Plenary lecture

Life course epidemiology: concepts and examples from the British 1946 birth cohort study and other life course cohorts

Diana Kuh, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, MRC National Survey for Health and Development, London, UK

Professor Diana Kuh is the Director of the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing and of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, the first British birth cohort study that has followed 5362 men and women since their birth in a week in March 1946. Diana is also the Principal Investigator for ‘Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon)’, a collaborative research programme that brings together investigators on nine UK cohort studies to study lifetime influences on healthy ageing. Since 1987, Diana has used data from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development to study how biological, psychological and social factors at different stages of life, independently, cumulatively or interactively affect adult health and function and premature mortality. Her research interests are in adult physical capability and musculoskeletal function and their change with age, women’s health, cardiovascular function and wellbeing. Diana is internationally recognised for the advancement of the field of life course epidemiology where she is the co-editor of the acknowledged key texts: ‘‘A life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology’’ (2nd edition Oxford University Press 2004, with Professor Yoav Ben-Shlomo) and ‘‘A life course approach to women’s health’’ (Oxford University Press 2002, with Dr Rebecca Hardy). Diana has published over 100 articles in a wide range of peerreviewed journals. She was made Professor of Life Course Epidemiology at University College London in 2003.