The MRC Epidemiology Unit is leading one of four multi-million pound interdisciplinary research programmes awarded funding to support the transformation of the UK food system. The research is being funded through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF). Each of the five-year programmes will address issues such as obesity, sustainable agriculture and […]

An international consortium led by MRC researchers has developed an open access platform to help prioritise drug discovery and repurposing efforts for the current COVID-19 pandemic. The platform provides information on the genetic variation of host proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on analysis of genetic and proteomic data from 10,708 Fenland Study participants. Viruses such […]

Today Public Health England (PHE) have published the latest report from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme (NDNS RP), which covers years 9 to 11 (2016-2019). The NDNS RP is a continuous cross-sectional survey of the general population aged 1.5 years and over living in private households in the UK, that has […]

In a paper published in Diabetes Care, a research team led by scientists at the MRC Epidemiology Unit and the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University in Denmark found that replacing red and processed meat with cheese, yogurt, nuts or cereals was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Many dietary guidelines […]

Opportunities for PhD studentships are available at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge. The studentships enable students to explore and develop their own area of research, within the context of the broader aims of: Understanding the determinants of dietary and physical activity behaviour at individual, community and societal levels. Developing, evaluating and modelling the […]

Opportunities for PhD studentships are available at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge. The studentships enable students to explore and develop their own area of research, within the context of the broader aims of the following research programmes: Aetiology and Mechanisms of Diabetes and Related Metabolic Disorders of Later Life Early Life Aetiology and […]

Researchers from the MRC Epidemiology Unit are part of the international team behind a new report in The Lancet summarising the best evidence for effectively managing and preventing diabetes. This encompasses areas such as sustained weight reduction, reducing blood sugar, the use of risk-reducing drugs, better integrated care and structured lifestyle interventions Worldwide, more than […]

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease characterised by elevated levels of glucose in the blood, and presents a major and growing global public health challenge. While both genes and our environment influence the development of the disease, the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. The data provided by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) […]

New research suggests that unhealthy food advertising on television before the 9pm watershed is responsible for 1 in 22 cases of childhood obesity. Removing these adverts before 9pm, the intention of new government regulation announced in July this year, has the potential to reduce the number of children with obesity by 40,000 and those with […]