MRC/ICRF Initiative in Epidemiology

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

The purpose of this initiative is to develop a programme of work, jointly supported by the MRC and Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), which builds on the infrastructure of the existing ICRF Cancer Epidemiology Unit and expands the scope of the research in the Unit beyond that of cancer. The main focus of this proposal is on epidemiological studies of the effects of hormones and of diet on common non-cancer conditions, particularly cardiovascular and musculo-skeletal disease. This new initiative includes studies of the incidence of cardiovascular disease and osteoporotic fracture in relation to the pattern of use of hormone replacement therapy , to circulating levels of endogenous hormones and to early natural or surgical menopause. Other work proposed includes: examination of cause-specific mortality rates in women who began using oral contraceptives as teenagers; a prospective study of cause-specific mortality in relation to the consumption of meat, dairy products, eggs and fish; and investigation of the relationship between intake of specific nutrients and ischaemic heart disease, stroke and fracture. Much of this work would be performed within two large cohorts that have already been assembled, one of which includes a quarter of all women aged 50-64 in the UK. The proposed studies have sufficient statistical power to answer reliably, and relatively quickly, important outstanding questions about exposures that effect large numbers of people. The results of this research should, over the next five years, contribute substantial new information for evaluating the overall impact of hormonal therapy and of certain dietary patterns on the health of the public.