Professor David Evans
Professor

David Evans

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Phone: 
+61 7 334 62617

Background

David Evans is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Professor of Statistical Genetics at the University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience. He is a winner of the NHMRC Marshall and Warren Award.

He completed his PhD in Statistical Genetics at the University of Queensland in 2003, before undertaking a four-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford where he worked as part of the The International HapMap Consortium and co-led the analysis of four diseases within the first Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. In 2007 he moved to take up a Senior Lecturer position at the University of Bristol where he led much of the genome-wide association studies work in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). In 2013 he returned to take up a chair at the University of Queensland whilst continuing to lead an MRC Programme in statistical genetics at the University of Bristol.

His research interests include the genetic mapping of complex traits and diseases (including birthweight and other perinatal traits, osteoporosis, ankylosing spondylitis, sepsis, laterality) and the development of statistical methodologies in genetic epidemiology including approaches for gene mapping, individual risk prediction, causal modelling and dissecting the genetic architecture of complex traits. He has a particular interest in Mendelian randomization and has used it and other causal methods to investigate the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)- the idea that adverse intrauterine exposures lead to increased risk of disease in later life.

He is Academic Codirector at the NIH funded International Workshop on Statistical Genetics Methods and is faculty on the European Programme in Educational Epidemiology.

He is Associate Editor at the International Journal of Epidemiology and Behavior Genetics journals.

Availability

Professor David Evans is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Biological Sciences Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Epidemiology Gene mapping Genetics Health Sciences

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research interests

  • Mendelian randomization

  • Genome-wide association studies

  • Causal Modeling

  • Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)

  • Laterality

  • Sepsis

  • Osteoporosis

  • Ankylosing Spondylitis

Search Professor David Evans’s works on UQ eSpace

449 works between 1997 and 2025
All (449) Journal Article (376) Book Chapter (4) Conference Publication (67) Other Outputs (2)

261 - 280 of 449 works

2015

Conference Publication

The relationship between lower back pain, inflammatory markers and genetic variants robustly associated with risk of Ankylosing Spondylitis in a population-based cohort

Katikireddi, V, Baker, P. and Evans, D. (2015). The relationship between lower back pain, inflammatory markers and genetic variants robustly associated with risk of Ankylosing Spondylitis in a population-based cohort. Australian Rheumatology Associationin conjunction with Rheumatology Health Professionals Association, 56th Annual Scientific Meeting, Adelaide, Australia, 23–26 May, 2015. Richmond, Australia: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia. doi: 10.1111/imj.12752

The relationship between lower back pain, inflammatory markers and genetic variants robustly associated with risk of Ankylosing Spondylitis in a population-based cohort

2015

Journal Article

Mendelian randomization: new applications in the coming age of hypothesis free causality

Evans, David M. and Smith, George Davey (2015). Mendelian randomization: new applications in the coming age of hypothesis free causality. Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, 16 (1), 327-350. doi: 10.1146/annurev-genom-090314-050016

Mendelian randomization: new applications in the coming age of hypothesis free causality

2014

Journal Article

Heritability and genome-wide analyses of problematic peer relationships during childhood and adolescence

St Pourcain, Beate, Haworth, C. M. A., Davis, O. S. P., Wang, Kai, Timpson, Nicholas J., Evans, David M., Kemp, John P., Ronald, Angelica, Price, Tom, Meaburn, Emma, Ring, Susan M., Golding, Jean, Hakonarson, Hakon, Plomin, R. and Smith, George Davey (2014). Heritability and genome-wide analyses of problematic peer relationships during childhood and adolescence. Human Genetics, 134 (6), 539-551. doi: 10.1007/s00439-014-1514-5

Heritability and genome-wide analyses of problematic peer relationships during childhood and adolescence

2014

Journal Article

Genome-wide association study for refractive astigmatism reveals genetic co-determination with spherical equivalent refractive error: the CREAM consortium

Li, Qing, Wojciechowski, Robert, Simpson, Claire L., Hysi, Pirro G., Verhoeven, Virginie J. M., Ikram, Mohammad Kamran, Hohn, Rene, Vitart, Veronique, Hewitt, Alex W., Oexle, Konrad, Makela, Kari-Matti, MacGregor, Stuart, Pirastu, Mario, Fan, Qiao, Cheng, Ching-Yu, St Pourcain, Beate, McMahon, George, Kemp, John P., Northstone, Kate, Rahi, Jugnoo S., Cumberland, Phillippa M., Martin, Nicholas G., Sanfilippo, Paul G., Lu, Yi, Wang, Ya Xing, Hayward, Caroline, Polasek, Ozren, Campbell, Harry, Bencic, Goran ... Guggenheim, Jeremy A. (2014). Genome-wide association study for refractive astigmatism reveals genetic co-determination with spherical equivalent refractive error: the CREAM consortium. Human Genetics, 134 (2), 131-146. doi: 10.1007/s00439-014-1500-y

Genome-wide association study for refractive astigmatism reveals genetic co-determination with spherical equivalent refractive error: the CREAM consortium

2014

Journal Article

Ankylosing spondylitis is associated with the anthrax toxin receptor 2 gene (ANTXR2)

Karaderi, T., Keidel, S. M., Pointon, J. J., Appleton, L. H., Brown, M. A., Evans, D. M. and Wordsworth, B. P. (2014). Ankylosing spondylitis is associated with the anthrax toxin receptor 2 gene (ANTXR2). Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 73 (11), 2054-2058. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-205643

Ankylosing spondylitis is associated with the anthrax toxin receptor 2 gene (ANTXR2)

2014

Journal Article

Genome-wide association study of height-adjusted BMI in childhood identifies functional variant in ADCY3

Stergiakouli, Evangelia, Gaillard, Romy, Tavare, Jeremy M., Balthasar, Nina, Loos, Ruth J., Taal, Hendrik R., Evans, David M., Rivadeneira, Fernando, St Pourcain, Beate, Uitterlinden, Andre G., Kemp, John P., Hofman, Albert, Ring, Susan M., Cole, Tim J., Jaddoe, Vincent W.V., Smith, George Davey and Timpson, Nicholas J. (2014). Genome-wide association study of height-adjusted BMI in childhood identifies functional variant in ADCY3. Obesity, 22 (10), 2252-2259. doi: 10.1002/oby.20840

Genome-wide association study of height-adjusted BMI in childhood identifies functional variant in ADCY3

2014

Journal Article

Common variation near ROBO2 is associated with expressive vocabulary in infancy

St Pourcain, Beate, Cents, Rolieke A. M., Whitehouse, Andrew J. O., Haworth, Claire M. A., Davis, Oliver S. P., O'Reilly, Paul F., Roulstone, Susan, Wren, Yvonne, Ang, Qi W., Velders, Fleur P., Evans, David M., Kemp, John P., Warrington, Nicole M., Miller, Laura, Timpson, Nicholas J., Ring, Susan M., Verhulst, Frank C., Hofman, Albert, Rivadeneira, Fernando, Meaburn, Emma L., Price, Thomas S., Dale, Philip S., Pillas, Demetris, Yliherva, Anneli, Rodriguez, Alina, Golding, Jean, Jaddoe, Vincent W. V., Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta, Plomin, Robert ... Smith, George Davey (2014). Common variation near ROBO2 is associated with expressive vocabulary in infancy. Nature Communications, 5 (1) A4831, 1-9. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5831

Common variation near ROBO2 is associated with expressive vocabulary in infancy

2014

Journal Article

A rare variant in APOC3 is associated with plasma triglyceride and VLDL levels in Europeans

Timpson, Nicholas J., Walter, Klaudia, Min, Josine L., Tachmazidou, Ioanna, Malerba, Giovanni, Shin, So-Youn, Chen, Lu, Futema, Marta, Southam, Lorraine, Iotchkova, Valentina, Cocca, Massimiliano, Huang, Jie, Memari, Yasin, McCarthy, Shane, Danecek, Petr, Muddyman, Dawn, Mangino, Massimo, Menni, Cristina, Perry, John R. B., Ring, Susan M., Gaye, Amadou, Dedoussis, George, Farmaki, Aliki-Eleni, Burton, Paul, Talmud, Philippa J., Gambaro, Giovanni, Spector, Tim D., Smith, George Davey, Durbin, Richard ... Yang, Jian (2014). A rare variant in APOC3 is associated with plasma triglyceride and VLDL levels in Europeans. Nature Communications, 5 (1) 4871, 1-10. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5871

A rare variant in APOC3 is associated with plasma triglyceride and VLDL levels in Europeans

2014

Journal Article

Resolving the effects of maternal and offspring genotype on dyadic outcomes in genome wide complex trait analysis ("M-GCTA")

Eaves, Lindon J., Pourcain, Beate St., Smith, George Davey, York, Timothy P. and Evans, David M. (2014). Resolving the effects of maternal and offspring genotype on dyadic outcomes in genome wide complex trait analysis ("M-GCTA"). Behavior Genetics, 44 (5), 445-455. doi: 10.1007/s10519-014-9666-6

Resolving the effects of maternal and offspring genotype on dyadic outcomes in genome wide complex trait analysis ("M-GCTA")

2014

Journal Article

Genome-wide screening for DNA variants associated with reading and language traits

Gialluisi, A., Newbury, D. F., Wilcutt, E. G., Olson, R. K., Defries, J. C., Brandler, W. M., Pennington, B. F., Smith, S. D., Scerri, T. S., Simpson, N. H., Luciano, M., Evans, D. M., Bates, T. C., Stein, J. F., Talcott, J. B., Monaco, A. P., Paracchini, S., Francks, C. and Fisher, S. E. (2014). Genome-wide screening for DNA variants associated with reading and language traits. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 13 (7), 686-701. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12158

Genome-wide screening for DNA variants associated with reading and language traits

2014

Journal Article

Copy number variants and therapeutic response to antidepressant medication in major depressive disorder

Tansey, K. E., Rucker, J. J. H., Kavanagh, D. H., Guipponi, M., Perroud, N., Bondolfi, G., Domenici, E., Evans, D. M., Hausers, J., Henigsberg, N., Jerman, B., Maier, W., Mors, O., O'Donovan, M., Peters, T. J., Placentino, A., Rietschel, M., Souery, D., Aitchison, K. J., Craig, I., Farmer, A., Wendland, J. R., Malafosse, A., Lewis, G., Kapur, S., McGuffin, P. and Uher, R. (2014). Copy number variants and therapeutic response to antidepressant medication in major depressive disorder. Pharmacogenomics Journal, 14 (4), 395-399. doi: 10.1038/tpj.2013.51

Copy number variants and therapeutic response to antidepressant medication in major depressive disorder

2014

Journal Article

Applying polygenic risk scores to postpartum depression

Byrne, Edna M., Carrillo-Roa, Tania, Penninx, Brenda W. J. H., Sallis, Hannah M., Viktorin, Alexander, Chapman, Brett, Henders, Anjali K., Pergadia, Michele L., Heath, Andrew C., Madden, Pamela A. F., Sullivan, Patrick F., Boschloo, Lynn, van Grootheest, Gerard, McMahon, George, Lawlor, Debbie A., Landen, Mikael, Lichtenstein, Paul, Magnusson, Patrik K. E., Evans, David M., Montgomery, Grant W., Boomsma, Dorret I., Martin, Nicholas G., Meltzer-Brody, Samantha and Wray, Naomi R. (2014). Applying polygenic risk scores to postpartum depression. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 17 (6), 519-528. doi: 10.1007/s00737-014-0428-5

Applying polygenic risk scores to postpartum depression

2014

Journal Article

Genetic variation associated with differential educational attainment in adults has anticipated associations with school performance in children

Ward, Mary E., McMahon, George, St Pourcain, Beate, Evans, David M., Rietveld, Cornelius A., Benjamin, Daniel J., Koellinger, Philipp D., Cesarini, David, The Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, Smith, George Davey and Timpson, Nicholas J. (2014). Genetic variation associated with differential educational attainment in adults has anticipated associations with school performance in children. PLoS One, 9 (7) e100248, e100248.1-e100248.7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100248

Genetic variation associated with differential educational attainment in adults has anticipated associations with school performance in children

2014

Journal Article

Genome wide association identifies common variants at the SERPINA6/SERPINA1 locus influencing plasma cortisol and corticosteroid binding globulin

Bolton, Jennifer L., Hayward, Caroline, Direk, Nese, Lewis, John G., Hammond, Geoffrey L., Hill, Lesley A., Anderson, Anna, Huffman, Jennifer, Wilson, James F., Campbell, Harry, Rudan, Igor, Wright, Alan, Hastie, Nicholas, Wild, Sarah H., Velders, Fleur P., Hofman, Albert, Uitterlinden, Andre G., Lahti, Jari, Raikkonen, Katri, Kajantie, Eero, Widen, Elisabeth, Palotie, Aarno, Eriksson, Johan G., Kaakinen, Marika, Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta, Timpson, Nicholas J., Smith, George Davey, Ring, Susan M., Evans, David M. ... Walker, Brian R. (2014). Genome wide association identifies common variants at the SERPINA6/SERPINA1 locus influencing plasma cortisol and corticosteroid binding globulin. PLoS Genetics, 10 (7) e1004474, 1-11. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004474

Genome wide association identifies common variants at the SERPINA6/SERPINA1 locus influencing plasma cortisol and corticosteroid binding globulin

2014

Journal Article

Cis and trans effects of human genomic variants on gene expression

Bryois, Julien, Buil, Alfonso, Evans, David M., Kemp, John P., Montgomery, Stephen B., Conrad, Donald F., Ho, Karen M., Ring, Susan, Hurles, Matthew, Deloukas, Panos, Smith, George Davey and Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T. (2014). Cis and trans effects of human genomic variants on gene expression. PLoS Genetics, 10 (7) e1004461, e1004461. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004461

Cis and trans effects of human genomic variants on gene expression

2014

Journal Article

Genetic variation in prostate-specific antigen-detected prostate cancer and the effect of control selection on genetic association studies

Knipe, Duleeka W., Evans, David M., Kemp, John P., Eeles, Rosalind, Easton, Douglas F., Kote-Jarai, Zsofia, Al Omama, Ali Amin, Benlloch, Sara, Donovan, Jenny L., Hamdy, Freddie C., Neal, David E., Davey Smith, George, Lathrop, Mark and Martin, Richard M. (2014). Genetic variation in prostate-specific antigen-detected prostate cancer and the effect of control selection on genetic association studies. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 23 (7), 1356-1365. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-13-0889

Genetic variation in prostate-specific antigen-detected prostate cancer and the effect of control selection on genetic association studies

2014

Journal Article

Effects of BMI, fat mass, and lean mass on asthma in childhood: a Mendelian Randomization Study

Granell, Raquel, Henderson, A. John, Evans, David M., Smith, George Davey, Ness, Andrew R., Lewis, Sarah, Palmer, Tom M. and Sterne, Jonathan A. C. (2014). Effects of BMI, fat mass, and lean mass on asthma in childhood: a Mendelian Randomization Study. PLoS Medicine, 11 (7) e1001669, e1001669. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001669

Effects of BMI, fat mass, and lean mass on asthma in childhood: a Mendelian Randomization Study

2014

Journal Article

Harmonization of neuroticism and extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium: an application of item response theory

van den Berg, Stephanie M., de Moor, Marleen H. M., McGue, Matt, Pettersson, Erik, Terracciano, Antonio, Verweij, Karin J. H., Amin, Najaf, Derringer, Jaime, Esko, Tonu, van Grootheest, Gerard, Hansell, Narelle K., Huffman, Jennifer, Konte, Bettina, Lahti, Jari, Luciano, Michelle, Matteson, Lindsay K., Viktorin, Alexander, Wouda, Jasper, Agrawal, Arpana, Allik, Jueri, Bierut, Laura, Broms, Ulla, Campbell, Harry, Smith, George Davey, Eriksson, Johan G., Ferrucci, Luigi, Franke, Barbera, Fox, Jean-Paul, de Geus, Eco J. C. ... Boomsma, Dorret I. (2014). Harmonization of neuroticism and extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium: an application of item response theory. Behavior Genetics, 44 (4), 295-313. doi: 10.1007/s10519-014-9654-x

Harmonization of neuroticism and extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium: an application of item response theory

2014

Journal Article

Phenotypic dissection of bone mineral density reveals skeletal site specificity and facilitates the identification of novel loci in the genetic regulation of bone mass attainment

Kemp, John P., Medina-Gomez, Carolina, Estrada, Karol, St Pourcain, Beate, Heppe, Denise H. M., Warrington, Nicole M., Oei, Ling, Ring, Susan M., Kruithof, Claudia J., Timpson, Nicholas J., Wolber, Lisa E., Reppe, Sjur, Gautvik, Kaare, Grundberg, Elin, Ge, Bing, van der Eerden, Bram, van de Peppel, Jeroen, Hibbs, Matthew A., Ackert-Bicknell, Cheryl L., Choi, Kwangbom, Koller, Daniel L., Econs, Michael J., Williams, Frances M. K., Foroud, Tatiana, Carola Zillikens, M., Ohlsson, Claes, Hofman, Albert, Uitterlinden, Andre G., Davey Smith, George ... Evans, David M. (2014). Phenotypic dissection of bone mineral density reveals skeletal site specificity and facilitates the identification of novel loci in the genetic regulation of bone mass attainment. PLoS Genetics, 10 (6) e1004423, 1-18. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004423

Phenotypic dissection of bone mineral density reveals skeletal site specificity and facilitates the identification of novel loci in the genetic regulation of bone mass attainment

2014

Journal Article

Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide values in childhood are associated with 17q11.2-q12 and 17q12-q21 variants

van der Valk, Ralf J. P., Duijts, Liesbeth, Timpson, Nicolas J., Salam, Muhammad T., Standl, Marie, Curtin, John A., Genuneit, Jon, Kerhof, Marjan, Kreiner-Møller, Eskil, Cáceres, Alejandro, Gref, Anna, Liang, Liming L., Taal, H. Rob, Bouzigon, Emmanuelle, Demenais, Florence, Nadif, Rachel, Ober, Carole, Thompson, Emma E., Estrada, Karol, Hofman, Albert, Uitterlinden, André G., van Duijn, Cornélia, Rivadeneira, Fernando, Li, Xia, Eckel, Sandrah P., Berhane, Kiros, Gauderman, W. James, Granell, Raquel, Evans, David M. ... de Jongste, Johan C. (2014). Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide values in childhood are associated with 17q11.2-q12 and 17q12-q21 variants. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 134 (1), 46-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.08.053

Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide values in childhood are associated with 17q11.2-q12 and 17q12-q21 variants

Availability

Professor David Evans is:
Available for supervision

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Available projects

  • Sometimes Correlation does Equal Causation: Developing Statistical Methods to Determine Causality Using Genetic Data

    There is a well-known mantra that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. This is why randomized controlled trials in which participants are physically randomized into treatment and placebo groups are the gold standard for assessing causality in epidemiological investigations. However, what is less appreciated is that strong evidence for causality can sometimes be obtained using observational data only. In particular, genotypes are randomly transmitted from parents to their offspring independent of the environment and other confounding factors, meaning that genotypes associated with particular traits can be used like natural “randomized controlled trials” to examine whether these traits causally affect risk of disease.

    The aim of this PhD project is to develop statistical methods to assess causality using observational data alone. The successful candidate will gain experience across a wide range of advanced statistical genetics methodologies including Mendelian randomization (a way of using genetic variants to investigate putatively causal relationships), structural equation modelling, genome-wide association analysis (GWAS), genetic restricted maximum likelihood (G-REML) analysis of genome-wide data which can be used to partition variation in phenotypes into genetic and environmental sources of variation, and instrumental variables analysis (using natural “experiments” to obtain information on causality from observational data). The candidate will apply the new statistical methods that they develop to large genetically informative datasets like the UK Biobank (500,000 individuals with genome-wide SNP data).

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Using genetics to predict drug efficacy and on-target side effects of pharmacological agents

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Glenn King, Associate Professor Sonia Shah

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Multi-omic Approaches to Understanding Septic Shock

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Daniel Hwang

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the genetic epidemiology of women's reproductive health

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Gunn-Helen Moen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Developing and Applying Statistical Genetics Methods to Elucidate the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Nicole Warrington

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Using multi-omics approaches to characterise determinants of early growth trajectories and their consequences on later life health

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Honorary Professor Jake Gratten, Dr Nicole Warrington

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Professor David Evans directly for media enquiries about:

  • Genetics
  • Genome-wide association
  • Mendelian randomization
  • Twin Studies

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