News

flashfmZero offers insights into the genetic basis of complex health traits

14 April 2025

New research published in Cell Genomics , led by Jennifer Asimit and colleagues, is providing powerful insights into the genetic basis of complex health traits. Often a genetic variant affects a group of health-related traits through a common pathway. Methods that leverage information between traits can identify associated...

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Are NHS health checks for cardiovascular risk too frequent?

27 March 2025

New research reveals that cardiovascular risk assessments should be personalised based on initial individual cardiovascular risk, age, and sex, challenging the current one-size-fits-all approach. cvd_fig.jpeg Identifying optimal intervals for re-assessing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is important for ensuring...

BSU PhD student presents at STEM for BRITAIN 2025

20 March 2025

Conor Egan, was selected as a finalist at the STEM for BRITAIN annual scientific poster competition, showcasing the brilliant research and talent of early-career scientists. av8y8779.jpg This prestigious event, held at the UK Parliament, provides a unique platform for researchers to present their work directly to Members...

Mendelian Randomization course turns 10!

21 February 2025

This March marks a significant milestone for the Mendelian randomization (MR) course here at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, as it enters its 10th year. First offered in 2015 as a two day, in-person course, the course is aimed at introducing participants to Mendelian randomization, a statistical technique that uses genetic...

£10m Funding for New Programme to Help Identify Individual Cancer Risk

22 January 2025

Doctors could soon be able to predict your individual chances of getting cancer and offer personalised detection and prevention, thanks to a new research project. Today, Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are...

BSU Strengthens Ties with Google Through Visiting Researcher Appointment

20 January 2025

Sofia Villar Dr Sofia Villar, Programme Leader at the BSU, has been appointed a Visiting Researcher at Google. In this role, she will collaborate with PhD student Amy Lee, fellow Visiting Faculty Researcher Nina Deliu, and a multidisciplinary team of behavioral scientists and computer scientists on the Fitbit team. This...

Stephen Burgess contributes to Top Cited Article by European Society of Cardiology

8 January 2025

“Mendelian randomization for cardiovascular diseases: principles and applications” , is number 1 in the European Heart Journal Top Cited Articles for 2023. The paper, co-authored by Stephen Burgess at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, Susanna C. Larsson, and Adam Butterworth at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care...

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Radical rethink of mental health support for adolescents

19 December 2024

Young people have given important insights into what mental health support they prefer and what does not work for them or meet their needs, as part of a major new study of thousands of adolescents. The new study, led by researchers at the University of Oxford and the MRC Biostatistics Unit, found that adolescents access a...

Introducing our first year PhD Students

28 November 2024

In October, we welcomed a brilliant new cohort of PhD students. They are; Connor Fitchett, Boris Vasilev, Joshua Park, Letao Yuan, Shawn Han, Fuming Yang, Nasir Bashir and Simone Baskir. Here some of them introduce themselves. Letao Yuan "I have recently joined as a PhD student in the Efficient Study Design theme...

New evidence about whether Air Cleaning Units reduce hospital-acquired infections

17 October 2024

Researchers from Cambridge University Hospitals and the University of Cambridge, including the Department of Medicine and the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU), have been leading the Addenbrookes Air Disinfection Study (AAirDS) looking at whether Air Cleaning Units in hospital wards reduce hospital-acquired infections...