New research published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has found that education and employment experiences in early adulthood contribute to cardiovascular health inequalities in later life, independent of occupation and family income in mid-adulthood. There are important differences in health between different sectors of our society, with those who are less […]

The age at which women go through menopause is critical for fertility and impacts healthy ageing in women, but reproductive ageing has been difficult for scientists to study and insights into the underlying biology are limited. Now, scientists have identified nearly 300 gene variations that influence reproductive lifespan in women. Additionally, in mice, they have […]

Researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Unit are among scientists from across the world contributing to The Lancet 2021 series on physical activity. Key findings revealed in the series include: Worldwide progress to improve physical activity has stalled; overall deaths associated with inactivity remain at more than 5 million people per year. No progress has been […]

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. This year’s report demonstrates that the food environment is skewed towards less healthy […]

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified rare genetic variants – carried by one in 3,000 people – that have a larger impact on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes than any previously identified genetic effect. Type 2 diabetes is thought to be driven in part by inherited genetic factors, but many of […]

The MRC Epidemiology Unit is participating in the Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) Black internship programme, and this week we welcomed our first intern, Elizabeth Oduala, to the Unit. Elizabeth is doing a degree in Applied AI & Data Analytics at the University of Bradford, and during her internship Elizabeth will work under the supervision of  Dr SM […]

An international research team, led by Professor Melinda Mills and colleagues at the University of Oxford and MRC Epidemiology Unit scientist Dr Felix Day, has discovered hundreds of genetic markers driving two of life’s most momentous milestones – the age at when people first have sex and become parents. In an analysis of data from […]

We are delighted to have been awarded the Green Impact Platinum Award in 2020-21, the first time that the Unit has achieved this award. Congratulations to our Green Impact Group for the hard work they put in towards this award, and to all Unit members who contributed to this achievement. With the award we received […]