The latest news from the MRC Epidemiology Unit
Welcome to the autumn 2024 epigram, the quarterly newsletter from the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
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In this issue: How working with communities helps produce evidence for better policymaking, how UK Biobank volunteers are helping to revolutionise our understanding of disease risk, the impact of takeaway management zones, and more.
Building healthier societies
Our researchers study how the environment and governemnt policies influence the health of people in the UK and around the world, and work with communities to produce evidence to support better policymaking.
Children switch to walking and cycling to school after start of London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone
Research led by scientists at the MRC Epidemiology Unit and Queen Mary University of London found that four in ten children in Central London who travelled to school by car switched to more active modes of transport, such as walking, cycling, or public transport, following the introduction of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). In Luton, the comparison area with no ULEZ, only two in ten children made this switch over the same period.
Unit resarcher Dr Christina Xiao commented that “The introduction of the ULEZ was associated with positive changes in how children travelled to school, with a much larger number of children moving from inactive to active modes of transport in London than in Luton. Given children’s heightened vulnerability to air pollution and the critical role of physical activity for their health and development, financial disincentives for car use could encourage healthier travel habits among this young population, even if they do not necessarily target them.” Read more.
Dr Xiao was interviewed by the BBC about this project, which was also reported in the Evening Standard, Independent, Forbes and several other news outlets.
Cities, climate change and public health
Dr Meelan Thondoo, a senior research associate with the Unit and GDAR, was recently awarded a prestigious fellowship at the Australian National University.
The Planetary Health Equity Future Leaders Program 2024 focuses on cutting-edge research into multi-sectoral interventions and integrated policies for health, and on their effects on planetary health.
We spoke to Meelan about the fellowship and her research focusing on urban health interventions and policy. Read the interview.
Supporting healthy lifestyles among young adults in the workplace
Unit researchers Dr Eleanor Winpenny and Dr Esther Van Sluijs are authors on a new Institute for Employment Studies report which examines how workplaces can support healthy lifestyles for young adults, and identifies practical opportunities for intervention. Read the IES report
The secrets inside our cells
The availability of blood samples provided by half a million UK Biobank volunteers has helped revolutionise medical research. Our scientists work with colleagues in Universities across the UK and beyond to use this precious resource to better understand the risk of developing a wide range of diseases.
Blood proteins predict the risk of developing more than 60 diseases
Research on thousands of proteins measured from a drop of blood demonstrates the ability of proteins to predict the onset of many diverse diseases for the first time.
The research was carried out as part of an international partnership between GSK, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, University of Cambridge, and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. This team, led by Dr Julia Carrasco Zanini Sanchez, Dr Robert Scott, and Professor Claudia Langenberg, examined 3,000 plasma proteins in a randomly selected set of over 40,000 UK Biobank participants.
They report the ability of protein ‘signatures’ to predict the onset of 67 diseases including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, motor neurone disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and dilated cardiomyopathy. This work will deepen understanding of human biology and disease, and the researchers plan to build on it to improve the prediction of disease in the clinical setting, and the development of new therapies. Read more.
This paper was reported in several news outlets, including the Daily Mail, Independent and Standard.
Genes with strong impact on menopause timing also link to cancer risk
Analysis of genomic data from more than 100,000 women in the UK Biobank has identified four genes with some of the largest known effects on the timing of menopause discovered to date. The work, led by scientists at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Exeter Medical School, and Wellcome Sanger Institute found that women who only have one working copy of the four new genes identified they go through menopause between two and 5.5 years earlier than average.
The researchers also identified a fifth gene variant that causes women to go through menopause over a year later than average, and additionally that changes in this gene cause predisposition to various cancers in both men and women. Using data from the 100,000 Genomes project the team found that mothers with a high number of genetic variants that cause earlier menopause had on average more new changes in the DNA they passed onto their children, possibly because these genes are involved in repairing DNA damage, so when this function is compromised more new genetic changes accumulate in the eggs. Read more.
This paper was reported in by BBC Science Focus and GenomeWeb, among other outlets.
Getting to the meat of the issue
Red and processed meat associated with higher type 2 diabetes risk, major new study finds
An analysis of data from nearly two million people in 20 countries around the world found that meat consumption, particularly processed meat and unprocessed red meat consumption, is associated with a higher type 2 diabetes risk.
The research, led by Dr Chunxiao Li and colleagues at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, used the InterConnect project to analyse individual participant data from diverse studies, rather than published results, and many studies included in this analysis had not previously published findings on the link between meat consumption and type 2 diabetes.
The researchers found that the habitual consumption of 50 grams of processed meat a day is associated with a 15% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years, while the consumption of 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day was associated with a 10% higher risk of type 2 diabetes. Read more.
This paper was widely reported, including in the Guardian, BBC, Telegraph, Times, Metro, Women’s Health, CNN and New York Times.
Give us the tools…
Our researchers are involved in producing guidance, tools and datasets to support research, policy and engagement across sectors.
What’s the Impact of Takeaway Management Zones?
Healthy neighbourhoods help people make healthy choices to live well. Takeaway management zones are one way to achieve this.
Evidence collected by Dr Thomas Burgoine and colleagues over the course of a three-year NIHR-funded project shows takeaway management zones change local environments for the better, with positive impacts on health, and benefits to local economies. They are also seen as acceptable and necessary by local communities.
While many local authorities across the UK have established takeaway management zones, the ongoing adoption and implementation of these zones is a challenge.
This is where the toolkit comes in.
Designed in partnership with local authority staff, the toolkit provides four practical steps to help local authorities to successfully implement evidence based takeaway management zones.
Find out more on the toolkit page, and watch a short explainer video below.
New ways to follow our science
Podcasting with growing confidence
The Confidence Interval is a podcast from the MRC Epidemiology Unit – talking science, people and public health. We’re using this podcast to explore the research happening at the Unit, meet some of our researchers and find out what makes them tick.
In our latest episode Dr Yanaina Chavez-Ugalde chats with Pam Mungroo about new research that found adolescents consume around two-thirds of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods – UPFs.
Listen to all The Confidence Interval podcast on the platforms:
Follow our Bluesky science
The MRC Epidemiology Unit is now on Bluesky, so if you’re seeking scientific social media as it should be, follow us @mrcepid.bsky.social.
Connecting and innovating
Discover Population Health Improvement UK
A team at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, including Director Prof Nick Wareham, are working as part of a coordinating Directorate for Population Health Improvement UK (PHI UK).
PHI UK is a new national research network bringing together expertise and insight to improve health and equity for people, places and communities. Established with a £35 million investment over four years from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), priority research areas include:
- creating healthy urban places
- supporting mental health and wellbeing
- addressing the negative health effects of commercial practices
- designing economic policies with health equity in mind
Web and social
Expore the GDAR network
GDAR – the Global Diet and Activity Research Network – has launched a new interactive map to explore network’s members, news, publications, outputs and impacts.
GDAR is a network of researchers from ten organisations in seven countries on three continents, funded by the NIHR Global Health Research initiative, and supported by the MRC Epidemiology Unit.
Since 2020 more than 50 scientific papers, and a range of science and policy briefings, have been published, and GDAR researchers have been making the news and creating impacts across three continents, which you can explore on the interactive map.
Charting the course of success
In a series of articles Early Career Researchers from GDAR interview colleagues with extensive experience of undertaking research in low- and middle-income countries, delving into the inception of their career and personal journeys, and the experiences and exposures that shaped their trajectories:
- The career journey of T. Alafia Samuels, co-director of GDAR Spaces
- The career journey of Estelle (Vicki) Lambert, Professor Emeritus
- The career journey of Taibat Lawanson, Professor of Urban Management and Governance
GDAR Web and social
Opportunities at the Unit
Clinical Research Study Assistant (Fixed Term)
We are seeking to appoint a Research Associate to work within the THRIVING Food Futures consortium, which aims to design and evaluate citizen-facing interventions to support healthy, sustainable diets for everyone. Based in the Unit’s Population Health Intervention Programme, the primary role of this post is to develop and evidence a typology of policy functions to support healthy, sustainable and equitable diets.
- Closing date 10 November 2024
- Full details
Our latest publications
The MRC Epidemiology Unit is committed to Open Access and to making our research more accessible, equitable, transparent and reproducible.
We aim for all MRC Epidemiology Unit-led papers to be fully available through Open Access as we continue to break down any barriers to knowledge.
You can find all publications from the MRC Epidemiology Unit on our Publications Database: https://publications.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/
You can search by journal, year, study, programme, Unit author, and keywords in the title and abstract.
Since the last issue of epigram, our researchers have published the following papers:
- Digital Intervention Promoting Physical Activity in People Newly Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease: Feasibility and Acceptability of the Knowledge, Exercise-Efficacy and Participation (KEEP) Intervention Agley L et al. J Parkinsons Dis
- Testing for a causal role of thyroid hormone measurements within the normal range on human metabolism and diseases: a systematic Mendelian randomization Alwan H et al. EBioMedicine
- Interpersonal determinants of diet quality and eating behaviours in people aged 13-30 years: a systematic scoping review Braune T et al. Obes Rev
- Proteomic signatures improve risk prediction for common and rare diseases Carrasco-Zanini J et al. Nat Med
- Mapping biological influences on the human plasma proteome beyond the genome Carrasco-Zanini J et al. Nat Metab
- Ultra-processed food consumption in UK adolescents: distribution, trends, and sociodemographic correlates using the National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2008/09 to 2018/19 European Journal of Nutrition Chavez Ugalde Y et al. Eur J Nutr
- Federated analysis of autosomal recessive coding variants in 29,745 developmental disorder patients from diverse populations Chundru VK et al. Nat Genet
- Social inequalities in the use of online food delivery services and associations with weight status: cross-sectional analysis of survey and consumer data Cummins S et al. BMJ Public Health
- The effect of an acute bout of exercise on circulating vitamin D metabolite concentrations: a randomised crossover study in healthy adults Davies SE et al. J Physiol
- Commentary: A road map for future data-driven urban planning and environmental health research Dyer GMC et al. Cities
- The impact of behavioural weight management interventions on eating behaviour traits in children with overweight or obesity: systematic review and meta-analysis Eustachio Colombo P et al. Obes Rev
- Childhood-onset type 1 diabetes and subsequent adult psychiatric disorders: a nationwide cohort and genome-wide Mendelian randomization study Formánek T et al. Nat Ment Health
- Understanding how and why travel mode changes: Analysis of longitudinal qualitative interviews Garrott K et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
- Virtual Assessment of Physical Activity–Related Built Environment in Soweto, South Africa: What Is the Role of Contextual Familiarity? Godongwana M et al. J Urban Health
- The nexus of transportation, the built environment, air pollution and health Khreis H et al. Cities Health
- Trends in hospitalization for cardio-renal disease and mortality in people with type 1 diabetes in England, 2009-2019 Holman N et al. Diabetes Obes Metab
- The impact of delayed processing of chilled whole blood specimens on the measurement of nutritional biomarkers in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey rolling programme Jones KS et al. J Nutr
- Meat consumption and incident type 2 diabetes: a federated meta-analysis of 1·97 million adults with 100,000 incident cases from 31 cohorts in 18 countries Li C et al. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol
- Damaging mutations in liver X receptor-α are hepatotoxic and implicate cholesterol sensing in liver health Lockhart SM et al. Nat Metab
- QSOX2 Deficiency-induced short stature, gastrointestinal dysmotility and immune dysfunction Maharaj AV et al. Nat Commun
- Recent advances in precision nutrition and cardiometabolic diseases Martínez-González MA et al. Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed)
- Protein-truncating and rare missense variants in ATM and CHEK2 and associations with cancer in UK Biobank whole-exome sequence data Mukhtar TK et al. J Med Genet
- Nature and nurture in fussy eating from toddlerhood to early adolescence: findings from the Gemini twin cohort Nas Z et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry
- Association between ambient air pollution and respiratory health in Kampala, Uganda: Implications for policy and practice Okello G et al. Urban Climate
- High-resolution functional mapping of RAD51C by saturation genome editing Olvera-León R et al. Cell
- Likely causal effects of insulin resistance and IGF-1 bioaction on childhood and adult adiposity: a mendelian randomization study Olwi DI et al. Int J Obes
- Systems Approach to Investigate the Role of Fruit and Vegetable Types on Vascular Function in Pre-Hypertensive Participants: Protocol and Baseline Characteristics of a Randomised Crossover Dietary Intervention Oude Griep LM et al. Nutrients
- An app promoting weight gain prevention via healthy behaviours amongst young women with a family history of breast cancer: Acceptability and usability assessment Pegington M et al. J Hum Nutr Diet
- Risky play: our children need more Rance T et al. Arch Dis Child
- Cross-sectional associations of gender identity and sexual orientation, with co-occurrence and clustering of health-related behaviours among British adolescents: Millennium cohort study Ricardo LIC et al. Prev Med
- Estimated changes in free sugar consumption one year after the UK soft drinks industry levy came into force: controlled interrupted time series analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2011-2019) Rogers NT et al. J Epidemiol Community Health
- School-level intra-cluster correlation coefficients and autocorrelations for children’s accelerometer-measured physical activity in England by age and gender Salway R et al. BMC Res Meth
- Screen Media Use and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial Schmidt-Persson J et al. JAMA Netw Open
- Vehicle emission models alone are not sufficient to understand full impact of change in traffic signal timings Schroeder A et al. Atmospheric Environment: X
- Genetic links between ovarian ageing, cancer risk and de novo mutation rates Stankovic S et al. Nature
- Early adulthood socioeconomic trajectories contribute to inequalities in adult diet quality, independent of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position Tao Y et al. J Epidemiol Community Health
- Physical activity volume, intensity, and mortality: Harmonized meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies Tarp J et al. Am J Prev Med
- The role of metaphor in the corporate political strategies of health harming industries: Comparing the concept of balance in the gambling and opioid industry discourses van Schalkwyk MC et al. Soc Sci Med
- Development and evaluation of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation to deliver Physical Activity in School Scale (COM-PASS) Verdonschot A et al. Int J Behav Phys Act
- Modifiable healthy lifestyles could reduce a series of long-term COVID complications Wang Y et al. Nat Commun
- Leveraging pleiotropy identifies common-variant associations with selective IgA deficiency Willis TW et al. Clin Immunol
- Children’s Health in London and Luton (CHILL) cohort: A 12-month natural experimental study of the effects of the Ultra Low Emission Zone on children’s travel to school Xiao C et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
- Alcohol Free? An analysis of UK and Scottish Government Obesity Policies’ Engagement with Alcohol 1999-2023 Young C et al. BMC Public Health
About epigram
epigram is the newsletter for everyone interested in work happening at the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
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