Transition Activities

Fernanda Morales Berstein

Visit to the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU), University of Oxford, UK

With my transition funds, I undertook a research visit at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU) at the University of Oxford to expand work initiated during my PhD. This involved leading an international collaboration with partners from Brazil, the UK, France, the USA, and the Netherlands to investigate the genetic architecture of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. During my PhD, I conducted genome-wide analyses of food consumption according to degree of processing in the EPIC and Lifelines cohorts. Between January and June 2026, I expanded this work to include the HPFS, NHS1, and NHS2 cohorts in the United States. I am now conducting post-GWAS analyses, including LD-score regression and Mendelian randomization, to evaluate the role of potential confounding in associations between UPF consumption and adverse health outcomes.

My time at the CEU was incredibly rewarding. Everyone was welcoming, supportive and generous with their time, creating an excellent working environment and a strong sense of community. I particularly enjoyed being involved in discussions about ongoing research in the department. I am grateful to Karl Smith-Byrne, who hosted my visit and provided invaluable support throughout my time there; Josh Atkins, who was always available for a friendly conversation or to help with genetics or bioinformatics questions; and the Nutrition team, for welcoming me into their group meetings and making me feel part of the department. I will miss working alongside such an inspiring group of people.

Throughout the transition period, beginning in October 2025, I also conducted a review in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Bristol, which has now been submitted to a journal for publication. In addition, I used my transition funds to attend the ‘Cancer Genomic Epidemiology’ course at the Wellcome Genome Campus, the ‘Advances in Environmental Health Research: Platforms, Linkages, and Methods’ symposium at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the CAUSALab Summer courses on ‘Target Trial Emulation’ and ‘Advanced Confounding Adjustment’ at Harvard University. These were excellent learning opportunities that broadened my understanding of epidemiological research methods and will be highly valuable in developing future grant applications. Just as importantly, these events gave me the opportunity to build new friendships that I hope I will be able to keep for life.

   

 

Roxanna Korologou Linden

Internship report: Visit to University of California, San Francisco, USA- School of Psychiatry

What am I doing?

During my visit at UCSF, I worked on two projects running in the department. One included a sex-specific Mendelian randomization analysis of education on Alzheimer’s disease risk and the other a cross-ancestry specific polygenic risk score analysis for Alzheimer’s disease. There were weekly research meetings, where we all talked about our analyses and issues we encountered as a group. I thought these were very helpful and showed that everyone encounters issues (big or small) and everyone was helpful.

There were also some seminars focusing on career paths such as that by world-renowned Alzheimer’s disease scientist (Michael Weiner) and principal investigator of the Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), who provided advice on career paths and decisions that led him to where he is now.  Other activities included weekly journal club meetings, where one of us would create a presentation about an article and we would all have a discussion about it.

The transition fund also allowed me to attend the very exciting and inspiring ASHG conference in Los Angeles, a conference where thousands of researchers from around the world swarm to hear the latest advances in genetic epidemiology. It was a great experience to present a poster of my latest research, where other researchers come and have a chat and discuss ideas. Networking with other scientists and listening to outside opinions on your research is one of the most exciting parts of academia. Another very useful way that I used the transition funding was to refine two manuscripts which I wrote during my PhD. First author publications are critical in research careers and having the time to do this, before starting the first post-doctoral position after the PhD made it less stressful.

Si Fang

Internship report: Visit to the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institute, Sweden

What am I doing?

I am using the transition fund to conduct a 6-month visit to the CAUSALab of the Unit of Epidemiology at IMM, Karolinska Institute, between February and July 2024. Having completed my PhD in genetic epidemiology, I’m interested in learning more about causal inference under the counterfactual framework using electronic health records, and how to combine it with Mendelian randomization. The CAUSALab of KI, a sister group of the CAUSALab of Harvard, has the expertise in developing causal inference methodologies and applying causal inference for epidemiological research. This is one of the best places in the world to learn about causal inference.

At KI, I am working on a study on the effects of beta-blocking agents using the target trial emulation framework and the Swedish national register data. Having developed the protocol and data analysis plan, I’m waiting for data access and hoping to get on with the analyses soon. Besides working on my project, I was also invited to join CAUSALab group meetings and Work-in-Progress seminars, which covered topics ranging from cohort studies on mental health to developing statistical methods for the joint analysis of observational data and RCT results. Earlier this month, I sat in on the causal inference short course taught by Professor Miguel Hernán, the world-leading researcher in causal inference methods from Harvard University. I also attended the Biostatistics network meeting held at Aula Medica. During this event, three researchers from different backgrounds presented their work applying AI in medical studies. I have found my time here to be very pleasant and productive.