Cohort Studies

MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health

How to find us

MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health
UCL Institute of Child Health
30 Guilford Street
London, WC1N 1EH
Tel: +44 (0)20 7905 2362

Paediatric Epidemiology & Biostatistics

UCL Institute of Child Health

“Cohort studies have the potential to address key questions about the interplay between biology and the environment during early life. They enable us to understand what influences the health and well-being of children and the adults they will eventually become."

Professor Carol Dezateux, Director of the MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health

Related information

External websites

The Centre for Longitudinal StudiesCLS is resource centre funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and based at the Institute of Education, University of London. It is responsible for the 1958, 1970 and the Millennium Cohort Studies.

Cohort studies

Cohort studies follow the same people over time, collecting information about certain aspects of their lives. The information on lifestyle, health, and environment - as well as biological measures - that is collected allows researchers to investigate what factors could be contributing towards diseases, not only in childhood, but all the way into adulthood.

This centre is involved in running a number of cohort studies, contributing to the enhancement of data collected in UK birth cohort studies, and uses the data obtained from cohort studies both in the UK and internationally in our research.

Birth cohorts

UK birth cohort studies (studies that follow the same individuals from birth) have made important contributions to understanding disease and health from birth into adult life. These longitudinal studies provide us with data to conduct life course research, helping us to understand how adult diseases are linked to our early development and environments.

Scientists at the MRC CECH have contributed to creating these invaluable resources of information as well as analysing them. Although we use data from a number of birth cohorts, the two most prominent ones to which the centre has contributed and whose data is being used for research are:

This centre is coordinating the UK’s next large birth cohort study which will collect information on more than 100,000 children across the UK.

This birth cohort study will provide information that can be used by researchers to improve the health and wellbeing of children, both now and in the future.