The MRC Epidemiology Unit investigates the individual and combined effects of genetic, developmental, behavioural & environmental factors that cause obesity, type 2 diabetes and to develop and evaluate strategies to prevent them and their consequences. These disorders result from a complex interplay between genetic, developmental, behavioural and environmental factors that operate throughout life. The mission of the MRC Epidemiology Unit is to investigate the individual and combined effects of these factors and to develop and evaluate strategies to prevent these diseases and their consequences. In this way, we are working to improve the health of people in the UK and around the world. We are a Medical Research Council Unit embedded as a department of the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. The Unit is part of the Wellcome – MRC Institute of Metabolic Science (IMS) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, where the principle offices and laboratories of the Unit are physically located. Unit Director Professor Nick Wareham is Co-Director of the IMS with Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly. Being embedded in the IMS is critical to our aspiration to follow up associations between exposures and metabolic disease outcomes to determine possible causality and mechanisms. The Unit is also a part of Cambridge Population Health Sciences, a three department partnership of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care and the MRC Biostatistics Unit. Collectively, the Partnership pursues a wide range of research across epidemiology, biostatistics, population health and primary care, and delivers the Masters courses in Population Health Sciences. We are delivering on our mission through eight High Level Objectives which connect all our research programmes and infrastructure.
- To investigate the causes of obesity, diabetes and related metabolic disorders
- To develop understanding of mechanisms identified by population-based studies
- To develop and evaluate individual level approaches to the prevention of diabetes, obesity and related metabolic disorders in children and adults
- To inform, develop and evaluate population-based approaches to improving health
- To develop new methods, resources and tools for epidemiological and public health research
- To investigate approaches to improving global health, particularly in low and middle income countries
- To build capacity for conducting, understanding and using local, national, and international epidemiology and public health research
- To contribute to the translation of research evidence into policy and practice
The main objectives of each individual research programme are mapped to one or more of these High Level Objectives, which therefore provide a unifying framework to illustrate and augment the cross-links and collaborations between programmes.
