Professor Ruth Loos

University of Copenhagen

Professor Loos researches the etiology of obesity and related traits, focusing on identifying genes that influence body weight regulation and the connections between adiposity and its comorbidities. Her team studies refined adiposity phenotypes and biomarkers for a deeper understanding of obesity. Using sophisticated epidemiological methods, Professor Loos examines how genetic information aids precision medicine in obesity, helping to identify subtypes, predict the risk of weight gain, and tailor novel prevention and treatment strategies.

Professor Golam Khandaker

University of Bristol

Professor Khandaker’s research investigates novel immunological mechanisms and treatment targets for major psychiatric disorders, especially depression and schizophrenia, using cohort studies, genetics, and clinical trials. He also works at the forefront of life-course epidemiology of mental disorders, and physical and psychiatric multimorbidity, especially the prevention of cardiometabolic disease in people with schizophrenia and depression.

Dr. Charles Mangani

Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi

Dr. Mangani focuses on maternal and child health in low- and middle-income countries, specifically addressing the complexities of malaria and nutritional interventions. He studies the life-course of vulnerable populations, examining critical health determinants, including antenatal treatments, neonatal mortality, and adolescent body composition, to improve health outcomes in resource-limited settings.

Associate Professor Tanya Alderete

Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Alderete studies how environmental exposures, like air pollution and PFAS, influence health during critical development periods. Her research combines clinical and epidemiological methods with multi-omics to assess their impact on chronic disease risks. She was among the first to show that air pollution exposure affects type 2 diabetes in youth and alters gut microbiome composition and function.

Professor Jason Dykes

City St George's, University of London

Jason Dykes develops innovative maps and graphics that represent complexity with clarity. His research focuses on the interactions, algorithms, experiments and methodologies that help us understand the roles of, and possibilities for, these new visual artifacts that support knowledge construction and decision-making. This work is necessarily transdisciplinary, assessing and developing the opportunities that visualization offers for observation, analysis, and model development in diverse domains, including home energy usage, transport networks, voting behaviour, migration, football tactics and epidemiology.  Having led the giCentre for over a decade he currently has his hands full co-Directing DIVERSE-CDT, the EPSRC’s innovative (and exciting) Centre for Doctoral Training in Diversity in Data Visualization.

Associate Professor Juulia Jylhävä

University of Oulu

Dr. Jylhävä specialises in the systems biology of ageing. Her research focuses on using genetic, multi-omics, and AI approaches to understand the causes and consequences of biological ageing. Her research group is also developing tools, such as an electronic frailty index, to identify vulnerable individuals and address the underlying causes of age-related decline. As a member of The Lancet Commission on Frailty, she contributes to evidence synthesis aimed at advancing global understanding and policy on prevention and management of age-related frailty.