LDL-c Lowering, Ischemic Stroke, and Small Vessel Disease Brain Imaging Biomarkers
October 21, 2024
Suncharita Ray, MD, comments on a study performed by members of our group that investigates the use of MR for optimizing and minimizing trial designs to discover more effective therapeutic drug targets for lowering lipids in patients of ischemic stroke. This study investigated the association between genetically predicted LDL-c, subtypes of ischemic stroke and imaging biomarkers — perivascular spaces (PVS) and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes — in a two-sample MR design. Blog post. Academic paper.
How can genetics help assess the potential harms of moderate drinking?
October 14, 2024
Is drinking a moderate amount of alcohol bad for you? Answering questions about potential causal effects in humans is difficult. If you want to know what factors affect the lifespan of a lightbulb, your task is simple: get a few hundred lightbulbs, and start experimenting. Lightbulbs are cheap, available, and (for the large part) homogeneous – they all behave the same way. Humans are none of those things. Blog post.
Diabetes distress’ increases risk of mental health problems among young people living with type 1 diabetes
July 25, 2024
A study conducted between researchers in the Czech Republic, the University of Cambridge, and the MRC Biostatistics Unit, has found that children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are at significantly higher risk of a number of mental health issues, including mood and anxiety disorders. The findings, published in Nature Mental Health, highlight the urgent need for monitoring and support for the mental health of young people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Full story. Academic paper.
Health conditions linked with severe COVID-19 risk
July 12, 2024
Research co-authored by our group was selected by the All of Us Science Communications team as a Research Highlight. The work considers statistical associations between a genetic score that measures predisposition to severe COVID-19 infection risk and various diseases. Individuals who carry genetic variants conferring elevated risk of diagnosis with severe COVID-19 had higher levels of particular diseases and risk factors for disease. Full story. Academic paper.
Does improving erectile function increase fertility?
December 15, 2023
Research published in the British Medical Journal, led by researchers at the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU), University of Bristol, and Imperial College London, investigated links between penis stiffness and health outcomes, including number of children fathered, number of sexual partners, and subjective measurements of happiness. Results suggest that policies to improve erectile function may increase fertility levels. Full story. Academic paper.
Benjamin Woolf awarded Cambridge Public Health ECR Prize
November 22, 2023
Benjamin (Benji), a Research Assistant working on genetic epidemiology at the BSU, was awarded the prize for his research on causal effects of tobacco smoke exposure. His submission, “Assessing the Causal Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure: A meta-analytic Mendelian randomisation study", impressed the judging panel and was selected out of over 50 applicants. Full story.
Researchers from the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU) are included in the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2023
November 21, 2023
Stephen Burgess has been included in the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2023, in addition to being the most highly-cited researcher at the BSU. This accolade recognises authors of highly-cited papers in the scientific literature. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. Full story.
Mendelian Randomization in Translation
September 27, 2023
A Chinese-language translation of Mendelian Randomization: Methods for Causal Inference Using Genetic Variants, is now available for purchase in mainland China. The book, authored by Stephen Burgess and Simon G. Thompson, aims to give epidemiologists, statisticians, geneticists, and bioinformaticians the foundation to understand how to use genetic variants as instrumental variables in observational data. Full story. Purchase link.
New genetic study identifies links between disease risks and variation in blood cell structures
September 11, 2023
Genetic differences between people that are associated with variation in the internal structures of blood cells have been identified for the first time by researchers at the MRC Biostatistics Unit and their collaborators at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (Prof Nicole Soranzo), the Department of Public Health and Primary Care (Prof Adam Butterworth) and the Department of Haematology (Prof Willem Ouwehand). Full story. Academic paper.
Stephen Burgess receives Wellcome Trust Career Development Award
October 10, 2022
Stephen Burgess, an MRC Investigator at the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU) and senior scientist in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, was recently granted a Career Development Award by the Wellcome Trust to start in November 2022.The award, which funds four research staff for an eight-year period, will further establish Stephen’s group at the BSU. Full story.
Genetic evidence suggests causal relationship between coffee and cancer risk, but only for oesophageal cancer
August 26, 2022
A team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and Karolinska Institute studied data on over 580,000 volunteers from the UK and Finland led a study into the link between more coffee consumption and cancer risk. Research published in Clinical Nutrition indicates that the link only holds for increased coffee consumption and risk of oesophageal cancer. Full story. Academic paper.
Genetic study provides new evidence that alcohol accelerates biological ageing
July 27, 2022
Results of a new analysis, published in Molecular Psychiatry, with Stephen Burgess as senior author, indicate that alcohol directly damages DNA, by shortening protective telomeres. To provide a more rigorous assessment, researchers led the first genetic study into the association between alcohol intake and telomere length, based on over 245,000 participants in the UK Biobank.Full story. Academic paper.
Moderate drinking linked to brain changes and cognitive decline
July 19, 2022
Consumption of seven or more units of alcohol per week is associated with higher iron levels in the brain, according to a study of almost 21,000 people published PLOS Medicine, with Stephen Burgess from the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU) as co-author. Iron accumulation in the brain has been linked with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and is a potential mechanism for alcohol-related cognitive decline. Full story. Academic paper.
Genetically determined levels of inflammation linked to neuropsychiatric illness
March 30, 2022
A potential link between inflammation and the structure of specific regions of the brain has been identified by researchers at the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Mental Health and Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, with collaborators from the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Manchester and University of Bristol. The study, published today in JAMA Psychiatry, may be particularly relevant for neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders including autism spectrum and schizophrenia. Full story. Academic paper.
Genetic evidence suggests causal relationship between vitamin D and mortality, but only in people with low vitamin D levels
October 28, 2021
Research published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology demonstrates a link between higher vitamin D levels and lower mortality risk. However, the link was only observed in people who are vitamin D deficient. Results from this natural experiment, in which people were compared based on their genetic make-up, suggest that taking vitamin D supplements will reduce mortality risk for those with low levels of vitamin D. Full story. Academic paper.
Focus on fat not size: more body fat leads to increased risk for cancers of the digestive system
July 29, 2021
Research published in PLOS Medicine today uses genetic evidence to link obesity to cancer of the digestive system. But while previous research has linked increased body size to various cancer types, findings from this study are more targeted, indicating specifically that fat mass is the main obesity-related risk factor for digestive system cancer, and that obesity influences certain cancer types but not others. Full story. Academic paper.
Why has COVID-19 mortality been lower in the second wave?
Researchers from the BSU and Department of Medicine, at the University of Cambridge; Imperial College London; and St George’s, University of London, published an editorial piece in the British Medical Journal today titled “Lightening the viral load to lessen COVID-19 severity”. In this article, the researchers bring together evidence suggesting that severity of COVID-19 depends on the amount of virus that an individual is exposed to at the time of infection. This implies that separation measures such as mask wearing that lessen viral transmission will also reduce risk of severe disease. Full story. Academic paper.
Statins may reduce cancer risk through mechanisms separate to cholesterol
New findings suggest the potential use of statins for cancer prevention should be “urgently evaluated”. Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may reduce cancer risk in humans through a pathway unrelated to cholesterol, says a study published today in eLife, with senior author Stephen Burgess, Programme Leader Track at the MRC Biostatistics Unit. Full story. Academic paper.
Smoking and obesity identified to have causal link with susceptibility to severe COVID-19 and sepsis
An international collaboration of scientists from the UK, Norway and the USA including several members of Stephen Burgess’s research group at the MRC Biostatistics Unit have identified genetic evidence supporting a causal effect of smoking and obesity on increasing susceptibility to severe COVID-19 and sepsis.
Published online in Circulation today, the results show that both smoking and higher body mass index (BMI, a measure of obesity) increase risk of severe COVID-19. The same was also true for the risk of developing sepsis, which is a dangerous inflammatory response to infection, experienced by many patients with severe COVID-19. Confirming the causal connection also highlights that stopping smoking and losing weight can be effective interventions for reducing the risk of developing severe COVID-19 and sepsis. Full story. Academic paper.
Are we underestimating the spread of COVID-19 based on seroprevalence surveys?
Researchers from the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University Hospital Wales in Cardiff, and St George’s, University of London and St George’s Hospital published an editorial piece in the British Medical Journal today titled ‘Are we underestimating seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2?’. In this article, the researchers provide reasons why surveys of how far the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread based on antibody testing may underestimate the number of people previously infected by the virus. Full story. Academic paper.
Drinking alcohol increases risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and high blood pressure, indicates genetic study
Research published today uses genetic evidence to link alcohol consumption to a range of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, peripheral artery disease, and coronary heart disease.The investigation, published in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, led by the Karolinska Institute and the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, considers over 350,000 individuals from UK Biobank, a population-based cohort of UK residents, combined with data from large consortia of cardiovascular studies from the UK and other Western countries. People with a genetic predisposition to drinking more alcohol were shown to have increased risk of several cardiovascular diseases. This suggests that increasing alcohol consumption raises the risk of these diseases. Full story. Academic paper.
Excess weight and body fat cause cardiovascular disease
Excess weight and body fat cause a range of heart and blood vessel diseases, according to the first study to investigate this using a method called Mendelian randomisation.
In particular, the study published in the European Heart Journal shows that as body mass index (BMI) and fat mass increase, so does the risk of aortic valve stenosis – a condition in which the valve controlling the flow of blood from the heart to the body’s largest blood vessel, the aorta, narrows and fails to open fully. Full story. Academic paper.
People with heart disease are more likely to suffer from depression, and the opposite is also true. Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge, including Dr Stephen Burgess from MRC Biostatistics Unit, believe they have identified a link between these two conditions: inflammation – the body’s response to negative environmental factors, such as stress. Full story. Academic paper.
High testosterone levels could play a role in serious heart conditions
Having a genetic predisposition to high testosterone levels could play a role in the development of major heart problems in men, such as blood clots and heart failure, finds a study published by The BMJ on the 6th March 2019, including specialist statistical analysis from Dr Stephen Burgess, Programme Leader Track at MRC Biostatistics Unit. Full story. Academic paper.