Seminar – Dr Anthony Laverty – Imperial College London
2021-02-23 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Cambridgeshire
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar with:
Dr Anthony Laverty, Imperial College London.
This seminar will be broadcast live online, a registration link will be posted soon.
About Dr Laverty
Anthony Laverty is a Lecturer in the Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit in the Department of Primary Care & Public Health. He joined Imperial in 2009 as a research assistant and completed his PhD here in 2014.
HIs post is funded by the NIHR School of Public Health Research, a collaboration of eight leading academic centres in England with a focus on the generation of useful evidence for local decision makers. His research has a strong focus on the transport systems and health. He leads an assessment of the potential transport, health and inequality impacts of the introduction of road user charging in England. Previous work on transport and health involved an examination of the health benefits of the free bus pass for older people in England (together with Christopher Millett), an Understanding Society Biomarker Data Project Fellowship, and assessment of the health impacts of public transport (with Richard Patterson).
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and leads the Public Health Improvement module on the Masters in Public Health as well as the fully-online Global Masters of Public Health here at Imperial. Other research interests include the potential impacts of Brexit on nutrition and health in England (with Evi Seferidi), optimal policies to reduce salt intakes, and evaluations of the impacts of tobacco control interventions on exposure to second hand smoke and child health.
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Bradford Hill Seminar - Neighbourhood Disadvantage, Everyday Urban Mobility, and Well-Being
2022-02-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the online Bradford Hill Seminar:
Neighbourhood Disadvantage, Everyday Urban Mobility, and Well-Being
Professor Robert J Sampson
Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University
Watch a recording of this seminar
Abstract
This presentation will review a series of findings and work in progress stemming from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighbourhoods (PHDCN) and Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighbourhood Effect. I will focus primarily on the idea that a neighbourhood’s well-being depends not only on its own conditions, as typically conceived, but also the conditions of the neighbourhoods to which its residents are connected, through networks of everyday urban mobility. Results and implications of mobility-based “triple disadvantage” for violence, health, and racial inequality will be discussed, including in a comparative urban framework. Time permitting, I will also briefly describe research linking individual, neighbourhood, and macrosocial change based on the multi-cohort longitudinal design of the PHDCN. Research on cohort variations in individual trajectories of exposure to neighbourhood disadvantage and criminalization will be discussed.
About Professor Sampson
Robert J. Sampson is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, an Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, and founding director of the Boston Area Research Initiative. He was Scientific Director for the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). His research and teaching cover a variety of topic areas including crime, disorder, the life course, neighbourhood effects, civic engagement, inequalities, “ecometrics,” and the social structure of the city.
Professor Sampson is the author of three award-winning books and numerous articles. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Criminology, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He has also served as President of the American Society of Criminology.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Epidemiology and control of COVID-19 in Hong Kong
2022-02-23 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the online Bradford Hill Seminar:
Epidemiology and control of COVID-19 in Hong Kong
Professor Benjamin Cowling
School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong
Register to attend
Register in advance for this free online seminar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcOmqrzkpEtWuJN-8FVEKhOSq1s3t0gSw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract
In early 2020, Hong Kong was one of the first-affected locations outside of mainland China. However, in the first two years of the pandemic timely public health measures as part of a “Dynamic Zero Covid” strategy were able to successfully control a number of surges in daily case numbers, restricting confirmed cases to well below 1% of the population. Epidemiological analyses have improved our understanding of disease dynamics and the impact of control measures. For example, one of the most interesting phenomena in transmission has been “super-spreading”, in which we have determined that a minority of infections are responsible for a majority of transmission events.
In recent work, we have been examining how and why superspreading dynamics might vary over time. While mass vaccination provides a pathway back to a new normal in most parts of the world, the Hong Kong government has followed the strategy in mainland China of continuing “Dynamic Zero Covid” even when vaccine coverage reaches a high level. Our community studies provide evidence on levels of infections and immunity, and allow us to contrast the difference in effectiveness of the inactivated vaccine (Sinovac) and the mRNA vaccine (BioNTech/Fosun Pharma/Pfizer) being used in Hong Kong
About Professor Cowling
Professor Benjamin Cowling has been the Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) since 2013, and is a co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at HKU SPH.
Prof Cowling’s primary research focus is in infectious disease epidemiology. In recent years he has designed and implemented large field studies of influenza transmission in the community and the effectiveness and impact of control measures. His latest research has focused on the modes of respiratory virus transmission, influenza vaccination effectiveness, and immunity to infections at the individual and population level. He has strong links with China CDC, and the NIGMS-funded Harvard Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics.
Professor Cowling is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a Fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, and an Associate Editor of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar – The future of cancer screening: stratified, pan, both or neither?
2022-05-11 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the online Bradford Hill Seminar:
The future of cancer screening: stratified, pan, both or neither?
Professor Peter Sasieni
King’s Clinical Trials Unit, King’s College London
Register to attend
Register in advance for this free online seminar:
https://phgfoundation.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtdOyrqjovEtQkA-Iv94T1fjMaOVTNOsRf
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract
In this seminar Professor Peter Sasieni will briefly review the current landscape regarding cancer screening. He will then consider the potential for stratifying screening using either polygenic risk scores to differentiate between those with a low, average, or high risk of cancer, or the post-test risk of cancer to offer stratified management. Finally, he will review the potential to expand the scope of cancer screening by adding either new single-site screening programmes or a multi-cancer early detection test. The question of whether a pan-cancer screening test would dissipate the benefit of using polygenic risk scores to stratify screening will also be discussed as will the challenges of reducing screening as risk changes.
About Professor Sasieni
Peter Sasieni is Director of King’s Clinical Trials Unit and Professor of Cancer Prevention at King’s College London. He is the lead statistician and one of the co-lead investigators for the NHS-Galleri Trial evaluating GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test for population screening within the NHS and Chair of the National Cancer Research Institute’s Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis Group. Sasieni has a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Washington. He did post-doctoral research in Jack Cuzick’s group at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) and was Professor of Biostatistics and Cancer Epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London before moving to King’s.
His research spans: cervical screening and HPV testing, HPV vaccination, evaluating cancer screening programmes, clinical trials in cancer screening and prevention, and statistical methodology. He has a close collaboration with Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald evaluating her Cytosponge-TFF3 test for targeted screening and reducing mortality from oesophageal adenocarcinoma. He sometimes writes for the KCL Cancer Prevention Group blog.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Designing efficient clinical trials during a pandemic
2022-11-23 13:00 - 14:00 | MRC Biostatistics Unit, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, United Kingdom
All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
Designing efficient clinical trials during a pandemic
Professor Thomas Jaki
MRC Biostatistics Unit and University of Regensburg
Register to attend
Please note this will be a hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom). When registering, please select the relevant ticket option.
Register on Eventbrite to attend seminar in person or online.
Abstract
Clinical trials are the gold standard when evaluating the potential of a novel treatment, a standard that should not be compromised during a pandemic. At the same time, there are unique challenges in conducting studies in a novel disease, such as COVID-19, and developing novel treatments during a major outbreak of the disease. For example the limited understanding of the natural history of the disease makes it difficult to choose the primary endpoint for a study while potentially highly volatile number of infections makes it difficult to determine the rate and ability to recruit. In this talk Professor Jaki will discuss some of the key issues in designing clinical trials during a pandemic and reflect on his experiences with COVID-19 trials.
Following the seminar, Professor Jaki will be available for a Q&A session with audience members, from 2 – 2.30pm.
About Professor Jaki
Thomas is Professor of Computational Statistics at the University of Regensburg and MRC Professor of Statistics and Programme Leader in the DART theme at the MRC Biostatistics Unit. His work focuses on developing and evaluating novel statistical methods for clinical studies. These methods are adapted for specific applications to ensure they can be used in the pharmaceutical industry and also in public sector research institutions. His current research focuses on model-based dose-finding trials as well as Master protocols.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Department of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Learning About Long COVID from Patients: The Power of Narrative Evidence
2022-12-07 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the online Bradford Hill Seminar:
Learning About Long COVID from Patients: The Power of Narrative Evidence
Dr Rachel Grob
University of Wisconsin
Register to attend
Please note this will be an online seminar
Zoom registration to attend online: https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqdeCtqjMrHdwFytgvbCFhN0PMuxXHct40
Abstract
Patients have been at the forefront of identifying and addressing Long COVID since it was first reported in the spring of 2020. Today, their experiences and expertise remain a crucial resource for clinicians, public health workers, and others mounting a response to this widespread chronic manifestation of the global pandemic for which their remain few effective clinical interventions. In this seminar, we will summarize the global impact of Long COVID; explore themes emerging from qualitative health experiences research in the USA; share a montage of interview clips from similar research in 8 countries around the world; and discuss the promise and pitfalls associated with narrative evidence.
About Dr Grob
Dr Rachel Grob directs the Qualitative and Health Experiences Research Lab at the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and Center for Patient Partnerships. Her work focuses on improving health by listening to people’s experiences with health and health care, synthesizing their narratives, and then using this powerful learning as a source for making concrete changes that benefit consumers, families and communities. She is a public spokesperson for the value of qualitative methods. She is chair of the for the global health experiences organization DIPEx International; chair emeritus and steering committee member for the US-based Health Experiences Research Network; and author of over 40 peer reviewed articles and a book.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Department of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Social justice and health equity - Professor Sir Michael Marmot
2023-02-15 13:00 - 14:00 | MRC Biostatistics Unit, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, United Kingdom
We regret that the Bradford Hill seminar by Professor Sir Michael Marmot has been postponed. In view of UCU strike action, Professor Marmot is no longer able to deliver the lecture on 15 February.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and we hope to announce a new date shortly.
The Bradford Hill seminar series organising committee.

All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
Social justice and health equity
Professor Sir Michael Marmot
Institute of Health Equity and UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health
Register to attend
Please note this will be a hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom). Professor Sir Michael Marmot will present online via Zoom.
When registering, please select the relevant ticket option.

Register on Eventbrite to attend seminar in person
Register on Zoom to attend seminar online

Abstract
Taking action to reduce health inequalities is a matter of social justice. In developing strategies for tackling health inequalities we need to confront the social gradient in health not just the difference between the worst off and everybody else. There is clear evidence when we look across countries that national policies make a difference and that much can be done in cities, towns and local areas. But policies and interventions must not be confined to the health care system; they need to address the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. The evidence shows that economic circumstances are important but are not the only drivers of health inequalities. Tackling the health gap will take action, based on sound evidence, across the whole of society.
About Professor Sir Michael Marmot
Sir Michael Marmot MBBS, MPH, PhD, FRCP, FFPHM, FMedSci, FBA has been Professor of Epidemiology at University College London since 1985. He is the author of The Health Gap: the challenge of an unequal world (Bloomsbury: 2015), and Status Syndrome: how your place on the social gradient directly affects your health (Bloomsbury: 2004). Professor Marmot is the Advisor to the WHO Director-General, on social determinants of health, in the new WHO Division of Healthier Populations; Distinguished Visiting Professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong (2019-), and co-Director of the of the CUHK Institute of Health Equity. He is the recipient of the WHO Global Hero Award; the Harvard Lown Professorship (2014-2017); the Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health (2015), and 19 honorary doctorates.
Marmot has led research groups on health inequalities for nearly 50 years. He chaired the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas, set up in 2015 by the World Health Organization’s Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO) and chaired the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), which was set up by the World Health Organization in 2005, and produced the report entitled: ‘Closing the Gap in a Generation’ in August 2008. At the request of the British Government, he conducted the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post 2010, which published its report ‘Fair Society, Healthy Lives’ in February 2010. This was followed by the European Review of Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide, for WHO EURO in 2014; Health Equity in England: Marmot Review 10 Years On, in 2020; Build Back Fairer: the COVID-19 Marmot Review in 2021; and the Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, for WHO EMRO, also in 2021.
Professor Marmot also chaired the Expert Panel for the WCRF/AICR 2007 Second Expert Report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective; the Breast Screening Review for the NHS National Cancer Action Team, and was a member of The Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health. Early in his career, he set up and led a number of longitudinal cohort studies on the social gradient in health in the UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health (where he was head of department for 25 years): the Whitehall II Studies of British Civil Servants, investigating explanations for the striking inverse social gradient in morbidity and mortality; the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), and several international research efforts on the social determinants of health. He served as President of the British Medical Association (BMA) in 2010-2011, and as President of the World Medical Association in 2015. He is President of the British Lung Foundation. He is an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology; a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, and an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution for six years and in 2000 he was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen, for services to epidemiology and the understanding of health inequalities. Professor Marmot is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Department of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar – Driving sustainable improvements in patient outcomes through point of care patient outcome measurement and clinical benchmarking
2023-03-29 09:00 - 10:00 | Online
All are invited to the online Bradford Hill Seminar:
Driving sustainable improvements in patient outcomes through point of care patient outcome measurement and clinical benchmarking?
Professor Kathy Eagar
Australian Health Services Research Institute
Register to attend
Register in advance for this free online seminar:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAld-uorTgjHNYVwAEQvGQSTiuu1RtY4YpY
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract
Drawing on the experience of four Australasian patient outcome centres, this presentation will focus on the Australian experience of embedding nationally consistent outcome measures at point of care. It will describe the model of change that underpins these centres and include examples of improved patient outcomes at the national and services levels. While all centres initially focused on measuring outcomes at the patient and service level, there is an increasing focus on improving equity of outcomes at the population level. Equity of outcomes will be discussed using cancer as a case study.
About Professor Eagar
Professor Eagar has received several honours and awards. In 2008 she was awarded an Honorary Life Fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in recognition of her contribution to the improvement of rehabilitation services in Australia. In 2010 she was awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) in recognition of my significant, lifelong contribution to healthcare in Australia and in 2015 she was awarded the biannual Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand Professional Award
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar – Casual Inference for Clinical Trails: A Spellchecker’s Guide to Randomization Tests in Complex Settings
2023-07-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
Casual Inference for Clinical Trails: A Spellchecker’s Guide to Randomization Tests in Complex Settings
Professor William Rosenberger
George Mason University, USA
Register to attend
Please note this will be a hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom).
Register in advance for this free hybrid seminar:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bradford-hill-seminar-by-prof-william-rosenberger-tickets-660467816017
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract
Sir Austin Bradford Hill, the developer of the first randomized clinical trial, was a proponent of simplicity in statistical analysis, and strongly emphasized careful study design as the critical component of all medical studies. While he didn’t mention randomization tests in his 1937 book, I believe he would have liked their simplicity and interpretability. While we hear quite often about preservation of type I error rates and, more recently, about causal inference, these are natural elements of a randomization test. We discuss these issues and demonstrate that randomization tests can be used for more complex settings, such as multiple (>2) treatment comparisons, analyses with missing outcome data, and subgroup analyses. These topics extend some of the issues discussed originally in my Armitage Lecture at Cambridge in 2017.
About Professor Rosenberger
Professor William F. Rosenberger is University Professor at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. in mathematical statistics from George Washington University in 1992 and since then has spent much of his career developing statistical methodology for randomized clinical trials. He has two books on the subject, Randomization in Clinical Trials: Theory and Practice (Wiley, 2002), which won the Association of American Publishers Award for the best mathematics/statistics book published that year, and has recently been issued in a second edition (Wiley, 2016); and The Theory of Response-Adaptive Randomization in Clinical Trials (Wiley, 2006). He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2005) and of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (2011).
An author of over 100 refereed papers, Prof. Rosenberger was named the 2012 Outstanding Research Faculty by the Volgenau School of Engineering, George Mason University, where he also served as Chairman of their Department of Statistics for 13 years, hiring 16 faculty and developing programs at the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. levels. In 2014, he received a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to support his sabbatical at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. That same year he was promoted to the rank of University Professor, which is reserved for “eminent” individuals on the faculty “of great national or international reputation.” In 2017 he was named the 15th Armitage Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has been elected the North American Editor of the tier-1 biostatistical methodology journal Biometrics, for 2021-2024. He has supervised 20 doctoral students who are now leaders in academia, industry, and government.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar – Tackling Bias and Inequities in Health and Genomic Data
2023-10-04 13:00 - 14:00 | MRC Biostatistics Unit, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, United Kingdom
All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
Tackling Bias and Inequities in Health and Genomic Data
Dr Maxine Mackintosh
Genomics England
Register to attend
Please note this will be a hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (MRC Biostatistics Unit, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom).
Register in advance for this free hybrid seminar:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tackling-bias-and-inequities-in-health-and-genomic-data-tickets-698957208827
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract
Data and digital technology are now being used in all aspects of research, innovation and healthcare, but how do we ensure that the entire healthcare system benefits from these advanced technologies, specifically so that all people, especially those in underserved populations, receive the same quality of research benefit and care from innovations? This talk will discuss the intersection of data science, health and equity, illustrated by the inequities rife in genomics. Studies of human genetics have largely focused on populations from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) countries which has resulted genomic insights that are not generalizable to all populations. Most studies, trials and papers conclude with a call to action to recruit and use more diverse genomes, and yet the proportion of non-European ancestries in genomic studies is diminishing.
To address this gap, we must work across the whole pipeline of genomic research and health care delivery, from the populations we work with and the data we collect, to the analyses we carry out and the availability of genetic testing. This talk will cover the complex challenges taking an end-to-end approach to diversifying health and genomic data involves, and what we might do to reduce bias in our data-driven systems in precision medicine – something Maxine and her team are trying to do via the Diverse Data initiative at Genomics England.
About Dr Mackintosh
Maxine leads the Diverse Data initiative at Genomics England, which aims to reduce health inequalities in genomic medicine by ensuring patients, regardless of their background, receive the same quality of genomics-enabled personalised medicine, supported by the latest research on people like them. Maxine is also the co-founder of One HealthTech – a global, volunteer-led, grassroots community that supports and promotes under-represented groups in health innovation. OHT has over 20,000 contributors worldwide across 20 Hubs which have collectively delivered over 1000 events, projects, campaigns and initiatives improving diversity in healthtech.
She also set up Data Science for Health Equity, a community of practice that brings together those with expertise in data science and health inequalities to connect and collaborate on cutting-edge domains in health. She has been part of a number of communities and committees including being a Non-Executive Director for the Eastern Academic Health Science Network, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers, and the British Computer Society (Health Exec) and the DeepMind Health Independent Review Board. She also really really likes fancy dress.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar – Tweeting through the storm: how to use social media during a pandemic
2023-10-11 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
Tweeting through the storm: how to use social media during a pandemic
Meaghan Kall
UK Health Security Agency
Register to attend
Please note this will be a hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom). When registering, please select to attend in person or online. There will be a post-seminar discussion from 2 – 2.30pm which all attendees are welcome to join.
Register in advance for this free hybrid seminar:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bradford-hill-seminar-by-meaghan-kall-tickets-680742879277
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
About Meaghan Kall
Meaghan Kall is lead Epidemiologist in COVID-19 Vaccines and Epidemiology Division at the UK Health Security Agency. Prior to her current position, she worked in the National HIV Surveillance Team for 10 years, leading on the National HIV Patient Survey ‘Positive Voices’. In her spare time she explains epidemiological data on Twitter. This found a following during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021, the journal Nature named her in Nature’s 10, their global top ten list of people who helped shape science that year. Follow Meaghan on Twitter: @kallmemeg
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - What are the Policy Levers for Impact on Health and Sustainability?
2023-11-22 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
What are the Policy Levers for Impact on Health and Sustainability?
Professor Jeremy A. Lauer
Department of Management Science, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Register to attend
Please note this will be a free hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom).
No registration is required to attend in person.
Register in advance to attend this seminar online at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIsce-srzooG9EGsT1fCP3I68K_HOa5Zlfy#/registration
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
About this talk
Health taxes, which build on some of the oldest taxation measures in human society, open horizons in fiscal policy that are only starting to be identified and explored. In particular, health taxes facilitate the convergence of two of our most pressing unfinished agendas: SDG3 (“Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”, including target 3.8, Universal Health Coverage) and SDG13 (“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”). In this talk, I will present reflections on the structure inherent in these two Sustainable Development Goals, and in current approaches to achieving them, and infer a set of desirable criteria for innovative policy agendas. An emerging discussion termed “planetary health” serves as an example.
About Professor Jeremy Lauer
Jeremy joined the University of Strathclyde in February 2020 as Professor of Management Science following a 25-year career (1995-2020) as an Economist with the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2017, Jeremy was asked to lead a project on health taxes at the WHO which resulted in a 2022 book, involving collaboration with over two dozen global experts, that was published by the WHO, Imperial College and World Scientific. “Health Taxes: Policy and Practice” was the first book on the economics of a health topic to published by the WHO with an endorsement by a global financial institution (The World Bank).
Prior to this, in 2016 Jeremy analysed the economics of fiscal space for health workforce expansion in lower- and lower-middle income countries, as well as the interactions between the health system and the economy, for the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth. In 2018 Jeremy was invited by Argentina to advise the G20 health ministers’ working group. Jeremy continues to accept speaking engagements at the United Nations General Assembly, and appeared as a key-note speaker at high-profile UNGA side events hosted, respectively, by Uruguay and India in 2022 and 2023.
Jeremy’s expertise includes economic evaluation, fiscal policies for health, ethics in global health, the macroeconomics of health and the health system, and the health workforce.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Social justice and health equity - Professor Sir Michael Marmot
2024-02-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the Bradford Hill Seminar:
Social justice and health equity
Professor Sir Michael Marmot
Institute of Health Equity and UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health
Register to attend
Please note this will be online webinar. Professor Sir Michael Marmot will present online via Teams.

Register on Teams to attend seminar online

Abstract
Taking action to reduce health inequalities is a matter of social justice. In developing strategies for tackling health inequalities we need to confront the social gradient in health not just the difference between the worst off and everybody else. There is clear evidence when we look across countries that national policies make a difference and that much can be done in cities, towns and local areas. But policies and interventions must not be confined to the health care system; they need to address the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. The evidence shows that economic circumstances are important but are not the only drivers of health inequalities. Tackling the health gap will take action, based on sound evidence, across the whole of society.
About Professor Sir Michael Marmot
Sir Michael Marmot MBBS, MPH, PhD, FRCP, FFPHM, FMedSci, FBA has been Professor of Epidemiology at University College London since 1985. He is the author of The Health Gap: the challenge of an unequal world (Bloomsbury: 2015), and Status Syndrome: how your place on the social gradient directly affects your health (Bloomsbury: 2004). Professor Marmot is the Advisor to the WHO Director-General, on social determinants of health, in the new WHO Division of Healthier Populations; Distinguished Visiting Professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong (2019-), and co-Director of the of the CUHK Institute of Health Equity. He is the recipient of the WHO Global Hero Award; the Harvard Lown Professorship (2014-2017); the Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health (2015), and 19 honorary doctorates.
Marmot has led research groups on health inequalities for nearly 50 years. He chaired the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas, set up in 2015 by the World Health Organization’s Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO) and chaired the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), which was set up by the World Health Organization in 2005, and produced the report entitled: ‘Closing the Gap in a Generation’ in August 2008. At the request of the British Government, he conducted the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post 2010, which published its report ‘Fair Society, Healthy Lives’ in February 2010. This was followed by the European Review of Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide, for WHO EURO in 2014; Health Equity in England: Marmot Review 10 Years On, in 2020; Build Back Fairer: the COVID-19 Marmot Review in 2021; and the Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, for WHO EMRO, also in 2021.
Professor Marmot also chaired the Expert Panel for the WCRF/AICR 2007 Second Expert Report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective; the Breast Screening Review for the NHS National Cancer Action Team, and was a member of The Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health. Early in his career, he set up and led a number of longitudinal cohort studies on the social gradient in health in the UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health (where he was head of department for 25 years): the Whitehall II Studies of British Civil Servants, investigating explanations for the striking inverse social gradient in morbidity and mortality; the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), and several international research efforts on the social determinants of health. He served as President of the British Medical Association (BMA) in 2010-2011, and as President of the World Medical Association in 2015. He is President of the British Lung Foundation. He is an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology; a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, and an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution for six years and in 2000 he was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen, for services to epidemiology and the understanding of health inequalities. Professor Marmot is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - The SIREN study at five years: Tracking SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory infections in UK healthcare workers since 2020
2025-05-07 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the Bradford Hill Seminar:
The SIREN study at five years: Tracking SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory infections in UK healthcare workers since 2020
Victoria Hall
Consultant Epidemiologist, Antimicrobial Resistance & Healthcare Associated Infections Division of the UK Health Security Agency (UK HSA)
Register to attend
Please note this will be a free hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom).
No registration is required to attend in person.
Register in advance to attend this seminar online at:

https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/CoavXVmNQtWN8j8TOFv-rg#/registration

Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN) study is a prospective cohort study of hospital-based healthcare workers across the UK. It was established in 2020 as a pandemic response study, with over 44,000 healthcare workers recruited from 135 NHS trusts/health boards. The study initially investigated SARS-CoV-2 reinfections and the durability of immunity following infection, and subsequently COVID-19 vaccination. It has expanded its scope to evaluate Winter Pressures on the healthcare workforce, and questions related to immunity more broadly.
SIREN+ has been running since 2024. This has involved collecting data on symptoms and absence from time off work trends in around 5000 participants recruited from the original SIREN cohort. In addition to investigating Winter Pressures, SIREN+ provides an opportunity to address new research questions of public health importance that impact healthcare workers, including the emergence of multidrug resistant organisms and risk factors for healthcare associated infections.
More details on the study and publications from the study can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/siren-study
About Victoria Hall
Victoria Hall is a Consultant Epidemiologist in the Antimicrobial Resistance & Healthcare Associated Infections Division of the UK Health Security Agency and has been leading the SIREN study team since 2020. She completed public health speciality training in the East of England and the UK Field Epidemiology Training Programme based in South East and London Regional Field Epidemiology Service. She holds a part-time position at the Institute for Health Informatics, UCL working on research on infections and AMR in care homes with the VIVALDI study.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - The Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS), aiming to help reduce the delays in cancer diagnosis using transaction data
2025-07-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the Bradford Hill Seminar:
The Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS), aiming to help reduce the delays in cancer diagnosis using transaction data
Professor James Flanagan
Professor of Cancer Informatics at Imperial College London
Register to attend
Please note this will be a free hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Teams).
No registration is required to attend in person.
Register in advance to attend this seminar online at:

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/9d02ab32-b2e7-4bdb-9b33-ad126d573679@49a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9

Abstract
The first Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS) project revealed that ovarian cancer patients begin buying over-the-counter medications months before seeing a doctor, suggesting a missed opportunity for earlier diagnosis. This research opens new conversations about how everyday data might support earlier cancer detection, and what it takes for the public to feel comfortable sharing that data.
About Professor Flanagan
Dr James Flanagan, completed his PhD in 2002 at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia, and has pursued postdoctoral work in Cancer Genetics, Epigenetics and Cancer Epigenetics. He was awarded a Breast Cancer Campaign Scientific Fellowship (Imperial, 2009-2014) and Senior Lecturer (2014-2019) and is now Reader in Epigenetics (2019-present) in the Division of Cancer, Dept. of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London.
He was awarded the British Association of Cancer Research Translational Researcher Award in 2011 and the prestigious DataIQ award in 2023 for his work using Shopping Loyalty Cards for early detection of ovarian cancer.
He is the principal investigator (PI) for the OCA funded programme “Risk and Prevention” and PI of the CRUK funded project “Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS)” In 2021 he was appointed as the Director of the MRes Cancer Biology.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - The politics of epidemiology and public health in the UK
2025-10-15 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the Bradford Hill Seminar:
The politics of epidemiology and public health in the UK
Professor Danny Dorling
1971 Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford
Register to attend
Please note this will be a free hybrid seminar, with the option to attend in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR) or virtually (via Zoom).
No registration is required to attend in person, and we strongly engourage you to attend in person if possible.
Register in advance to attend this seminar online at:

https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/Xt6c2C_hR7a2xOFqlKb5Dg

Abstract
We like to present epidemiology as politically neutral, and public health as the science of supporting the health of the population as a whole. This is not necessarily so.
There are always choices to be made. Different academic disciplines have implicit biases and underlying beliefs, which can change over time and differ greatly between contexts. Some of the most obvious examples are between people who prefer individualistic explanations and those who see this as victim blaming.
A lack of attention to certain topics is another form of political bias. Why, for instance, are we in the UK not more concerned about how many people choose and can afford to use private health care and dentistry? Why are we not talking about how life expectancy fell in the UK after 2014? And, to what extent is our epidemiology and public health in the UK in the 2020s a reflection of UK politics?
About Professor Dorling
Danny Dorling works at the University of Oxford. His most recent three books are: “Seven Children”, “Peak Injustice”, and “The Next Crisis”. He works with road crash charity RoadPeace, Heeley City Farm in Sheffield, and the educational campaign group Comprehensive Future
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Diagnostic and predictive journeys: Finding the right balance in genomic medicine
2025-11-26 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the rescheduled Bradford Hill Seminar:
Diagnostic and predictive journeys: Finding the right balance in genomic medicine
Professor Anneke Lucassen
Professor of Genomic Medicine, University of Oxford
Register to attend
Please note this will be a free online seminar,
Register at https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e9735899-dca7-4747-b8e7-78e68fd4505c@49a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9
Abstract
The growing use of genomic data in healthcare aims to balance predictive and diagnostic needs by supporting both disease prevention and clinical decision-making. Yet, the predictive potential of genomic information is frequently overstated, with the genome too often portrayed as a complete “blueprint” for health. Achieving an effective balance remains challenging, as genomic applications in public health prediction and clinical diagnosis continue to operate largely in isolation.
About Professor Lucassen
Professor Anneke Lucassen is Director of the Centre for Personalised Medicine, and a physician who specializes in clinical genetics. She is Professor of Genomic Medicine and consultant in clinical genetics at the University of Oxford (since 2021). She leads a research group at the University of Oxford that explores the clinical ethical, legal and societal issues (CELS) involved in developments in genomics and big data within medicine.
In Oxford, she directs the Centre for Personalised Medicine, an interdisciplinary environment, driving forward a more integrated and personalised approach to medicine and healthcare. Having served as chair of the British Society for Genetic Medicine (BSGM) from 2016 to 2020, Anneke now chairs the ethics advisory committee of UK Biobank and the Joint Committee on Genomics in Medicine (JCGM).
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - From Genes to Public Health: The Journey Continues!
2025-12-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
All are invited to the online Bradford Hill Seminar:
From Genes to Public Health: The Journey Continues!
Dr Muin J. Khoury
Emory University School of Public Health and University of Washington School of Public Health
Register to attend
Please note this will be a free online seminar,
Register at https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a94d948f-ff86-4256-bd91-c14c5adf1841@49a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9
Abstract
Dr. Muin J. Khoury recently retired from the CDC after a 40-year public health career, including 26 years leading the Office of Public Health Genomics, which he formed in 1998. He contributed to the development of genetic epidemiology, public health genomics, and precision public health; fields that are vital for realising the population health benefits of genome discoveries.
The trajectory from genes to public health is still early but Dr Khoury believes the next 40 years promise to be even more exciting in applying these fields to save lives, prevent disease, and reduce health inequities. Dr Khoury warns that many of the advances in genomics translation and implementation could be unravelled because of the current turmoil and budget cuts in science and public health in the United States. This talk offers his perspective on the evolution and contributions of these fields, and recommendations for increasing their population health impact.
About Dr Muin J. Khoury
Dr Khoury was the founding and only Director (1998-2024, retired) of the Office of Public Health Genomics at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), established to assess the public health impact of the Human Genome Project. He is currently an adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia, and affiliate professor in the Public Health Genetics Institute at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He also serves on the editorial boards of multiple scientific journals.
Dr Khoury holds an M.D., and a Ph.D. in Human Genetics/Genetic Epidemiology. During his 40-year career in public health, he spearheaded numerous national and international initiatives to translate advances in genomics and other technologies into effective, ethical interventions to improve population health and reduce inequities. He has extensively published on genetic epidemiology, public health genomics, and precision public health, including four books, and won multiple scientific and service awards for his contributions to the field.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Expanding testing of cancer susceptibility genes from the clinic to the population: exploring the evidence gaps
2026-01-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR
All are invited to the in-person Bradford Hill Seminar:
Expanding testing of cancer susceptibility genes from the clinic to the population: exploring the evidence gaps
Professor Clare Turnbull
Institute of Cancer Research
Register to attend
Please note this will be an in-person (Large Seminar Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR).
Register in advance to attend at:
https://www.phgfoundation.org/upcoming-event/expanding-testing-of-cancer-susceptibility-genes-from-the-clinic-to-the-population-exploring-the-evidence-gaps/
Abstract
Traditionally, clinical genetics services offered ‘reactive’ testing of specific cancer susceptibility genes (CSGs) to those with the corresponding classical presentation. Increasingly, cancer susceptibility gene germline pathogenic variants (CSG-GPVs) are being looked for much more ‘proactively’, including wide germline, tumour and/or ctDNA genomic analyses performed routinely in cancer patients to inform oncological therapeutics, return of secondary findings, direct-to-consumer offerings and population genomic testing programmes. Thus, whilst CSG-GPVs were historically identified reactively in individuals (and their families) who already knew themselves to have ‘extreme’ disease (young onset, syndromic or familial cancers), CSG-GPVs are increasingly being identified proactively in individuals not previously concerned about genetic cancer susceptibility, namely (i) via a ‘routine’ cancer presentation, (ii) coincidental to their presenting cancer or (iii) in the well population. Within this new landscape of assigning many more to individuals to the lifelong implications of being a CSG-GPV-carrier, it is critical to evaluate the robustness of evidence regarding disease penetrance and the efficacy of our interventions for early detection and prevention, to ensure such assignations provide net benefit over harm.
About Professor Clare Turnbull
Clare is Professor of Translational Cancer Genetics in the Division of Genetics and Epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer Research, London and an NHS consultant in Clinical Cancer Genetics at The Royal Marsden. Her research focuses on statistical, population and public-health-related analyses to inform clinical implementation of cancer susceptibility genetics. Research areas include (i) discovery of novel genes/genomic variants associated with cancer susceptibility (iii) Clinical interpretation of variant pathogenicity (iii) assembly, linkage and longitudinal analyses of routine NHS datasets, including working with NDRS to achieve nationally comprehensive submissions of genetic data from NHS genomic laboratory hubs (iv) evaluation of the clinical utility and impact of genomic risk stratification for cancer early detection and prevention. A key area of focus over the last five years has been working in partnership with CRUK and NHS England Cancer Programme on development of pragmatic, high-throughput pathways for scaling of NHS genomic testing, focusing first on the BRCA genes (including the BRCA-DIRECT North Thames mainstreaming programme, the national NHS Jewish Community BRCA testing programme and the national NHS Retrospective BRCA-testing programme).
Clare studied undergraduate medicine at Cambridge, clinical medicine at Oxford, undertook a Masters in epidemiology and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a PhD in statistical genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research. From 2015 to 2020, Clare worked at Genomics England as Clinical Lead for Cancer Genomics for the 100,000 Genomes Project
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.

Bradford Hill Seminar - Leveraging External Data for Testing Experimental Therapies with Biomarker Interactions in Randomized Clinical Trials
2026-02-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Large Downstairs Teaching Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR, East Forvie Building, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 0SR, United Kingdom
All are invited to the hybrid Bradford Hill Seminar:
Leveraging External Data for Testing Experimental Therapies with Biomarker Interactions in Randomized Clinical Trials
Professor Lorenzo Trippa
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Register to attend
Please note this will be a hybrid event.
Attend in person at: Large Downstairs Teaching Room, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SR.
Register to attend online at: cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/f9LMsIBDQwqxwpWM0Fr9Hw#/registration

Abstract
In oncology the efficacy of novel therapeutics often differs across patient subgroups, and these variations are difficult to predict during the initial phases of the drug development process. The relation between the power of randomized clinical trials and heterogeneous treatment effects has been discussed by several authors. In particular, false negative results are likely to occur when the treatment effects concentrate in a subpopulation but the study design did not account for potential heterogeneous treatment effects. The use of external data from completed clinical studies and electronic health records has the potential to improve decision-making throughout the development of new therapeutics, from early-stage trials to registration.
Here we discuss the use of external data to evaluate experimental treatments with potential heterogeneous treatment effects. We introduce a permutation procedure to test, at the completion of a randomized clinical trial, the null hypothesis that the experimental therapy does not improve the primary outcomes in any subpopulation. The permutation test leverages the available external data to increase power. Also, the procedure controls the false positive rate at the desired 𝛼-level without restrictive assumptions on the external data, for example, in scenarios with unmeasured confounders, different pre-treatment patient profiles in the trial population compared to the external data, and other discrepancies between the trial and the external data. We illustrate that the permutation test is optimal according to an interpretable criteria and discuss examples based on asymptotic results and simulations, followed by a retrospective analysis of individual patient-level data from a collection of glioblastoma clinical trials.
About Professor Trippa
Lorenzo Trippa, PhD, is a professor of biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research focuses on statistical methods for clinical trial design, with an emphasis on Bayesian and adaptive approaches, external controls, and precision oncology. Trippa’s work aims to improve the efficiency and reliability of trials in complex settings, particularly in cancer research, and has connects methodological research and applied clinical studies.
About the Bradford Hill seminars
The Bradford Hill seminar series is the principal series of The Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation. This comprises the Departments of Public Health & Primary Care, MRC Biostatistics Unit and MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, bringing together a multi-disciplinary partnership of academics and public health professionals. The Bradford Hill seminar programme of internationally recognised speakers covers topics of broad interest to our public health research community. It aims to transcend as well as connect the activities of our individual partners.
All are welcome at our Bradford Hill seminars.
