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Biography
After obtaining a joint-honours BSc in Biology and Mathematics at the University of Bristol, I was able to combine and apply these two fields to epidemiological study designs within the Wellcome Trust Genetic, Molecular and Lifecourse Epidemiology 4-year PhD. Specifically, the topic of my PhD was aimed at assessing various causes and consequences of cardiovascular health variation across the lifecourse, with focus on risk factors including early life behaviours, aspects of diet and eating behaviour, and adiposity. Throughout my PhD I was particularly interested in using methods to improve causal inference within observational epidemiological context, including the use of comprehensive longitudinal cohorts, randomized controlled trials and Mendelian randomization.
In my first postdoctoral role, I helped develop MR-Base, a continuously updated online platform that collates and harmonises summary-level data from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and automates two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses, including a range of new sensitivity analyses. My research has since focused on the application of several causal inference methods (mainly Mendelian randomization and Recall-by-Genotype analyses) within large population-based cohorts to understand adiposity and dietary intake/eating behaviour as causal risk factors for disease and mortality within the BMI-to-Health group (PI: Professor Nicholas Timpson).
My independent academic career started with an awarded Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Early Career Fellow based within the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit in the Bristol Medical School (Population Health Sciences), focusing on the application of causal inference methods and genetic epidemiology to understand the causal role played by the human gut microbiome within health and disease. Specifically, within this Fellowship, my aims were to understand the link between dietary intake and the gut microbiome and, in turn, its impact on colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel diseases. I have continued this throughout my research career, most recently having obtained a Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Population Research Postdoctoral Fellowship where I focus specifically on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer aetiology and the appropriate use of Mendelian randomization within this context.
Alongside this, I was appointed as a Lecturer of Epidemiology in April 2020, taking up the role of Co-Director of the MSc Epidemiology at the University of Bristol, and was recently promoted to Senior Lecturer of Epidemiology in February 2023. Therefore, my career is a balance between my teaching and research responsibilities.
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