MRC Epidemiology Unit

Seminar - Food marketing regulation and childhood obesity prevention - Professor Amandine Garde
2017-03-22 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | 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:
Food marketing regulation and childhood obesity prevention

Professor Amandine Garde, Law & Non-Communicable Diseases, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool.

MRC Epidemiology Unit Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 3, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Over the last twenty years, a range of studies have established that food marketing affects children’s consumption preferences and purchase requests. However, in stark contrast with what has happened for tobacco products, public authorities in the UK, in Europe and beyond have been extremely reluctant to restrict the marketing of food high in fat, sugar and salt, preferring to rely instead on the self-regulatory commitments or ‘pledges’ of food industry operators. This reluctance to impose legally binding restrictions on food marketing, particularly to children, raises a range of questions which this talk proposes to focus on.
About Professor Amandine Garde
Amandine Garde is Professor of Law and founding director of the new Law & NCD Research Unit at the University of Liverpool. Her expertise lies in the role that legal instruments can play in preventing obesity and other non-communicable diseases. She regularly advises international organisations, NGOs and governments worldwide, and was a member of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Science and Evidence to the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity.
Before moving to Liverpool in 2013, she lectured at King’s College London (where she obtained her PhD), at the Faculty of Law in Cambridge (where she was also a Fellow of Selwyn College), at the University of Exeter and at Durham University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute in Florence in 2005-2006 and is also a qualified solicitor.
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Seminar - Effects of Macronutrient Distribution on Weight Change and Related Cardiometabolic Profiles in Healthy Non-Obese Chinese: A Randomized, Clinical Trial
2017-03-31 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:
Effects of Macronutrient Distribution on Weight Change and Related Cardiometabolic Profiles in Healthy Non-Obese Chinese: A Randomized, Clinical Trial
Professor Duo Li, Professor of Nutrition, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, Zhejiang University, China

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
This 6 month randomized controlled-feeding trial was conducted to determine whether the traditional low fat, high carbohydrate diet is more effective than the higher fat, lower carbohydrate diet at preventing obesity among a non-obese healthy population in China. The trial included 307 young adults aged 18-35 years with a body mass index of less than 28. It showed that the low fat, high carbohydrate diet reduced body weight to a greater extent than a higher fat, lower carbohydrate intake.
About Professor Duo Li
Dr Duo Li is a Professor of nutrition in the Department of Food Science & Nutrition, Zhejiang University, China. He was a research fellow at Deakin University, and a senior research fellow at RMIT University, Melbourne. He is an Editor-in-Chief of the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, associate editor of the Journal of Nutrigenetics & Nutrigenomics, associate editor of the Food & Function, and has also served on numerous editorial boards. He is an expert consultant of FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Human Nutrition, and WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Nutrition. He is a president of Asia Pacific Clinical Nutrition Society. One of his main research interests is to explore the role of dietary fat/fatty acids on human health.
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Seminar - Risk scores, risk communication and public health
2017-05-25 17:30 - 19:00 | Harrods Room, Eammanuel College, Cambridge, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3AP, United Kingdom
All are invited to the Statistics Meets Public Health Seminar:
Risk scores, risk communication and public health
Professor Simon Griffin, MRC Epidemiology Unit.
Harrods Room, Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

This talk by Professor Simon Griffin will continue the new and unique seminar series on statistics and public health aimed for all audiences. Drinks, nibbles and networking will follow the seminar.
Free registration at: https://prof-simon-griffin.eventbrite.co.uk
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Seminar - Evidence and policy in public health: reflections from Public Health England
2017-06-21 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 Felix Greaves, Deputy Director, Science and Strategic Information, Public Health England.
Evidence and policy in public health: reflections from Public Health England
Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
About Dr Felix Greaves

Felix is Deputy Director, Science and Strategic Information at Public Health England and an honorary clinical senior lecturer in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College.
He was previously clinical adviser to the Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, where he worked on developing national quality and safety policy. He also worked for the World Health Organization’s Patient Safety Programme, where he managed their project on improving patient safety education in medical schools and technology for patient safety.
Felix trained at Oxford University (BA, BM BCh), Harvard University (MPH) and Imperial College (MBA, PhD). He was awarded a Knox Fellowship by Harvard University, the Sir John Brotherston Prize by the Faculty of Public Health in the UK, an Academic Clinical Fellowship by the NIHR, and a Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy and Practice by the Commonwealth Fund.
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Seminar - Early Life Undernutrition Alters Cardiac Muscle Development Resulting in Reduced Physical Activity Engagement and Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease.
2017-08-02 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:
David P. Ferguson PhD, RCEP, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Michigan State University.
Early Life Undernutrition Alters Cardiac Muscle Development Resulting in Reduced Physical Activity Engagement and Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease.
Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abtract
Adults who were born with low birth weight are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in adulthood. However, little is known about the contribution of cardiac mechanisms to this increased disease risk. Using a mouse model we evaluated cardiovascular function at the whole animal, organ, and cell level to determine the effect of a short episode of nutritionally-induced growth retardation on adult functional capacity following nutritional rehabilitation. Interestingly, mice that were undernourished development presented with reduced physical activity level engagement, impaired exercise capacity, and impairment in contraction mechanics of the heart. This phenotype is hypothesized to be due to alterations in the calcium kinetics of the contracting cardiomyocytes.
About Dr David P. Ferguson

David P. Ferguson has two distinct research interests. The first is how early life nutrition influences cardiovascular development as it relates to functional capacity in adulthood. It has been shown that children who are malnourished at birth have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. The goal of his laboratory is to investigate the mechanistic changes that occur due to poor diet and propose therapeutic countermeasures to increase cardiovascular function and decrease mortality rates. The second area of research focuses on the physiological stress placed on automotive race car drivers and pit crews. He is working with NASCAR, Indycar, and Formula 1 teams to increase performance and safety of drivers and crew members.
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Seminar - Global trade in food and agriculture and the risk of non-communicable diseases in low and middle income countries
2017-10-18 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:

Dr Anne Marie Thow, Senior Lecturer in Health Policy, University of Sydney.

Global trade in food and agriculture and the risk of non-communicable diseases in low and middle income countries

Meeting Rooms 1&2, Level 4, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Trade and investment liberalization has had far-reaching implications for food systems and nutrition. This seminar will examine the pathways through which trade impacts on nutrition, with a particular focus on low and middle income countries, and explore opportunities to improve policy coherence in an era in which public health policy space is increasingly constrained by international trade and investment agreements.
About Dr Thow

Dr Anne Marie Thow is Senior Lecturer in Health Policy at the University of Sydney. Her research uses theories of public policy making to explore facilitators and barriers to best practice public health nutrition policy globally, with a particular focus on the interface between economic policy and nutrition. Anne Marie currently collaborates on research in Asia, Africa and the Pacific, and regularly consults with international agencies regarding nutrition policy. Prior to her PhD, Anne Marie worked for the Governments of Australia and Fiji on nutrition policy issues. She trained in nutrition and has a Masters in Public Policy.
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Building your best day: combining compositional analysis and optimisation theory
2017-11-08 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:
Professor Tim Olds, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia
Building your best day: combining compositional analysis and optimisation theory
MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
The foundational principle of behavioural epidemiology is that the way we use our time— physical activity, sleep, sitting, social interactions — affects our health, everything from asthma to eczema. Typically these studies have been done by regressing a health outcome (say depression) against a behavioural domain, such as physical activity. However, because time use data are co-dependent, any change in time allocated to one domain must be matched by an equal and opposite allocation to the other domains collectively. This presentation will show some examples of the application of compositional data analysis (CoDA) as a new approach to time-use data. By combining CoDA with optimisation theory, we can move towards specifying the best possible 24-hour day for any given health outcome or set of outcomes.
About Prof Olds
Tim Olds is a professor of behavioural epidemiology at the University of South Australia. After completing a PhD in French Studies at the University of Sydney, Tim went on to study exercise science, receiving a second PhD in 1997. His research interests have been in mathematical modelling of cycling performance; population and sports anthropometry; secular trends in the sleep, fitness, fatness, physical activity and food intake of children and adolescents; and the relationship between how people use their time and health. Tim has $27m in grants and 292 publications. http://people.unisa.edu.au/timothy.olds

Seminar - The supermarket food environment and the promotion of healthier purchasing behaviour
2018-01-04 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 by:

Dr Adrian Cameron, Senior Research Fellow at the Deakin University Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE).

The supermarket food environment and the promotion of healthier purchasing behaviour

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
The retail food environment is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of purchasing and eating behaviours. Large supermarkets are the major source of food for the majority of households and enjoy market domination in food/grocery retail expenditure in most high income countries. Here, I will discuss several international audit studies of the supermarket food environment we have undertaken over the past five years as well as a number of controlled trials that we have conducted in Australia to use marketing techniques (involving product, placement and promotion) to promote healthier purchasing behaviour in the supermarket setting.
About Dr Cameron

Dr Adrian Cameron’s research is focused on improving the food environment to encourage healthy eating and obesity prevention. Together with colleagues at Deakin University’s Global Obesity Centre, he is conducting supermarket-based trials to generate the evidence required to influence retailers, advocates and policy makers. He has received several research awards for his work including the 2016 VicHealth Award for Healthy Eating and is a section editor for BMC Obesity. He is currently supported by grants and fellowships from VicHealth, NHMRC and ARC.
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Seminar - Implications of Brexit on the effectiveness of the UK soft drinks industry levy upon coronary heart disease in England: a modelling study
2018-01-18 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:

Evi Seferidi, Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London.

Implications of Brexit on the effectiveness of the UK soft drinks industry levy upon coronary heart disease in England: a modelling study

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Approximately a year after the implementation of the soft drinks industry levy, the UK plans to leave the European Union. The trade arrangements that the UK will adopt after Brexit are likely to influence the price of food and food ingredients including sugar, which currently follows European regulations under the Common Agricultural Policy. This could potentially interfere with the effectiveness of the planned soft drinks industry levy. We used the IMPACT Food Policy model to estimate the implications of Brexit on the price of sugar and the impact of the proposed soft drinks industry levy on cardiovascular mortality and inequalities in England.
About Evi Seferidi

Evi is a PhD student in the Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London. She has a background in nutrition with a particular focus on epidemiology and public health. Currently, her research involves the evaluation of fiscal and trade policies to assess their impacts on diet and health outcomes using modelling techniques.
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Seminar - Pathways to healthy urban living
2018-01-23 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:

Professor Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, ISGlobal, The Barcelona Institute for Global Health.
Pathways to healthy urban living

MRC Epidemiology Unit meeting rooms 1 and 2, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Over 50% of the world´s population is living in cities and this is expected to rise to 70% over the next few decades. Cities are society’s predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, but also main sources of crime, pollution, and disease. Partly due to poor urban and transport planning, or the lack thereof, we have cities that are too car dominated. All the urban planning in the world seems for cars; People do not matter. This has led to high air pollution and noise levels, heat island effects and lack of green space and physical activity that are all detrimental to health. For example, a recent health impact assessment in Barcelona estimated that 20% of premature mortality was due to urban and transport related exposures. Electric cars and/or autonomous vehicles have been mentioned as possible solutions, but they are unlikely to be, and solutions need to be sought elsewhere.
A new long term visioning of healthy urban future is needed that bring health, sustainability and livable at the forefront of urban and transport planning. Systemic approaches to the current problems and e.g. a shift away from our grey car centric cities towards cities with more public and active transportation and green space are urgently needed. Collaboration between e.g. urban and transport planners, environmentalists and public health professionals is essential to create healthy sustainable and livable cities.
About Professor Nieuwenhuijsen

Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen PhD is a world leading expert in environmental exposure assessment, epidemiology, and health risk/impact assessment with a strong focus and interest on healthy urban living. He has experience and expertise in areas of all cause mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, mental health and cognitive function, cancer and reproductive health, and exposure measurement and modelling of indoor and outdoor air pollution, green space, UV exposure, noise, temperature and physical activity, using new technology such as GIS, smartphones, personal sensors and remote sensing. He is currently PI on the EC funded HELIX, that examines the early life exposome and childhood diseases, EC funded EXPOsOMICs that examines the air pollution and water exposome and health, the EC funded PASTA study, which promotes active transportation through sustainable transport, and the EC funded BlueHealth project evaluating the relationship between blue space and Health. He worked at the University of California, Davis, USA and Imperial College London, UK, and is now professor at ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain. He edited 3 textbooks on exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology and has coauthored more than 350 peer reviewed papers.
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Seminar - Dr Alison Tedstone
2018-01-31 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 Alison Tedstone, Chief Nutritionist Public Health England (PHE).

Tackling obesity in England: a policy journey

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

Abstract
In the seminar I will reflect on the key steps in developing current policy on obesity, with a focus on evidence to action including how evidence from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and Public Health England (PHE) was used. The importance of NGO’s, academics, media and other stakeholders as well as public opinion will be considered. The implementation policies that PHE is responsible for will be reviewed and what might be impactful in the future.
About Dr Tedstone

Dr Alison Tedstone is Deputy Director with responsibility for diet, nutrition and obesity in the Health Improvement Directorate of Public Health England (PHE). Her teams work areas include the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, nutrient composition of foods, scientific advice on nutrition (including the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition), and advice on nutrition and actions to improve diet, including work underpinning the government’s Childhood Obesity Plan with the food industry to reduce the sugar, salt and calorie content of everyday foods. The division also coordinates, across PHE, a programme of work aimed at tackling the nation’s obesity problem which supports national and local level delivery, including actions aimed at improving systems leadership and addressing the environmental causes of obesity.
Alison transferred with other nutrition colleagues from the Department of Health in 2013 and before that from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2010. Before joining the FSA, in 2001, Alison was an academic at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Alison completed post doctorate research in Oxford and is a registered public health nutritionist.

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Seminar - The Cambridge Sustainable Food Hub
2018-02-07 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:

Duncan Catchpole, founding committee member of Cambridge Sustainable Food.

The Cambridge Sustainable Food Hub

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

Abstract
This talk will be an overview of the project to create a sustainable food hub for the Cambridge area and the impacts it will bring about. As well as being a food distribution centre, the Food Hub is being created with the intention of being a ‘working laboratory’ for testing new innovations and for studying the impacts of a Food Hub on the health of the local populace. The talk will include a report on the outcomes of the ‘Good Food for All’ workshop; a scheme designed to address food poverty and health inequality locally. The talk may help identify opportunities for research collaborations.

About Duncan Catchpole

Duncan Catchpole is the founder and owner of the Cambridge Organic Food Co., and a founding committee member of Cambridge Sustainable Food; the organisation responsible for Cambridge’s inclusion in the Sustainable Food Cities network.
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Seminar - Why do policymakers seem to ignore your evidence?
2018-02-21 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 Paul Cairney, Department of History and Politics, University of Stirling.

Why do policymakers seem to ignore your evidence?

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

Watch Professor Cairney’s presentation on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making challenges scientists to understand the policy process before they describe it as pathological and politicians as biased or ineffective. Policy studies are at the heart of such endeavours, identifying the mechanisms of individual choice in a complex policymaking environment, to explain the ‘evidence-policy gap’. Yet, we cannot expect scientists trained in one discipline to retrain in policy studies. Instead, we need to find a way to explain key insights in a way that captures their imagination, identifies the payoffs to studying policymaking from a political science perspective, and encourages them to learn more. I identify a three step plan. First, show how policy theories explain the policy process and the role of evidence in it. Second, identify the conditions under which evidence ‘wins the day’ in policymaking, Third, identify the profound dilemmas that arise when we seek to maximise the use of scientific evidence in policy.
About Professor Cairney

Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling. His research interests are in comparative public policy, including: policy theories (Understanding Public Policy, 2012), methods to study complexity (Handbook of Complexity and Public Policy, 2015, co-edited with Robert Geyer); the use of evidence (The Politics of Evidence Based Policymaking, 2016); and public health policy outcomes in different countries (Global Tobacco Control, 2012, with Donley Studlar and Hadii Mamudu). He has been funded by the ESRC and Horizon2020 to research devolved policymaking processes, focusing on areas such as preventive spending.
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Seminar – Gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, mothers, and fathers
2018-03-14 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:

Associate Professor Kaberi Dasgupta, McGill University and Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
Gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, mothers, and fathers

IMS level 4 meeting room 1 and 2
Abstract
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is an established risk indicator for type 2 diabetes in mothers that provides a window of opportunity for diabetes prevention. We will discuss its associations with diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, both alone and in combination with gestational hypertension. We will review recent studies demonstrating its association with diabetes in fathers and diabetes in offspring. We will examine recent intervention studies in family-based diabetes prevention in the context of a maternal GDM history
About Dr Dasgupta

Dr Kaberi Dasgupta is a physician scientist based in Montreal, Canada. She holds operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Diabetes Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Lawson and Medavie Foundations. She and her team focus on self-management support in type 2 diabetes, GDM, and type 1 diabetes, with an emphasis on health behaviour change and patient engagement. Her epidemiological studies in diabetes have informed the interventions that she has developed.
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Seminar - Using fiscal policies to improve the food supply and demand
2018-04-12 12:30 - 13:30 | Lecture Theater 2 clinical school, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road,, Cambridge, CB2 0SP
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar by:

Associate Professor Shu Wen Ng, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Using fiscal policies to improve the food supply and demand

Lecture Theatre 2, School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Abstract
Efforts to improve overall nutrition and health outcomes as well as narrow the gap across subpopulations will require a spectrum of micro- and macro-level approaches. These range from regulatory policies to more “nudge-like” designs that changes incentives to encourage consumers to make healthier choices, and the food/beverage industry to offer and promote healthier options. This talk will focus on fiscal policies as examples of how monitoring efforts, model-based approaches and evaluation studies help us understand mechanisms to inform on public health nutrition policymaking and help set improvements on nutrition and health outcomes on an upward spiral for all.
About Dr Ng

Dr Ng studies individual and household-level decisions about diet and activity behaviours made under monetary, time and biological constraints, within a broader environmental and policy context, and their resultant health impacts (focusing on obesity and nutrition-related chronic diseases). Dr Ng is involved in several studies that use ‘big-data’ on household food and beverage purchases alongside dietary intake and nutrition databases. She has used these data to evaluate several voluntary industry initiatives, as well as how regulatory policies such as taxation, quotas or nutrition labelling may impact consumer purchases, diet and nutritional outcomes, and alleviate or worsen health disparities.
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Seminar - Cardiovascular disease prevention in India
2018-05-24 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 Shifalika Goenka, Indian Institute of Public health, Delhi, and Head of Physical Activity and Obesity prevention at the Centre for Chronic Disease Control
Cardiovascular disease prevention in India.

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

Abstract
Dr Goenka will start by discussing the public health challenges faced in India. This will be followed by an overview of some of the key initiatives/projects completed, those being done by the Centre for Chronic Disease Control and how she is involved in it. She will conclude by highlighting potential opportunities for researchers at Cambridge and future collaborations.
Download Dr Goenka’s presentation.
About Dr Goenka

Shifalika Goenka, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Public health, Public Health Foundation of India, Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi. She brings with her a strong commitment to enhance population levels of physical activity, decrease obesity and prevent non-communicable diseases especially cardiovascular diseases and diabetes through multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary and multi-level approaches. She is working towards a Centre Of Excellence in Physical Activity. She wants health to be the litmus test in all local, state and national policies. She believes that a supportive built environment can provides the triple boost towards health, equity and the environment.
Orchid ID : orcid.org/0000-0001-6993-2883
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Seminar - Evidence for healthy and equitable population food policies
2018-06-20 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 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
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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
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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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