We are delighted to announce that the FIFTH GEOFFREY ROSE MEMORIAL LECTURE will be hosted by the School of Public Health at Imperial College London on the afternoon of Tuesday 19 November 2019.

Our speaker will be Professor George Davey Smith, FMedSci, FRS, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Director of the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol.

LECTURE TITLE "Sick Individuals and Sick Populations in the Molecular Genomics Era"

The Lecture will start at 5pm and finish at 6pm and will include time for questions from the audience at the close.

The Lecture Theatre will open at 4:30pm and tea will be available. The Lecture will be followed by an informal drinks reception.

ABSTRACT

Epidemiology is being transformed by the ability to incorporate molecular genetic markers into large-scale population studies. Given the intuitive link between genomics and personalised medicine, this might be expected to steer the epidemiological enterprise away from population health thinking epitomised by Geoffrey Rose. This presentation will propose that, far from this being the logic of the union of epidemiology and genomics, such developments simultaneously strengthen our ability to identify population-level intervention targets and to construct a rigorous theory of how group and individual influences on health act together.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Professor George Davey Smith is a clinical epidemiologist who has focused on methods for improving causal inference in studies of disease aetiology and disease prevention. He has led important developments in our understanding of what determines – and how to prevent – ill-health within society. His research has focused on how social inequalities in health are generated by exposures over an entire life course, and the use of genetic data to improve understanding of how environmentally modifiable risk factors influence disease risk in populations.

He has worked on many international projects, ranging from HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Nicaragua, research into the emerging non-communicable disease burden in India and studies of socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in health in the USA, India and several Nordic countries. Throughout his career he has promoted increasing the accessibility of data, and implemented this in studies he has led, including the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and their Children (ALSPAC).

Professor Davey Smith pioneered an innovative approach to epidemiological study, called Mendelian Randomization, which leads to more valid inference about the causes and prevention of disease, and is now very widely used in studies internationally

http://www.bris.ac.uk/social-community-medicine/people/george-davey-smith/index.html

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?

The Anthony de Rothschild Lecture Theatre is located in the Faculty of Medicine Building at the St Mary’s campus of Imperial College London. The entrance is at street level either from Praed Street or South Wharf Road W2 1PG.

The nearest tube stations are London Paddington 5 minutes’ walk, Edgware Road 5 minutes’ walk and Lancaster Gate 10 minutes’ walk.

There is no parking on campus, only extremely restricted metered roadside parking near to St Mary’s Hospital, so it is strongly advised to use public transport.

For campus map see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/visit/campuses/st-marys/