Growing up on free school meals at one of the lowest performing state schools in the country, Raghib Ali went on to become a leading epidemiologist and OBE awardee. He’s determined to improve the life outcomes of children from poor backgrounds so that they too can reach their full potential.
A new national consortium, co-led by the University of Cambridge, will bring together mathematical modellers to produce faster, more rigorous predictions for the COVID-19 pandemic and advise UK government bodies.
Professor Julia Gog is a mathematician who specialises in modelling the spread of infectious diseases, particularly pandemic influenza. For months, she and the other members of her research group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics have been modelling and mapping the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19.
As part of the UK Government’s announcement of a new five pillar plan to boost testing for COVID-19, AstraZeneca, GSK and the University of Cambridge have formed a joint collaboration to take action to support this national effort.
Emma Glennon is a PhD candidate in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Here, she tells us about her research on infectious disease and how they emerge, the importance of interdisciplinary work, and learning how to catch bats.
New research shows the sudden oak death epidemic in California cannot now be stopped, but that its tremendous ecological and economic impacts could have been greatly reduced if control had been started earlier. The research also identifies new strategies to enhance control of future epidemics, including identifying where and how to fell trees, as “there will be a next time”.
A brisk 20 minute walk each day could be enough to reduce an individual’s risk of early death, according to new research published today. The study of over 334,000 European men and women found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to lack of physical activity compared with the number of deaths attributable to obesity, but that just a modest increase in physical activity could have significant health benefits.
Public health strategies aimed at tackling obesity at a population level through lifestyle changes are more appropriate for preventing type 2 diabetes than targeted interventions based on an individual’s genetic risk, according to a study led by the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
Population studies on a vast scale are providing the power to enable accurate risk assessment – and intervention – into cardiovascular disease.
Understanding the spread of infectious diseases in populations is the key to controlling them. If the UK was facing a flu pandemic, how could we measure where the greatest spreading risk comes from? This information could help inform decisions on whether to impose travel restrictions or close schools.
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