A Life Course Approach to the Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases and Ageing

Diana Kuh, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Life Course Epidemiology at UCL, and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Public Health in the UK. Diana established and directed the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing (LHA) at UCL between 2008 and 2017 and directed the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), the world's oldest continually followed birth cohort study that began in 1946. Diana created and advanced the field of life course epidemiology which studies how biological, psychological, and social factors across life affect adult health, ageing and chronic disease risk. In over 500 publications, Diana used data from NSHD and other cohort studies to show the influence of childhood development, prior health, and lifetime lifestyle and socioeconomic factors on musculoskeletal, cardiometabolic, cognitive and reproductive function and survival. Ezra Susser, M.D., Dr.P.H., is Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute. As a psychiatric epidemiologist with a life course perspective, he has a wide range of work, including for example genomics, epigenetics, and social determinants of neurodevelopmental disorders. He has a special interest in the most marginalized populations, such as people who have severe mental disorders and/or are homeless. This pertains to his local work in New York City, as well as to his extensive research in less wealthy countries across several regions of the globe. Joanna M. Blodgett, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health in the Division of Surgery & Interventional Science at UCL in the United Kingdom. Originally from Canada, Jo is a life course epidemiologist whose primary research areas encompass ageing, physical activity, cohort studies, and women's health. She is particularly interested in the intersection of physical activity and women's health, from both population health and elite athlete perspectives. Yoav Ben-Shlomo, is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, having graduated in Medicine with an intercalated BSc in Human Psychology. He is internationally known for his work on life course epidemiology both at a conceptual as well as empirical level. He played a key role on studies as the Barry Caerphilly Growth study, The Hyderabad Nutrition trial and Christs Hospital School looking at early life exposures. He is also known in the field of neuroepidemiology, (e.g. Parkinson's disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis) and physical and cognitive ageing. He is the epidemiological lead for two large PD natural history cohorts as well as several PD trials (CHIEF-PD, PRIME-UK, PD-STRIPE). He advised the UK Department of health on disease modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis. He is a member of the Alzheimer's Society Scientific Advisory as well as the Alzheimer's Disease strategy board.

SECTION I. Opportunities and challenges for life course epidemiology in the 2020s
1: Diana Kuh, Joanna M. Blodgett, Mark Hanson, Ezra Susser, and Yoav Ben-Shlomo: Introduction to the third edition
2: Diana Kuh, Joanna M. Blodgett, W. Ian Lipkin, and Ezra Susser: A life course approach to health in the age of pandemics
3: Elisabeth M. Simonin, Sotheany Leap, Ellie S. Klibaner-Schiff, Sarah Kirsh, Olivia Kline, Hannah Matthews, Nicholas Vogler, Claire Kepner, Vanitha Sampath, Mary M. Johnson, and Kari C. Nadeau: The value of a life course approach to the health consequences of climate change
4: Oliver Robinson, Paolo Vineis, and Giovanni Fiorito: Capturing exposures from childhood to adulthood with exposomics
5: Claudia Börnhorst, Marvin N. Wright, and Vanessa Didelez: New analytical approaches to life course analyses
6: Nicholas J. Timpson and Claire Steves: Maximizing the value of life course studies
SECTION II. Life course epidemiology for chronic diseases and ageing
7: Lauren C. Houghton, Michelle Lui, and Mary Beth Terry: A life course approach to cancer
8: Linda O'Keefe, Gita D. Mishra, and Rebecca Hardy: A life course approach to cardiovascular disease
9: Wei Perng, Izzuddin M. Aris, Jill Norris, and Dana Dabelea: A life course approach to obesity and diabetes
10: James P. Allinson and Peter Lange: A life course approach to lung function and respiratory disease
11: Sarah-Naomi James, Jonathan M. Schott, and Yoav Ben-Shlomo: A life course approach to neurodegeneration
12: Katherine M. Keyes and Gonzalo Martínez-Alés: A life course approach to mental health and well-being
13: Anne B. Newman and Rachel Cooper: A life course approach to multimorbidity and healthy ageing
14: Daniel W. Belsky, David M. Wilson III, and Luigi Ferrucci: Translational geroscience: A life course perspective
SECTION III. Implications of a life course approach for policy and interventions
15: Mark Hanson, Chandni Maria Jacob, and Keith Godfrey: Influencing policies for public health interventions using a life course perspective focusing on the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)
16: K.S. Joseph and Michael S. Kramer: Expected impact of interventions to increase fetal and infant growth
17: Natalie Slopen and Jack P. Shonkoff: Employing life course epidemiology to catalyze larger impacts of early child policies on lifelong health
18: Joanna M. Blodgett, Gregore Iven Mielke, and Eleanor Winpenny: A life course approach to the development of health behaviours
19: Caroline Fall, Ryan G. Wagner, Shane Norris, and Stephen Tollman: Chronic disease and ageing: A life course approach to policy and interventions in lower income countries
20: John R. Beard, Yuan Zhang, and Allison E. Aiello: A life course approach to promoting healthy longevity
SECTION IV. Conclusions
21: Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Joanna M. Blodgett, Ezra Susser, and Diana Kuh: Challenges, priorities, and future directions for life course epidemiology