Upgrade seminar: Associations of blood lipids with non-cardiovascular diseases: a population-based cohort study and Mendelian randomisation 

Title: Associations of blood lipids with non-cardiovascular diseases: a population-based cohort study and Mendelian randomisation 

Speaker: Mr Nat Na-Ek

Date & Time: Monday 3 April 2017, h.13.00-13.45

Venue: Room G01, 222 Euston Road NW1 2DA

My PhD sets out to evaluate the causal relevance, if any, of blood lipids for a wide range of non-cardiovascular diseases in order to better understand potential efficacy and safety profiles of existing strategies to modulate lipids. The broad approach is to triangulate three forms of evidence: large scale observation from a cohort (linked health records, CALIBER), available randomised trial evidence of lipid medication, and genetic evidence from Mendelian randomisation studies. Each form of evidence has strengths and weaknesses, but their synthesis where it is consistent offers a useful guide for further research efforts. This seminar is based on the first stage of my project. Preliminary results from the associations between blood lipids and non-cardiovascular diseases will be presented along with the findings from systematic reviews and meta-analyses on selected outcomes of interest. The implications and plans of my PhD will also be presented at the end of this seminar. 

Nat Na-Ek studied Doctor of Pharmacy (in Pharmaceutical Care) at Naresuan University, Thailand, and gained an MSc in Social Epidemiology at UCL in 2014/2015. He is a registered Thai pharmacist and currently holding a position of a lecturer in School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Phayao, Thailand. His PhD is funded by the staff development programme from the University of Phayao. His supervisors are Professor Harry Hemingway and Dr Amitava Banerjee.