George Davey Smith

Seems like a good idea to me!

Great to see a joint 2026 SSM/IEA meeting, marking the 70th anniversary of SSM and one of the potential 70th anniversary dates for the IEA (though in 1956 it was called the International Corresponding Club). My first SSM & IEA conferences occurred closer to the founding dates than to today

Oh shit Ozzy Osborne just 10 years older than me and he had a relatively healthy lifestyle 😞

Evidence triangulation in health research - PubMed For many important questions about influences on clinical and public health outcomes, no single study can provide a decisive answer. The perfect study-a large, diverse, well-conducted trial randomizin...

2/2 measurement error. If you think you have that, then you are not dealing with epidemiological data. Whether you call approaches real world evidence or target trials, if they rely on this they are in trouble. On triangulation see: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40140142/

Non-linear Mendelian randomization: detection of biases using negative controls with a focus on BMI, Vitamin D and LDL cholesterol - PubMed Mendelian randomisation (MR) is an established technique in epidemiological investigation, using the principle of random allocation of genetic variants at conception to estimate the causal linear effe...

1/2 I’m not seeking triangulation of confounder control and MR, rather different causal inference approaches eg MR and negative controls - here’s a dramatic example of failure to triangulate pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38789826/ Confounder control relies of no unmeasured confounding and no /cont

Prescient words from the great Richard Levins in his 1996 Edinburgh Medal address “When science fails us”, a piece on why we need a dialectical epidemiology, ecology and agricultural science.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Prescient words from the great Richard Levins in his 1996 Edinburgh Medal address “When science fails us”, a piece on why we need a dialectical epidemiology, ecology and agricultural science.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

After the Act and the new Section 28 'After the Act', showing at London’s Royal Court Theatre from 21 May to 14 June 2025, tells the story of Section 28, and the teachers, pupils and activists who lived through it. Kelly Rogers spoke to…

After the Act, showing at London’s Royal Court Theatre, tells the story of Section 28, and the teachers, pupils and activists who lived through it. Kelly Rogers spoke to writer and director Billy Barrett and writer and actor Ellice Stevens.

www.workersliberty.org/story/2025-0...

I'd like to tell you a story about a scientist you may not have heard of, but who shaped a lot of modern health research... 🧵

Science under threat: the politics of institutionalised disinformation | Royal Society Join us for the Michael Faraday Prize Lecture given by 2024 winner Professor Salim Abdool Karim.

Incisive talk @royalsociety.org by legendary South African HIV researcher Salim Karim on "Science under threat: the politics of institutionalised disinformation" pulls few punches on science in the age of Trump and Musk royalsociety.org/science-even...

We should introduce the term “real human researchers” (RHR) to go with other nonsense phrases like “real world evidence”

Finally, something AI can do just as well as real "researchers".

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

No More Free Lunch: Challenges to Mendelian Randomization Due to Sample Selection and Complex Methods Abstract. Mendelian randomization (MR) is increasingly used in epidemiological studies to investigate causal relationships. MR depends on 3 fundamental ins

Here practical considerations for examining and reducing biases in #MendelianRandomization analyses #Genetics @mendelrandom.bsky.social academic.oup.com/jcem/advance...

YouTube video by The Best Of - Home Of Classic Music John Cale - Mr Wilson

An oldster speaks of his younger hero youtube.com/watch?v=pvQF...

An estimate of the science-wise false discovery rate and application to the top medical literature - PubMed The accuracy of published medical research is critical for scientists, physicians and patients who rely on these results. However, the fundamental belief in the medical literature was called into seri...

Also empirical estimates don't agree with the simulation....

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24068246/

Commentary by @mendelrandom.bsky.social and me on paper suggesting highly prevalent East Asian #ALDH2 null variant may magnify adverse effects of maternal alcohol use during pregnancy on child development.

▶️ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@uob-ieu.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social

The empty Colston plinth in Bristol with the original and new labelling

Maria Glymour: We must rely on the kindness — and data — of strangers Because of layoffs in federal departments, we won't have the national and even global data on health we need to know to continue the progress in medicine, writes an Oklahoman who is now chair of epide...

Thanks to the Tulsa World for running my essay on the importance of federal data! #PublicHealth #Epidemiology #PRAMS #CDC #DataScience #ScienceHomecoming

"We must rely on the kindness — and data — of strangers" tulsaworld.com/opinion/colu...

FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders in Molecular Medicine FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders in Molecular Medicine

We have 2-3 group leader positions opening @fimm-uh.bsky.social !!

We are looking for outstanding candidates in human genetics and precision medicine.

This time we have a focus on population health data science. E.g. AI for EHR/health data       

Generous starting package 💰

shorturl.at/FAk6n

I have an opportunity to hire a staff scientist for my lab. Looking for someone with outstanding skillset in ML/statistics, genomics applications; interest in mentoring, strong publication record, PD experience required.

Email CV to me+cc my assistant (see 'contact' on my website). Ad to follow.

Multi-analyst approaches discussed @dingdingpeng.the100.ci More work required in the epidemiological space is one conclusion

Managing the exponential growth of mendelian randomization studies Much of the research we publish relates to questions of cause and effect. In an ideal world, we would subject these questions to experimentation, randomising study participants to different conditions...

Additionally, "if a study offers nothing more than the mechanical application of a statistical package to publicly available summary data, then it may not warrant the use of editorial and reviewer time, and journal space". @mendelrandom.bsky.social tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/33/5...

Epidemiology, epigenetics and the ‘Gloomy Prospect’: embracing randomness in population health research and practice Abstract. Epidemiologists aim to identify modifiable causes of disease, this often being a prerequisite for the application of epidemiological findings in

I was sceptical of AI generated podcasts, especially if covering ideas rather than empirical data. This generated from academic.oup.com/ije/article/... & academic.oup.com/ije/article/... & link.springer.com/article/10.1... was better than I imagined possible notebooklm.google.com/notebook/d53...

YouTube video by MRC IEU at University of Bristol Mendelian Randomization - what it was, what it is, and what it should become.

See This is simultaneously a noodle, a no nulls and a numbskulls, congrats to all concerned youtu.be/N1vklBXG2do?...

This is simultaneously a noodle, a no nulls and a numbskulls, congrats to all concerned youtu.be/N1vklBXG2do?...

YouTube video by Worried Tunes 2 Pere Ubu - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo {1975}

RIP David Thomas, of Pere Ubu, a simply extraordinary artist and curmudgeon, for whom I had the terror of organising a gig for some decades ago youtu.be/z6IJRxonxi0 Give their wonderful back catalogue a listen ...

learly such "regression dilution bias" is important when considering univariate, unadjusted relative risks. However it can be particularly important when considering the effect of a risk factor on risk ofdisease after adjustment for a confounding factor. If the risk factor and the confounding factor are correlated to any substantial degree then the extent of error in measurement in either the confounding or the risk factor can significantly affect the adjusted relative risk estimate.6 In the case of coffee and myocardial infarction, mentioned above, the relative risk associated with drinking 10 or more cups of coffee per day fell from 4 9 to 2-9 after adjustment for confounding variables in a multiple logistic regression model.4 The single measurements taken of the confounders are a poor proxy for the lifetime experience ofthe subjects, and will also suffer from some degree ofsimple measurement error. Thus their effect on risk will have been underestimated. If the confounding factors could have been better characterised then the relative risk for coffee drinking might have fallen to 1 after adjustment. In other words, it can appear that a risk factor is related to risk of disease after adjustment for confounding factors, but this residual relationship only exists because of underadjustment for these confounding factors

A simple but vital point, still too often ignored: You can only adjust for what you can measure. If your measurements are imprecise, then your adjustment must obviously suffer.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... (from @mendelrandom.bsky.social)

Dance with Death, by Hieronymus Hess, 1841, 📸 via Vatican Media Pool

Why do Labour supporters tolerate this?

Yvette Cooper reviews right to family life for people who enter UK irregularly Government reviews use of human rights law to argue for people being allowed to stay, which PM called a ‘loophole’

I have consistent Tory déjà vu ... only it's Labour. Every day I think: 'they cannot possibly get worse'. And then, every day, they manage to do just that. From the failure to finally provide safe routes to this now - it's wrong, inhumane, and pure Reform cosplay. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...