and Weight. She was elected to the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society council in 2020.
Twitter: @helen_parretti
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Cambridge Festival 2021 - Involving people in telehealth research during the COVID-19 pandemic
2021-03-30 19:00 - 20:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
Involving people in telehealth research during the COVID-19 pandemic – The challenges of scale, engagement and inclusivity
Watch a recording of this event on our YouTube channel
Advances in online platforms, devices and smartphone technology create opportunities for researchers to continue research and engage with study participants whilst maintaining COVID-19 physical distancing rules.
In this Cambridge Festival 2021 event MRC Epidemiology Unit scientists Dr Kirsten Rennie and Dr Rebecca Richards will discuss how telehealth approaches are transforming how we are conducting research, with two examples; how we are assessing people’s health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic and in a weight management intervention.
The Fenland Study comprises over 12,000 people broadly representative of the Cambridgeshire population, and we established the Fenland COVID-19 study to determine how many participants have evidence of previous infection with COVID-19. Previously, participants in our studies have come to one of our clinical research facilities for measurements and samples to be taken, and questionnaires completed. We are now using new ways to collect data and blood samples, including an innovative blood draw device that allows a standardised dried blood spot to be taken by the participant themselves at home and sent directly back to the laboratory using regular postal service. It is the first time this device has been employed in research in the UK. The Fenland COVID-19 study also uses a bespoke app developed by Huma to collect information in real-time on symptoms, temperature and oxygen saturation, resting heart rate, diet, activity and wellbeing.
Obesity increases the risk of having a more severe COVID-19 infection. Social distancing and isolation measures imposed during the pandemic have disrupted our usual routines, and eating and exercise habits, and along with the closure of weight management services, adults with overweight and obesity may be vulnerable to weight gain. The Supporting Weight Management during COVID-19 (SWiM-C) study is evaluating a new online self-help programme to prevent weight gain and support good physical and mental health.
Innovations in telehealth such as these have promise for a range of clinical healthcare and research settings, reducing the need for people to visit clinics and maintaining better online contact. However, it is important that it is acceptable to participants and the technology does not exclude sectors of the population. The session will examine some of the challenges of these innovations posed for both researchers and participants, and how our research teams are addressing them.
Photo by Maxim Ilyahov on Unsplash

Seminar - Integrating diverse data sets to improve causal inference
2021-05-05 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Integrating diverse data sets to improve causal inference
Professor Judith Green, University of Exeter.
Watch a recording of this seminar and download the slides as a PDF.
About this talk
Evaluating the impact of interventions on public health typically requires diverse data sets, which can be challenging to integrate in analysis. This seminar focuses on experiences of integrating epidemiological and ethnographic analysis to strengthen causal inferences, drawing on two studies of natural experiments (evaluations of the public health impacts of free bus travel and reduced street lighting at night) and a recent systematic review of Qualitative Comparative Analysis in public health.
Better integration may require a broader conceptualisation of causal relationships, attention to the timing of integration within the lifetime of a project, and disciplinary balance in research teams.
About Professor Green
Judith Green is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology, Philosophy & Anthropology and Director of the Wellcome Centre for Cultures & Environments of Health at the University of Exeter. She has researched and published widely on the sociology of health, health services and public health. Current research interests include mobility, environmental determinants of health and methodology.
She is co-editor of the journal Critical Public Health and co-author of the textbook Qualitative Methods for Health Research.
Twitter: @judegreen
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Anthropometry seminar - Toward a universal body composition assessment using 3D body scan
2021-05-13 15:30 - 16:30 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Unit Anthropometry Seminar:
Toward a universal body composition assessment using 3D body scan
Marcelline Dechenaud, Thecla, LLC.
Professor Steven Heymsfield, Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Watch a recording of this seminar on our YouTube channel.
About this seminar
Digital anthropometric (DA) assessments are increasingly being administered with 3D optical devices in clinical settings that manage patients with obesity and related metabolic disorders. However, anatomic measurement sites are not standardized across manufacturers, precluding use of published reference values and pooling of data across research centers.
Our group developed “universal” 3D analysis software by applying novel programming strategies capable of producing device-independent DA estimates that agree with conventional anthropometric measurements made at well-defined anatomic sites. Availability of this software, with future refinements, will facilitate clinical applications and creation of large pooled uniform anthropometric databases that can provide new insights into a wide range of research topics.
About Marcelline Dechenaud
Marcelline Dechenaud received an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Université Lyon I in France in 2018 and a MS in Motor Behavior from the Kinesiology department of Louisiana State University in 2020. She has co-developed a universal 3D analysis software and authored 10 peer reviewed publications on body composition and 3D body scan technology. She has co-founded a company that aims to merge and make available clinical body composition data from research groups around the globe. Her current position is manager of the R&D department of Thecla, LLC based in Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
About Professor Steven Heymsfield
Steven B. Heymsfield, M.D. is Professor and Director of the Body Composition-Metabolism Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of the Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge. Dr. Heymsfield has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers covering topics such as obesity, malnutrition, cachexia, body composition, and caloric expenditure. His contributions to the study of human nutrition led to the TOPS Award and George Bray Founders Award from The Obesity Society (TOS), the Rhoads Award from the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award, American Society of Nutrition (ASN). Professor Heymsfield is past president of ASPEN, ASN and TOS.
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Seminar - Global surveillance of young people’s physical activity
2021-06-18 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Global surveillance of young people’s physical activity

Dr Regina Guthold, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Watch a recording of this seminar and download the slides as a PDF.
About this talk
This presentation will describe the WHO Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour for children and adolescents aged 5-17 years. Health benefits that can be achieved by young people being sufficiently active will be outlined. Global data on the percentage of young people meeting these guidelines will then be presented, along with data on other specific aspects of physical activity. The presentation will conclude by describing global strategies on getting children and adolescents moving, as per the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030.
About Dr Guthold
Regina Guthold, PhD, is a Scientist working on adolescent health monitoring and evaluation in the Department for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health at the World Health Organization. She holds a PhD in Health Sciences, along with two Master’s degrees (Public Health and Sport Science).
Regina has over 10 years’ work experience in surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of population health, with a focus on physical activity. She has supported governments of over 50 countries around the world in the implementation of surveillance systems. Regina is passionate about improving the health of adolescents globally, through better understanding and using health data, and through supporting positive change of environments to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
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The Broken Plate 2021 - Food Foundation event
2021-07-07 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/Paris)
Wednesday 7 July, 2pm
Register here to be sent a Zoom link for the event.
Researchers from CEDAR at the MRC Epidemiology Unit have, for the third year in a row, contributed to the Food Foundation’s annual Broken Plate report.
Each year the report tracks progress against 10 metrics that illustrate the health of our food system. These statistics are widely quoted, and make the case for bold action.
This year’s report demonstrates that the food environment is skewed towards less healthy options, and that healthier foods are much less accessible and affordable for those on lower incomes. It powerfully shows why we must change the food environment so that it delivers healthy and sustainable diets for everyone.
Join this webinar to find out more about the findings and their implications for future policy.
The event will be chaired by Laura Sandys MBE. The speakers are:
Advertising – Barbara Crowther, Sustain
Affordability of a healthy diet – Kathleen Kerridge, Chair of The Food Foundation’s Lived Experience Panel
The cost of food – Dr Jean Adams, CEDAR, MRC Epidemiology Unit
Wages – Nye Cominetti, Resolution Foundation
Products with too much sugar – Dr Kawther Hashem and Sonia Pombo, Action on Sugar
Products with too little veg – Simon Billing, Eating Better

Seminar- Policymaking: why it matters to us, how it works, what to do
2021-07-19 12:00 - 13:15 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Policymaking: why it matters to us, how it works, what to do
Dolly Theis (MRC Epidemiology Unit), Dr Kelly Parsons (University Of Hertfordshire) & Dame Una O’Brien (Independent advisor and expert on health policy).
Watch a recording of this panel discussion online.
About this talk
Why is it so difficult for UK governments to make progress on tackling obesity and food systems? In this seminar, three experts will present their research and insights of policy and practice in England. The seminar will then provide discussion about how the current government could make change in policies and systems to be more sustainable manner.
Dolly Theis
It was in 1991 that the UK government first formally recognised its role in tackling obesity and set the first obesity reduction targets. Since then, our analysis found that the UK government has published 14 obesity strategies in England containing almost 700 policies and yet these have largely been unfit for purpose. Despite there being a wide range of policy types proposed from information campaigns and school policies to stronger levers such as the soft drinks industry levy and more recent policies on unhealthy advertising and promotions, the government policies have largely been proposed in a way that means they’re unlikely to be implemented. There has also been little to no policy learning and government has focused on getting people to change their own behaviour without making that easy by shaping the environment and other wider determinants.
Dr Kelly Parsons
Policies have been described as the ‘control knobs’ that can be adjusted to achieve system change, so understanding how policy does, or could, influence food systems is an important part of catalysing their transformation. Gaining this understanding requires breaking down sectoral and disciplinary silos to consider food-related policies as a whole, and interrogating the policymaking processes and governance structures which shape those policies.
This presentation will share insights from my research into how different policies, policy processes and governance structures enable and constrain food systems change. I will discuss how common frameworks for understanding and acting on food systems – such as mapping who makes policy, or detailing the range of possible policy levers – can support collaboration across government, between disciplines, and between research and policy. I will also propose a research agenda to address current evidence gaps around food policymaking.
Dame Una O’Brien
Dame Una O’Brien will give a response to the latest research presented by Dolly Thesis and Dr Kelly Parsons, and share insights from her own experience of policy and practice in England. The aim will be to contribute to the debate about practical steps the current government could take to put change on a more sustainable basis.
About the speakers
Dolly Theis
Dolly Theis is completing her PhD at the MRC Epidemiology Unit in the University of Cambridge supervised by Professor Martin White and Dr Dennis Grube. Her research examines what influences government policymaking, how governments use and understand scientific research, and understanding the particular role of policy entrepreneurs.
Dr Kelly Parsons
Dr Kelly Parsons is a food policy and governance research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire. Her research focus is food systems policies, policymaking processes and governance structures, at global, EU, national and local levels. Kelly has a particular interest in exploring connections in the food system, and efforts to create more integrated and coherent food policy. She produced the first mapping of government food policy, and is author of a series of accessible briefs on food systems, integrated food policy, policy coherence, and food governance, and ‘Connecting Food Systems for Co-Benefits’. She is a European Commission-appointed expert, and has acted as advisor on several food systems research projects. She has a PhD in food policy and a Masters in food and nutrition policy, from the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London. Before becoming a researcher Kelly worked in food civil society delivering ground-level urban food systems change, and as a journalist.
Dame Una O’Brien
Dame Una O’Brien is a former public servant in the UK Department of Health and NHS. From 2010-2016 she was the department’s Permanent Secretary and previously held a wide variety of senior strategy, policy and delivery roles in health and healthcare. Currently she is on the Council of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and she serves on an advisory board for the Obesity Health Alliance’s forthcoming Healthy Weight Strategy.

Open Cambridge - What does the UK eat? The national diet down through the decades.
2021-09-15 18:00 - 19:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
Spoonful by spoonful: measuring what we eat through the decades.
All are invited to join our dietary assessment experts Angela Mulligan and Dr Toni Steer for an interactive online Open Cambridge event that goes behind the scenes of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
Free registration: https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMofumorzwsHNGgpa6Fn1RNvzg-sh_FhajB
Learn about how the Survey has played its part in dietary guidelines and our health, muse on the trends in foods and fads that have come and gone, raise your eyebrows at the level of detail we work at, and chuckle at the funny bits: even dietary assessment has its light-hearted moments!
Enjoy some do-it-yourself dietary assessment in your own home, be prepared to dig out plates, bowls and weighing scales, if you have them, and you can experience the challenges we face. You will also have a chance to complete your own online diet recall with instant dietary feedback.

Workshop for Accelerometry Measurement Africa (WAMAA)
2021-10-05 - 2021-10-07 | Online, United Kingdom
Registration is now open for the online Workshop for Accelerometry Measurement in Africa (WAMAA), which will take place over three days from Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 October 2021.
Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for mortality and one of the four main risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs); with 80% of deaths from NCDs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Evidence to design better physical activity interventions in LMICs across the life course is urgently needed, and this requires accurate ways of measuring free-living physical activity levels including light unstructured activities.
The Unit is partnering with the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa to deliver the Workshop, which is funded by Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund and supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Measurement Platform. WAMAA aims to support African researchers conducting physical activity research with varying study objectives. The course is primarily aimed at researchers and students interested or involved in the objective monitoring of free-living physical activity. It is important that those attending the workshop implement their learning and disseminate the knowledge acquired in their own research institutions.
There is no charge for this workshop, however it is expected to attract delegates from all over Africa and spaces are limited.
Applications are now open and the closing date is Friday 27th August 2021.

More information and application details

Seminar - Using administrative data linkage to create electronic birth cohorts: opportunities and challenges
2021-12-07 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Using administrative data linkage to create electronic birth cohorts: opportunities and challenges
Dr Katie Harron, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Watch a recording of this talk online.
About this talk
Linkage of administrative data from different sources can help us better understand the distribution of health and disease in populations. Linking data for mothers and babies allows us to create electronic cohort studies that cover a high proportion of the population, and to generate highly generalisable evidence to inform public policy. However, linkage is not always straightforward, particularly when we would like to link cross-sectoral data in order to understand social determinants of health. In this talk, I will discuss some of the opportunities for research using electronic birth cohorts, and some of the challenges that we should try to address when using these data for research.
About Dr Harron
Katie is an Associate Professor in quantitative methods at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. Her methodological research aims to develop methods to exploit the rich data that are collected about populations as we interact with services throughout our lives. Katie’s applied research focuses on maximising the use of existing data sources to improve services for vulnerable mothers and families. Her current research links data from health, education and social care at a national level, in order to improve our understanding of the health of individuals from birth to young adulthood.
Twitter: @klharron
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Anthropometry Webinar 2022: Obesity Phenotypes from BMI to MRI throughout the life course
2022-02-08 08:00 - 2022-03-16 17:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
MRC Epidemiology Unit is excited to announce that the event “Anthropometry Webinar: Obesity Phenotypes from BMI to MRI throughout the life course” will be running again from 8 February 2022.
In addition to the content from the last Anthropometry Webinar, we have new talks on wearable technologies and smartphone cameras to assess body geometry, and how to assess sarcopenia in the presence of obesity and ageing.
Find out more about course content, who the webinar is for, and who attendees will learn with on the Anthropometry Webinar webpage, which also has information about course deadlines and fees.
Register here to attend the Anthropometry Webinar.
Registration deadline: 11 February 2022

Seminar - Is ‘place’ the key to better and more equal population health?
2022-03-15 13:00 - 14:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Is ‘place’ the key to better and more equal population health?
Professor Rich Mitchell, University of Glasgow
Watch a recording of this seminar.
About this talk
The MRC funds a programme of research on places and health at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (SPHSU) in Glasgow. Why the heck would they do that? Why is an understanding of place at the heart of national and local efforts to improve and equalise health? In this talk Rich Mitchell will describe a fusion of old ideas (why do we have healthier and sicker places and do these make healthier and sicker people) with new technologies (GPS, GIS, ABM and other acronyms) that might just enable ‘place’ to sit at the heart of better and more equal population health.
About Professor Mitchell
Rich Mitchell is Professor of Health and Environment and leads the Places and Health Programme at the SPHSU at the University of Glasgow. He is also co-director of the Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health, an interdisciplinary centre focused on how physical and social environments can influence population health, for better and for worse. Rich is an epidemiologist and geographer. Earlier in his career he focused on monitoring and measuring inequalities in health. Today, his focus is on the potential for our environment to positively influence population health and health inequalities. He is particularly interested in understanding how places are part of the complex social and environmental systems which affect health and behaviour.
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Seminar - Using time use and trajectory data to unpack the interrelated geographies of food, care, and household labor
2022-06-28 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Using time use and trajectory data to unpack the interrelated geographies of food, care, and household labor
Dr Michael Widener, University of Toronto
This will be a hybrid seminar.
The in-person event will be held in MRC Epidemiology Unit Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 3 Institute of Metabolic Science, CB2 0SL. To attend this please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mrc-epidemiology-unit-seminar-michael-widener-tickets-348092723707.
To join this seminar online please register at https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUodeqoqTMsGtYiTljGY6poVlb1eslem7ZM#/registration. After registration you will receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event.
About this talk
In quantitative health geography, researchers often struggle to incorporate contextual factors that influence health behaviours. This is especially true in studies using GPS data, where human trajectories are described, analyzed, and related to relevant outcomes, but which commonly fail to address the social and environmental mechanisms that impact movements. While it is impossible to fully understand the motivations of individuals, theories exist to support geographers in their use of trajectory data to conduct analyses that better get at relevant underlying mechanisms.
In this talk, Dr Widener will introduce the Food Activities, Socioeconomics, Time-use, and Transportation (FASTT) Study, a project that integrates concepts of time geography with theories from food and health geographies. In March 2019, FASTT collected time-use diaries, GPS trajectory data, and dietary/health questionnaires from partnered-parents in households from two Toronto neighbourhoods – one urban and one suburban. These data are used to explore questions about time pressure and dietary behaviour, the division of food and household labour, and the role of the built environment in food shopping. He will present findings from initial analyses and discuss implications for future work.
About Dr Widener
Michael J. Widener is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Transportation and Health at the University of Toronto – St. George. He also serves as the Director of Health Studies at University College, and as an Associate Professor in Geography and Planning, with a cross-appointment in Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Outside of UofT, Dr. Widener serves on various journals’ editorial boards, is a member of CIHR’s College of Reviewers, co-leads the Social and Health Factors Cluster of the Network of European Communication & Transportation Activity Researchers, and co-chairs the Prioritizing Populations theme of the Mobilizing Justice Partnership.
Dr. Widener is a health geographer whose research focuses on how public health affects, and is affected by, movement and transportation systems. His primary project at the moment is an exploration of how time pressure, transportation options, and divisions of household labour impact access to food and dietary behaviours. Additional studies are focused on the links between mobility, mental health, and isolation for older adult populations, and on how advanced geospatial technologies (like GPS) can be used to provide useful insights for public health policy. In the classroom, Dr. Widener teaches courses on geographic information science, mapping health data, and spatial statistics at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
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This seminar will be recorded and may subsequently be shared on our YouTube channel and at www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/past-seminars/. Your name may appear on the recording, and if your camera or microphone is on your image or voice may also be recorded. Please note that we will not share a recording of the Q&A/discussion part of the seminar.
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Seminar - Historical and contemporary perspectives of the nutrition transition
2022-07-05 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Historical and contemporary perspectives of the nutrition transition
Dr Cornelia Guell, University of Exeter
This seminar was originally scheduled for Thursday 16 June, but has been rescheduled to Tuesday 5 July.
To join this online seminar please register at https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYtc-yrrzkuGtfDuR5wpvvrSPT-S6yVWG20.
After registration you will receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event.
About this talk
Global shifts in dietary patterns away from fresh produce towards highly processed foods are also experienced in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Many SIDS lead global rates in obesity and noncommunicable chronic diseases, and drivers for their ‘nutrition transition’ are complex and include an increasing reliance on cheap nutrient-poor food imports. This talk will share perspectives from Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Fiji and make a case for the need to understand the temporal complexities and lived histories of food practices to inform contemporary public health strategies for healthier local diets.
About Dr Guell
Dr Cornelia (Conny) Guell is the interim co-director of the European Centre for Environment and Human Health with Dr Ben Wheeler.
Conny is a medical anthropologist with an interest in a) socio-cultural environments of health and social theoretical approaches to health behaviour and behaviour change with a focus on food systems and mobility practices. b) methods development of participatory, citizen-science approaches and knowledge exchange; and c) policy and historical analysis of structural approaches to noncommunicable chronic diseases.
Explore past seminars
All MRC Epidemiology Unit seminars and events where slides, audio or video are available can be found at www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/past-seminars/
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Beyond our use of Zoom and eventbrite for registration purposes, we do not share your personal information with any other services or departments outside of the MRC Epidemiology Unit.
This seminar will be recorded and may subsequently be shared on our YouTube channel and at www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/past-seminars/. Your name may appear on the recording, and if your camera or microphone is on your image or voice may also be recorded. Please note that we will not share a recording of the Q&A/discussion part of the seminar.
For more information about how we handle your personal information, and your rights under data protection legislation, please visit: www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection/general-data. If you have any questions about how we use your information please do get in touch: comms@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk

Physical Activity Measurement Seminar 2022
2022-09-05 09:00 - 2022-09-09 17:00 UTC | Moller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, CB3 0DE, United Kingdom
From 5–9 September 2022, the MRC Epidemiology Unit will be holding its 10th Physical Activity Measurement Seminar at The Møller Institute in Cambridge, UK.
The course is primarily aimed at Research Assistants and PhD students interested or involved in the objective monitoring of free-living physical activity. However, anyone interested in this area of research is more than welcome to apply.
The seminar takes the format of a 5 day intensive residential course at the Møller Institute in Cambridge, is expected to attract delegates from all over the world.
Register to attend the Physical Activity Measurement Seminar 2022
A maximum of 26 places are available, and that the closing date for applications is Friday 6 May 2022.
Details of how to apply, as well as more information about the programme, venue, and cost of attendance, are available on the Physical Activity Measurement Seminar 2022 webpages.
About the Physical Activity Measurement Seminar
The course is a mixture of lectures, practical workshops and tutorials in the measurement of physical activity in the epidemiological setting, and aims to promote high quality data collection through understanding of the underlying principles of measurement and data analysis. The programme is designed to cover the whole process of methodological considerations, data collection (in the field and lab settings), operational issues and analysis and interpretation of data.
The course has a primary focus on the objective measurement of physical activity and key themes include the following:

Accelerometry
Heart rate monitoring
Combined sensing (heart rate & movement)
Individual calibration / fitness assessment
Self-report measures

In addition, there will be a number of introductory lectures on other methods & concepts relating to the measurement of physical activity in the epidemiological setting.
Delegates will be encouraged to be interactive in demonstrations and workshops. There will be hands-on experience working with monitors, wearing monitors throughout the week, and opportunities for exploring, processing and analysing this data.

Wolfson College Seminar - The Continuing Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases as a Major Challenge to Global Health and Development
2022-10-07 17:45 - 19:15 UTC | Lee Hall, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Barton Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BB, Wolfson College, Cambridge, CB3 9BB
In this seminar, Professor Ala Alwan will describe how the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) impacts on global health and development. Based on his extensive experience as an international public health leader at WHO, he will discuss the global journey to addressing NCDs and the lessons learned. He will discuss barriers to progress and potential ways forward. He will engage in a facilitated discussion with a panel of students and fellows from the College and with the audience to discuss issues raised by his talk and his experiences as a global and country-level leader.
Attendance is free, but please register in advance. Full details and registration at https://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/about/events/continuing-rise-non-communicable-diseases
About Professor Ala Alwan
Professor Ala Alwan is an international public health leader who has held senior roles in the World Health Organization (WHO) including being Head of WHO Country Offices, Director of key public health programs, Assistant Director-General at WHO headquarters, and Regional Director for the Middle East (EMRO). He has a distinguished track record in improving prevention and response to non-communicable diseases, mental health disorders, health security threats, health emergencies and crises management, environmental health threats, violence, road safety, and nutritional challenges. He has also held key country-level roles, including being Minister of Health and Minister of Education in Iraq.

Food for Thought Panel Talk - The Government’s Healthy Eating Strategy: Can we afford to scrap it?
2022-10-11 17:00 - 18:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
What harm does junk food really do us? Do we need legislation to control its consumption?
All are invited to join a panel discussion organised by Cambridge Global Food Security and Cambridge Public Health, Interdisciplinary Research Centres at the University of Cambridge.
A distinguished panel of experts on public health and government policy, behaviour change and the genetics of obesity will unpack the issues, discuss possible solutions and answer your questions.
More information and free registration (required): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-governments-healthy-eating-strategy-can-we-afford-to-scrap-it-tickets-425663269297
Chair
Professor Carol Brayne, Director of Cambridge Public Health, University of Cambridge and Professor of Public Health Medicine.
Panel members

Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge.
Professor Giles Yeo MBE, Professor of Molecular Neuroendocrinology at the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of Cambridge.
Dr Dolly Theis, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge.

Population Health, Urbanisation and Climate Change Roundtable
2022-10-19 17:30 - 21:00 UTC | Lee Hall, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Barton Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BB, Wolfson College, Cambridge, CB3 9BB
Over 30 PIs and ECRs from South Africa, Jamaica, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria and Brazil will be in Cambridge attending the Global Diet and Activity Research network annual meeting. This evening round table event at Wolfson College will comprise panel discussions with two of the Principal Investigators from Nigeria and Cameroon, Taibat Lawanson & Felix K. Assah, to take advantage of having such a global group of researchers together under one roof, and to expose and connect them and their work to a wider Cambridge audience.
This will be followed by an interactive discussion on multisectoral approaches to increasing access to health-enabling urban environments. Following the structured discussions, Wolfson will host a networking dinner, to stimulate interactions between visiting ECRs and a broader group of Cambridge ECRs, postgraduate students and the wider community.
Register for free to attend this event.
Speakers
Taibat Lawanson is Professor of Urban Management and Governance at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Her research focuses on the interface of social complexities, urban realities and the pursuit of spatial justice in Africa. She is well known for her inter-sectoral work which engages students, policy makers, local communities and civil society actors.
Speaking from an urban justice context, she will share her research on inclusive public space and physical activity, and participatory approaches to developing community resilience action plans in Lagos
Felix K. Assah is a Physician and Senior Lecturer of Epidemiology and Public Health at The University of Yaoundé I, and Deputy Director of the Health of Population in Transition Research Group, Yaoundé, Cameroon. His research interests are in the epidemiology of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors, focussing on understanding the upstream determinants and changing patterns of lifestyle risk factors (diet and physical activity) in populations undergoing transition (urbanisation and westernisation).
He will share his experience working with adolescents in schools on their food and physical activity environments and exposures with a view of co-creating and promoting healthy behaviours in this vulnerable group
Details
Event programme:
17.30 – Networking drinks
18.00 – Talks and Q&A
19.30 – Networking Buffet with researchers from the Global Diet and Activity Research Network
Please note that reservations for the Networking Buffet close at 12.00 on Monday 17 October. Reservations are available on a first-come first-served basis.

Seminar - Moving beyond one-size-fits-all: Exploring patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour across the lifespan
2022-11-01 14:00 - 15:00 UTC | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Moving beyond one-size-fits-all: Exploring patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour across the lifespan
Dr Gregore Mielke, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland
This hybrid seminar will be held in MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and online.
Free registration to join this seminar online at:
https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvdeCqrzwoH92KbfSBIeRZrydGwWEtAcNS
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
About this talk
Although the importance of physical activity for health is well established, much assumed knowledge in this field is based on methods that classify people as ‘active’ or ‘inactive’ at one time point and do not account for changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour across the lifespan. The wide variation in patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in everyday life raises questions about the weakness of the traditional ‘one-size fits all’ approach used to explore relationships between physical activity and health.
About Dr Mielke
Dr Gregore Mielke is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Australia. His research focuses on measuring and understanding 1) patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour across the lifespan; and 2) inequalities in population health. During his short career (PhD awarded in 2017), most of his work has involved multidisciplinary research, transitioning from an early focus on physical education to the behavioural epidemiology of physical activity.
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Seminar - Realising the health potential through sustainable built environment designs
2022-11-24 15:00 - 16:00 UTC | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Realising the health potential through sustainable built environment designs
Dr Ronita Bardhan, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge
This hybrid seminar was held in MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and online.
Watch a recording.
About Dr Bardhan
Dr Ronita Bardhan is an architectural engineer and urban studies educator, with a PhD in urban engineering. She believes that data-driven intelligence of built environments can effectively address sustainability goals and policies. Her research is in the niche sector of the sustainable built environment to inform health and energy decisions in the changing climate and low-income communities. Bardhan uses data-driven methods that couples architectural engineering, AI and machine learning with social sciences to provided built environment solutions for health in resources constraint societies. Her tractable research informs demand-side design solutions using digital tools which positively affects well-being, energy security, and gender equality while entailing fewer environmental risks. Bardhan works in Slum Rehabilitation (social) housing (in India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, South Africa and Brazil).
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Seminar - Diabetes No More: lessons from the DiRECT trial and beyond
2023-02-20 13:00 - 14:00 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 MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Diabetes No More: lessons from the DiRECT trial and beyond
Professor Mike Lean, University of Glasgow
This hybrid seminar was held in the meeting rooms, Level 4, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, and online.
Watch a recording of this seminar on YouTube.
About this talk
Three RCT trials, conducted entirely in primary care using low-calorie formula diets for 8-12 weeks, have reported remissions for 40-60% of participants including South Asians, and 70-80% with weight loss >10kg, well maintained at 2 years. Hypertension and NAFLD, commonly accompanying T2D, normalized for ~30%. Remission was accompanied by normalization of ectopic fat in liver and pancreas, and insulin production capacity. With fewer serious adverse events, total medical care costs fell and cost-effectiveness analysis projected people to live longer, feel better and cost less. Remissions are strongly driven by weight loss, but new methods are needed to support longer maintenance.
About Professor Lean

Visiting professor at University of Otago, and University of Sydney.
Established the first Department of Human Nutrition in a Scottish Medical School, 1990- initially funded 10 years by Rank Prize Funds.
‘Broad-focus’ strategy: translational, integrative, research and teaching, across all scientific disciplines within Human Nutrition.
Main focusses are on obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and health promotion.
Awards include Diabetes UK-Rank Prize Lecture (2014), Banting Memorial Lecture (2020-21), Tenovus Medal for Research (2017)
Elected FRSE (National Academy of Scotland) (2018).

Explore past seminars
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Seminar - Obesity Prevention: The role of evidence in the policy cycle
2023-03-13 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | MRC Epidemiology meeting rooms 1&2, Level 3 IMS, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, United Kingdom
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Obesity Prevention: The role of evidence in the policy cycle
Dr Tazeem Bhatia, Office of Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care
This hybrid seminar was held in the MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Level 3, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, and online.
Watch a recording of this seminar on YouTube.
About this talk
Obesity, metabolic disorders and the resulting non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, are a huge, global public health challenge. In the UK, the estimated annual cost of obesity to the NHS is £6.5 billion and wider society £58 billion. How do we use evidence in primary prevention policy? What are the opportunities for enhancing the relationship between evidence and policy?
About Dr Bhatia
Tazeem Bhatia is a Public Health Consultant and Primary Care physician with 20 years’ experience of medical and public health practice in England and other health systems across the world. Currently, she is responsible for the Nutrition Science and Evidence Function in the Diet, Obesity and Healthy Behaviours Directorate, in the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities, part of the Department of Health and Social Care. Previously, she has represented the UK/England dietary landscape, obesity policies and programmes internationally for Public Health England.
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