Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · 3h

🎯 Who should attend?
Researchers and analysts in epidemiology, medicine, or social science with experience in applied statistics (MSc+ level, PhD, or postdoc).
💷 Fees:
£800 standard
£400 for external students/ECRs
Free places for eligible PhD or LMIC researchers.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · 3h

Across three days we’ll combine theory with hands-on practicals.
Topics include:
• Potential outcomes & DAGs
• Target trial emulation
• Regression & propensity scores
• Instrumental variables
• Mediation analysis
• Sensitivity analyses

Causal Inference in Practice Short Course

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · 3h

📢 Registration is open for Causal Inference in Practice — a 3-day short course at UCL
🗓️ 18–20 February 2026
Taught by me, @kdiazordaz.bsky.social & Peter Martin.
Learn to estimate causal effects from observational data.
👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-scienc...
#CausalInference #Epidemiology #DataScience

This course covers the latest developments in causal inference methods and provides practical explanations for applying them to real research questions.

Data Resource Profile: Genomic data in multiple British birth cohorts (1946–2001)—linkage with health, social, and environmental data from birth to old age

1 3

Reposted by Neil Davies

Tim Morris @timtmorris.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our data resource profile paper outlining the imputed & QC'd genomewide genetic data in 5 British cohort studies is now out in IJE. Data are free to access and the cohorts are deeply phenotyped... huge opportunities for amazing cross-cohort longitudinal research

academic.oup.com/ije/article/...

Birth cohort studies have a rich history of contributing to science within and between disciplinary fields, notably health and social sciences [1–4]. Here,

academic.oup.com

1 1 6

Reposted by Neil Davies

Prof Alexandra Pitman @alexandrapitman.bsky.social · Aug 28

⏰Post-doctoral #qualitative job alert! (closes 14/9/25).
@uclpsychiatry.bsky.social is recruiting for a #Qualitative Post‑Doctoral Research Associate to join our #suicide & #selfharm research team on a @nihr.bsky.social grant investigating acceptability of close obs www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

(Senior) Research Officer (x2 posts) at Adolescent Health Study (AHS)

5 1

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

We're hiring! Join us on the incredible Adolescent Health Study — we're looking for two brilliant researchers to help shape and grow this exciting project. Deadline: 28 August. Questions? Get in touch.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOB253/s...

Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...

www.jobs.ac.uk

1 2

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

Work led by Liam Wright, with Gemma Shireby, @timtmorris.bsky.social, and @davidbann.bsky.social.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

7/ Our study highlights the power of family-based designs to clarify intergenerational effects—and reminds us that both genes and environments matter.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

6/ We also found evidence that maternal BMI was associated with offspring birthweight and adolescent dietary patterns, even after adjusting for inherited genetic liability.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

5/ Maternal BMI, however, still showed a strong association with child BMI, even after adjusting for transmission. We estimated maternal indirect effects (via environment) to be ~25–50% the size of the direct genetic effect.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

4/ In MR models, there was little evidence that paternal BMI predicted offspring BMI after accounting for direct genetic inheritance. This suggests the paternal BMI-offspring BMI association may be explained by direct inheritance genes, not the paternal environment.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

3/ Phenotypically, both maternal and paternal BMI were positively associated with offspring BMI across development. The effects were similar in size—but correlation doesn’t tell us about causality or mechanisms.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

2/ We used Mendelian Randomization with polygenic indices (PGIs) in mothers, fathers, and children to separate direct genetic effects from other indirect effects such as nurture—i.e., environmental influences shaped by parents’ genetics.

The association between parental BMI and offspring adiposity: A genetically informed analysis of trios

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Aug 6

1/ Parents with higher BMI tend to have kids with higher BMI—but why? Is it the genes they pass on, or the environment they create? Or both? We used trio data from MCS to help answer this longstanding question.

journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Author summary Children with obesity are more likely to have parents with obesity, too. This may be explained by environmental factors, such as prenatal conditions in utero or postnatal parental behav...

journals.plos.org

2 1 6

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Jul 18

I’m hiring- info in the link below, or get in touch if interested

📣 JOB OPPORTUNITY!
💻 Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow in Population Health/Data Science/Genetic Epidemiology

Developing a new Wellcome-funded ALSPAC Olink Explore HT resource

Deadline 15/08/25

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNR789/e...

3 4

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Jul 17

Engagement and Involvement Lead at Adolescent Health Study (AHS)

Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...

www.jobs.ac.uk

Causes and consequences of vascular dementia across the life course: Evidence from a UK Biobank phenome-wide and Mendelian randomization study

Reposted by Neil Davies

Emma Anderson @emmylooroll.bsky.social · Jun 25

Fabulous work by Phazha Bothongo!

2 years and several near mental breakdowns for us both in the making!

🧠 Causes and consequences of vascular dementia across the life course: Evidence from a UK Biobank phenome-wide and Mendelian randomization study 🧠

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Background Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common cause of dementia, yet its risk factors and biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Objective To identify causes and consequences ...

www.medrxiv.org

1 4 9

Reposted by Neil Davies

Emma Anderson @emmylooroll.bsky.social · May 22

Our in-person Mendelian randomisation course is back at University College London this autumn. Join us in Bloomsbury, 16th-18th September 2025.

Tutors: Emma Anderson, Dylan Williams, Neil Davies
Guest lecturer: Eleanor Sanderson

onlinestore.ucl.ac.uk/conferences-...

D79 Mendelian Randomization | UCL Online Store

Abstract This course covers the fundamental developments in Mendelian randomization and gives practical explanations about how to apply MR to applied resea

onlinestore.ucl.ac.uk

2 4

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Jun 19

Are you looking to learn how to conduct and interpret Mendelian randomization studies?

You can register now for our in-person short course at UCL. With @emmylooroll.bsky.social and @dylwil.bsky.social

16th-18th September 2025.

Details here:

www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-scienc...

Mendelian randomization short course

This course covers the fundamental developments in Mendelian randomization and gives practical explanations about how to apply MR to applied research questions.

3 3

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Jun 18

Do get in touch with me if you'd like to know more.

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Jun 18

*Position 2*: Causes of depression, anxiety and ADHD working with colleagues across UCL, the amazing Born in Bradford, Millenium Cohort Study and the MoBA study in Norway, with collaborations in Bristol and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Neil Davies @neilmdavies.bsky.social · Jun 18

Position 1: Causes of psychosis using new Olink HT proteomics data from ALSPAC, funded by Wellcome, with collaborations with Bath, Cardiff, Oxford and Cambridge universities.

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).