Author: IEU admin

Multinational team takes on challenge of colorectal cancer in South Africa

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A group of people, in a line, posing for a group photo. They are standing on grass, with a brick wall behind them.

Colorectal cancer is a growing health challenge in South Africa. It ranks as the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC), diagnosed before the age of 50, disproportionately affects Black South Africans.

Despite this urgent burden, colorectal cancer remains understudied in non-European populations. Tackling diseases such as colorectal cancer requires cross-disciplinary and multinational collaboration.

To help address this challenge, the Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme (ICEP) and Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience jointly hosted the Wits-Bristol Cancer Workshop at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg from 30 September to 1 October. The aim of the meeting was to explore opportunities for collaboration in addressing the colorectal cancer burden in South Africa. (more…)

Goodbye to Oakfield House … and hello to Augustine’s Courtyard

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After nearly two decades, many of the Population Health team are moving to a new home in the heart of Bristol. From the start of November, the Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme, NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre and related groups will be based in Augustine’s Courtyard, while other colleagues will be moving to Canynge Hall. This follows the move a few months ago of our colleagues in the Children of the 90s study to a new base in Southmead Hospital.

As we finish off work, surrounded by packing crates and bin bags, we take a moment to remember our time in Oakfield House and the adjoining Barley House. (more…)

IEU Summer Internships: Reflections from an undergraduate internship programme

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Ellie Curnow shares reflections from the recent undergraduate internship programme.

Image shows two women holding up a scientific poster.
Ellie Curnow and student Imogen Joseph at the University of Bristol Widening Participation Research Summer Internships Celebration Event. The poster shows Imogen’s work on the ‘midoc’ R package for missing data.

This summer I led an undergraduate internship programme aimed at students with an interest in the application of data science to health research. This was a joint programme between the Integrative Epidemiology Unit and the Bristol Biomedical Research Centre. Project supervisors were Chin Yang Shapland, Charlotte James, Zoe Zou, and me. As well as supervising our students’ projects, we organised training to improve their research and coding skills. We also arranged social meet-ups so the students could get to know each other, as well as opportunities to meet with staff and post-graduate researchers so they could learn more about working and studying in the IEU. (more…)

How we organised a sustainable international conference

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In June 2024 the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit welcomed 200 participants to Bristol and 60 participants online to our 6th Mendelian randomization conference, making this our biggest conference to date. A key innovation this year was a Hub in the MRC Unit in Uganda, where delegates gathered in a video-linked room to participate in the conference, also with networking and catering on-site.

Sustainability was a key theme, and we set a target to reduce the carbon footprint by 50% mainly through converting to a hybrid conference with a virtual Hub, and booking vegetarian/vegan catering. The total estimated tonnes CO2 (tCO2) for the conference (mostly due to travel) was 143.25 tCO2. The Hub and virtual attendance avoided 147.5 tCO2 (see table). (more…)

And today’s random (and dubious) medical news is: dark chocolate prevents diabetes

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George Davey Smith challenges the findings of a new BMJ paper claiming that eating dark chocolate protects against Type 2 diabetes.

Pieces of nutty dark chocolate stacked on top of each other. Photo by amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash.Xmas is supposed to be a time of goodwill, and medical journals like the BMJ print seasonal papers not intended to be taken too seriously. The topic of one of the latest papers – chocolate – has been the topic of Xmas BMJ papers in the past, but it appears this is intended to be a serious paper; it is certainly not entertaining. The paper suggests that dark chocolate can protect against type 2 diabetes. At the risk of being a Grinch at Christmas, it has to be said that this is, frankly, a meaningless paper. Indeed it is surprising to see such a paper published in 2024 in a supposedly reputable journal. (more…)

Do you have plans for life beyond your PhD?

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Winfred Gatua shares her perspective of the recent Life Beyond PhD Conference 2024 that was held at Cumberland Lodge

As a PhD student, getting caught up in the pressure surrounding immediate research output is easy. However, what happens after earning a PhD?

I recently had the privilege of attending the Life Beyond PhD 2024 conference, organized by Cumberland Lodge and with the support of the University of Bristol. This event brought together PhD students and alumni across various disciplines to explore the challenges and opportunities ahead. The conference was designed to leave no stone unturned regarding coping with the PhD and beyond. From dealing with imposter syndrome to practising presentation, improving writing skills and fostering inclusive societies. (more…)

Adiposity in childhood affects the risk of breast cancer by changing breast tissue composition, study suggests

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A close up of a strand of DNA.
Photo by Sangharsh Lohakare on Unsplash

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide.  With rates continuing to rise, there is an urgent need to identify new modifiable breast cancer risk factors. New research led by the University of Bristol suggests that higher adiposity in childhood leads to less dense breast tissue forming, which results in a reduced breast cancer risk.  However, further research is needed to understand the mechanism of the overall protective effect of childhood adiposity to identify new targets for intervention and prevention. (more…)

A novel measure of inflammation in depression

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Éimear Foley discusses a recent paper

Inflammation is thought to play a role in depression. According to research that combined information from many studies (i.e., systematic review and meta-analysis), approximately a quarter of all those diagnosed with depression also have consistently higher levels of inflammatory proteins, like C-reactive protein (CRP), in their blood. Large population-based studies and studies using genetic information (i.e., Mendelian Randomization) further suggest that inflammation, particularly an inflammatory protein called interleukin 6 (IL-6), play a key role in causing depression. (You can read more about the role of inflammation in depression in our IEUREKA blog on “Immune cells as biomarkers of depression”.) 

So far, studies examining this relationship between inflammation and depression have only focused on the levels of individual immune proteins in the blood, like IL-6 and CRP. At a cellular level, an inflammatory response is not caused by the activity of one inflammatory protein but rather by the interaction between several proteins working together to trigger a signalling response. Looking at the activity of proteins gives further insight into how these proteins relate to a particular condition, like depression. For this reason, in a recent study, we examined how IL-6 activity relates to symptoms and cognitive performance in people diagnosed with depression.   (more…)

The MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (IEU) conducts some of the UK's most advanced population health science research. It uses genetics, population data and experimental interventions to look for the underlying causes of chronic disease.