Stephen Burgess
@stevesphd.bsky.social
Medical statistician, work with genetic data to disentangle causation from correlation. Author of book on Mendelian randomization.
Happy to have co-authored a technical report published by @Policy_Exchange on University Technical Colleges. My role was limited to the statistical report, not the policy document - although I proof read the latter to ensure our analyses was correctly represented.
November 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Happy to have co-authored a technical report published by @Policy_Exchange on University Technical Colleges. My role was limited to the statistical report, not the policy document - although I proof read the latter to ensure our analyses was correctly represented.
New pre-print: "Systematic comparison of colocalization methods using protein quantitative trait loci" led by @hwang_seongwon at www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Which method does best? Find out!
Systematic comparison of colocalization methods using protein quantitative trait loci
Colocalization is frequently performed as a step to triage findings from genetic investigations linking molecular and disease data. However, the reliability and consistency of the various colocalizati...
www.biorxiv.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
New pre-print: "Systematic comparison of colocalization methods using protein quantitative trait loci" led by @hwang_seongwon at www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Which method does best? Find out!
New pre-print "Mendelian randomization in a multi-ancestry world: reflections and practical advice" led by @amymariemason.bsky.social on - arxiv.org/abs/2510.17554
Mendelian randomization in a multi-ancestry world: reflections and practical advice
Many Mendelian randomization (MR) papers have been conducted only in people of European ancestry, limiting transportability of results to the global population. Expanding MR to diverse ancestry groups...
arxiv.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:43 AM
New pre-print "Mendelian randomization in a multi-ancestry world: reflections and practical advice" led by @amymariemason.bsky.social on - arxiv.org/abs/2510.17554
New pre-print: "PCSK9 and breast cancer survival: a Mendelian Randomization study" www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... led by Janne Pott. Brief thread:
PCSK9 and breast cancer survival: a Mendelian Randomization study
Background: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is well known for its causal effects on the lipid metabolism. A recent study identified an association between rs562556 within PCSK9 a...
www.medrxiv.org
October 7, 2025 at 8:59 AM
New pre-print: "PCSK9 and breast cancer survival: a Mendelian Randomization study" www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... led by Janne Pott. Brief thread:
Full recording of the PSI webinar by myself and @jack_bowdenjack on instrumental variable methods is available online: psiweb.org/vod/item/efs...
PSI
The community dedicated to leading and promoting the use of statistics within the healthcare industry for the benefit of patients.
psiweb.org
October 6, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Full recording of the PSI webinar by myself and @jack_bowdenjack on instrumental variable methods is available online: psiweb.org/vod/item/efs...
A pre-print for Chris Wallace's colocPropTest method for proportional colocalization is available online: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @chr1sw.bsky.social
Variable information across SNPs in GWAS data can cause false rejections of colocalisation which can be resolved by proportional colocalisation tests
Fine-mapping is now a standard post-GWAS analysis, but it has been shown to be potentially inaccurate for large meta-analysis GWAS. We show how this can be caused by variable amounts of statistical in...
www.biorxiv.org
September 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
A pre-print for Chris Wallace's colocPropTest method for proportional colocalization is available online: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @chr1sw.bsky.social
New manuscript led by @BarWoolf "A cautionary note on the naive use of general-population biobanks to study pulmonary arterial hypertension" is now published at Euro Respiratory Journal @ERSpublications: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40967765/. Summary follows:
A cautionary note on the naive use of general-population biobanks to study pulmonary arterial hypertension, with a focus on Mendelian randomization - PubMed
A cautionary note on the naive use of general-population biobanks to study pulmonary arterial hypertension, with a focus on Mendelian randomization
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM
New manuscript led by @BarWoolf "A cautionary note on the naive use of general-population biobanks to study pulmonary arterial hypertension" is now published at Euro Respiratory Journal @ERSpublications: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40967765/. Summary follows:
New pre-print online: "Context-stratified Mendelian randomization: exploiting regional exposure variation to explore causal effect heterogeneity and non-linearity", arxiv.org/abs/2507.11088. We propose an alternative approach to assess non-linearity in Mendelian randomization.
Context-stratified Mendelian randomization: exploiting regional exposure variation to explore causal effect heterogeneity and non-linearity
Mendelian randomization (MR) uses genetic variants as instrumental variables to make causal claims. Standard MR approaches typically report a single population-averaged estimate, limiting their abilit...
arxiv.org
July 22, 2025 at 11:18 AM
New pre-print online: "Context-stratified Mendelian randomization: exploiting regional exposure variation to explore causal effect heterogeneity and non-linearity", arxiv.org/abs/2507.11088. We propose an alternative approach to assess non-linearity in Mendelian randomization.
New paper led by Nasir Bashir "Periodontitis and Systemic Disease: The Impact of Covariate Selection" published at @JDentRes:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/.... We investigate how disease associations vary with covariate adjustment.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/.... We investigate how disease associations vary with covariate adjustment.
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
July 18, 2025 at 11:46 AM
New paper led by Nasir Bashir "Periodontitis and Systemic Disease: The Impact of Covariate Selection" published at @JDentRes:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/.... We investigate how disease associations vary with covariate adjustment.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/.... We investigate how disease associations vary with covariate adjustment.
New publication at @BMJMedicine "Epidemiology: a partnership of technical expertise and clinical insight" co-authored with Debbie Lawlor: bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/.... This essay explores how to be an epidemiologist is in today's world. Comments welcome!
Epidemiology: a partnership of technical expertise and clinical insight
Like all medical fields, epidemiology is a discipline that can be practiced effectively only in partnership with others. While data analysis may seem like a solitary pursuit, epidemiological datasets ...
bmjmedicine.bmj.com
July 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM
New publication at @BMJMedicine "Epidemiology: a partnership of technical expertise and clinical insight" co-authored with Debbie Lawlor: bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/.... This essay explores how to be an epidemiologist is in today's world. Comments welcome!
New publication at European Journal of Epidemiology: "Search for common genetic variants to allow reliable Mendelian randomization investigations into ketone metabolism" led by Zhu Liduzi (Julie) Jiesisibieke. Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... Brief thread:
Search for common genetic variants to allow reliable Mendelian randomization investigations into ketone metabolism - European Journal of Epidemiology
Ketogenic diets are popular among people aiming for weight management. Ketone supplementation has been linked to improved cognitive performance and increased risk of insulin resistance. We aim to iden...
link.springer.com
June 10, 2025 at 8:55 AM
New publication at European Journal of Epidemiology: "Search for common genetic variants to allow reliable Mendelian randomization investigations into ketone metabolism" led by Zhu Liduzi (Julie) Jiesisibieke. Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... Brief thread:
Krista and I are giving an introduction to Mendelian randomization in Brown 3 starting in a few moments - I will post my slides here after the session #eshg2025
May 26, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Krista and I are giving an introduction to Mendelian randomization in Brown 3 starting in a few moments - I will post my slides here after the session #eshg2025
New paper published at AJE Advances: "The role of estimation in Mendelian randomization: should Mendelian randomization investigations provide estimates?" led by @BarWoolf and myself: academic.oup.com/ajeadvances/.... Brief thread:
The role of estimation in Mendelian randomization: should Mendelian randomization investigations provide estimates?
academic.oup.com
May 20, 2025 at 11:24 AM
New paper published at AJE Advances: "The role of estimation in Mendelian randomization: should Mendelian randomization investigations provide estimates?" led by @BarWoolf and myself: academic.oup.com/ajeadvances/.... Brief thread:
New pre-print: "Mendelian Randomization with longitudinal exposure data: simulation study and real data application" led by Janne Pott is online: medrxiv.org/content/10.1.... Brief thread:
Mendelian Randomization with longitudinal exposure data: simulation study and real data application
Background and aim Mendelian Randomization (MR) is a widely used tool to estimate causal effects using genetic variants as instrumental variables. MR is limited to cross-sectional summary statistics o...
medrxiv.org
May 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
New pre-print: "Mendelian Randomization with longitudinal exposure data: simulation study and real data application" led by Janne Pott is online: medrxiv.org/content/10.1.... Brief thread:
Our paper "A Principled Framework for Mendelian Randomization in Oral Health Research" led by Nasir Bashir is now online at Journal of Periodontal Research: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/.... Brief thread follows!
A Principled Framework for Mendelian Randomization in Oral Health Research
This methodological article provides a clear and accessible overview of Mendelian randomization for oral health researchers, emphasizing the core assumptions needed for credible causal inference. Foc....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 12, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Our paper "A Principled Framework for Mendelian Randomization in Oral Health Research" led by Nasir Bashir is now online at Journal of Periodontal Research: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/.... Brief thread follows!
Reposted by Stephen Burgess
The Mendelian Randomization course turns 10! 🥳
This March marks a significant milestone for the popular short course run by the BSU, as it enters its 10th year.
Read more 👇
www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/news/mendeli...
@stevesphd.bsky.social
This March marks a significant milestone for the popular short course run by the BSU, as it enters its 10th year.
Read more 👇
www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/news/mendeli...
@stevesphd.bsky.social
February 21, 2025 at 11:35 AM
The Mendelian Randomization course turns 10! 🥳
This March marks a significant milestone for the popular short course run by the BSU, as it enters its 10th year.
Read more 👇
www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/news/mendeli...
@stevesphd.bsky.social
This March marks a significant milestone for the popular short course run by the BSU, as it enters its 10th year.
Read more 👇
www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/news/mendeli...
@stevesphd.bsky.social
Following the recent trial showing GLP1R agonists may reduce alcohol use disorder, happy to share that the Mendelian randomization evidence supports beneficial effects of GLP1R treatment on substance use disorders and AUDIT score + other outcomes: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1....
Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder
This randomized clinical trial assesses the effects of subcutaneous semaglutide on alcohol consumption in adults with alcohol use disorder.
jamanetwork.com
February 14, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Following the recent trial showing GLP1R agonists may reduce alcohol use disorder, happy to share that the Mendelian randomization evidence supports beneficial effects of GLP1R treatment on substance use disorders and AUDIT score + other outcomes: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1....
New pre-print led by @hwang_seongwon: "Human genetics suggests differing causal pathways from HMGCR inhibition to coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes": www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1.... Brief thread follows:
Human genetics suggests differing causal pathways from HMGCR inhibition to coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes
Background: Statins lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and reduce the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, they also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: We c...
www.medrxiv.org
February 12, 2025 at 11:43 PM
New pre-print led by @hwang_seongwon: "Human genetics suggests differing causal pathways from HMGCR inhibition to coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes": www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1.... Brief thread follows:
Registration is now open for our 2025 Genetics in Drug Development course: onlinesales.admin.cam.ac.uk/conferences-.... Details about the course are here: www.mendelianrandomization.com/index.php/co....
Mendelian Randomization - Genetics in Drug Development - move to continuous enrolment
Book on Mendelian randomization authored by Stephen Burgess and Simon G Thompson and published by Chapman and Hall/CRC Press
www.mendelianrandomization.com
January 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Registration is now open for our 2025 Genetics in Drug Development course: onlinesales.admin.cam.ac.uk/conferences-.... Details about the course are here: www.mendelianrandomization.com/index.php/co....
Our work on immortal time bias "Illustrating the structures of bias from immortal time using directed acyclic graphs" led by Emma Guoyi Yang @yanggy_hku is out at International Journal of Epidemiology: doi.org/10.1093/ije/.... Brief thread:
Illustrating the structures of bias from immortal time using directed acyclic graphs
AbstractBackground. Immortal time is a period of follow-up during which death or the study outcome cannot occur by design. Bias from immortal time has been
doi.org
January 8, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Our work on immortal time bias "Illustrating the structures of bias from immortal time using directed acyclic graphs" led by Emma Guoyi Yang @yanggy_hku is out at International Journal of Epidemiology: doi.org/10.1093/ije/.... Brief thread: