Health Behaviour Research Centre

UCL DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
HEALTH BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH CENTRE

DR LAURA JOHNSON
Research Associate

EXPERTISE
Human biology; childhood obesity; dietary patterns; appetite; genetic/nutritional epidemiology;

RESEARCH
Research interests
Current research involving the GEMINI, TEDS and ALSPAC studies includes analysis of the:

heritability of eating behaviour and weight gain in infancy
the relationship between eating behaviour and diet
gene-diet interactions in the causation of obesity

Current research
GEMINI Study: A longitudinal study of eating behaviour and weight gain in twins from birth to 5 years. Recruitment and data collection are currently underway.

Analysis of existing prospective data on genetics, diet, eating behaviour and adiposity from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

BIOGRAPHY
Qualifications
2008 PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Cambridge
2003 MSc in Genetic Epidemiology, University of Sheffield
2002 BSc in Human Biology, Loughborough University

Other
Member of the UK Association for the Study of Obesity
Member of the Nutrition Society

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Johnson L, Luke A, Deng HW, Mitchell BD, Comuzzie AG, Cole SA, et al. Meta-analysis of five genome-wide linkage studies for body mass index reveals significant evidence for linkage to chromosome 8p. Int J Obes 2005 Feb 1;29(4):413-9.
Rennie KL, Johnson L, Jebb SA. Behavioural determinants of obesity. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 2005 Sep;19(3):343-58.
Johnson L, Mander AP, Jones LR, Emmett PM, Jebb SA. Is sugar-sweetened beverage consumption associated with increased fatness in children? Nutrition 2007;23(7-8):557-63.
Johnson L, Mander AP, Jones LR, Emmett PM, Jebb SA. A prospective analysis of dietary energy density at age 5 and 7 years and fatness at 9 years among UK children. Int J Obes 2007 Oct 2;advance online publication 2 October 2007:doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803746.
Johnson L, Mander AP, Jones LR, Emmett PM, Jebb SA. An energy dense, low fibre, high fat dietary pattern is associated with increased fatness in childhood. Am J Clin Nut 2007 (In press).

This page last modified 25 May, 2010 by Mark Livermore

CONTACT DETAILS
Telephone:
+44 (0)20 7679 1263
Internal: x41263
Fax:
+44 (0)20 7679 8354
Email: l.johnson@public-health.ucl.ac.uk

Postal address: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health,
UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

Office: Room 210,
1-19 Torrington Place,
WC1E 7HB