Overview
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
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Mendelian randomization
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Genome-wide association studies
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Causal Modeling
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Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)
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Laterality
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Sepsis
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Osteoporosis
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Ankylosing Spondylitis
Works
Search Professor David Evans’s works on UQ eSpace
2009
Journal Article
A genome-wide association study reveals variants in ARL15 that influence adiponectin levels
Brent Richards, J., Waterworth, Dawn, O'Rahilly, Stephen, Hivert, Marie-France, Loos, Ruth J. F., Perry, John R. B., Tanaka, Toshiko, Timpson, Nicholas John, Semple, Robert K., Soranzo, Nicole, Song, Kijoung, Rocha, Nuno, Grundberg, Elin, Dupuis, Josee, Florez, Jose C., Langenberg, Claudia, Prokopenko, Inga, Saxena, Richa, Sladek, Robert, Aulchenko, Yurii, Evans, David, Waeber, Gerard, Erdmann, Jeanette, Burnett, Mary-Susan, Sattar, Naveed, Devaney, Joseph, Willenborg, Christina, Hingorani, Aroon, Witteman, Jaquelin C. M ... Spector, Tim D. (2009). A genome-wide association study reveals variants in ARL15 that influence adiponectin levels. PLoS Genetics, 5 (12) e1000768, e1000768.1-e1000768.10. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000768
2009
Journal Article
Genetic variants in the vitamin D receptor are associated with advanced prostate cancer at diagnosis: Findings from the prostate testing for cancer and treatment study and a systematic review
Chen, Lina, Smith, George Davey, Evans, David M., Cox, Angela, Lawlor, Debbie A., Donovan, Jenny, Yuan, Wei, Day, Ian N. M., Martin, Richard M., Lane, Athene, Rodriguez, Santi, Davis, Michael, Zuccolo, Luisa, Collin, Simon M., Hamdy, Freddie, Neal, David and Lewis, Sarah J. (2009). Genetic variants in the vitamin D receptor are associated with advanced prostate cancer at diagnosis: Findings from the prostate testing for cancer and treatment study and a systematic review. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 18 (11), 2874-2881. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-09-0544
2009
Journal Article
Harnessing the information contained within genome-wide association studies to improve individual prediction of complex disease risk
Evans, David M., Visscher, Peter M. and Wray, Naomi R. (2009). Harnessing the information contained within genome-wide association studies to improve individual prediction of complex disease risk. Human Molecular Genetics, 18 (18), 3525-3531. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddp295
2008
Journal Article
Genome-wide association defines more than 30 distinct susceptibility loci for Crohn's disease
Barrett, Jeffrey C., Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Brown, Matthew A., Bradbury, Linda A., et al. and Evans, David (2008). Genome-wide association defines more than 30 distinct susceptibility loci for Crohn's disease. Nature Genetics, 40 (8), 955-962. doi: 10.1038/ng.175
2008
Journal Article
Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity
Loos, Ruth J. F., Evans, David M., Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Brown, Matthew A. and Bradbury, Linda A. (2008). Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. Nature Genetics, 40 (6), 768-775. doi: 10.1038/ng.140
2008
Journal Article
Genome-wide association analysis identifies 20 loci that influence adult height
Weedon, Michael N., Evans, David M., Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Brown, Matthew A. and Bradbury, Linda A. (2008). Genome-wide association analysis identifies 20 loci that influence adult height. Nature Genetics, 40 (5), 575-583. doi: 10.1038/ng.121
2008
Journal Article
To what extent do scans of non-synonymous SNPs complement denser genome-wide association studies?
Evans, David M., Barrett, Jeffrey C. and Cardon, Lon R. (2008). To what extent do scans of non-synonymous SNPs complement denser genome-wide association studies?. European Journal of Human Genetics, 16 (6), 718-723. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejhg.5202011
2008
Conference Publication
Phased genome-wide association study identifies new gene affecting bone mineral density
Duncan, E. L., Addison, K., Brugmans, M., Irwin, D., Evans, D., Eisman, J., Jones, G., Nicholson, G., Prince, R., Seeman, E., Uitterlinden, A., Wark, J., Ralston, S. and Brown, M. A. (2008). Phased genome-wide association study identifies new gene affecting bone mineral density. American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 30th Annual Meeting, Montreal,Canada, 12 - 16 September 2008. Malden, MA, United States: Wiley-Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.5650231306
2008
Conference Publication
Diagnostic capacity of genetic tests in Ankylosing spondylitis can exceed MRI scanning
Evans, David, Reveille, John D., Weisman, Michael H., Stone, Millicent A., Ward, Michael M., Savage, Laurie, Zhou, Xiaodong, Wordsworth, B. Paul and Brown, Matthew A. (2008). Diagnostic capacity of genetic tests in Ankylosing spondylitis can exceed MRI scanning. 72nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American-College-of-Rheumatology/43rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Association-of-Rheumatology-Health-Professionals, San Francisco Ca, Oct 24-29, 2008. HOBOKEN: WILEY-LISS.
2008
Conference Publication
Genome-wide association study identifies klotho and other novel loci as contributors to BMD variation in postmenopausal women
Duncan, E. L., Rivadeneira, F., Sims, A., Dowling, A., Doan, T., Arp, P. P., Jhamai, M., Moorhouse, M., Evans, D., Eisman, J., Jones, G., Nicholson, G., Prince, R., Seeman, E., Wass, J. A. H., Hofman, A., Pols, H. A., Brown, M. A. and Uitterlinden, A. G. (2008). Genome-wide association study identifies klotho and other novel loci as contributors to BMD variation in postmenopausal women. 35th European Symposium on Calcified Tissues, Barcelona, Spain, 24-28 May 2008. New York, United States: Springer.
2008
Journal Article
A genome-wide scan for Eysenckian personality dimensions in adolescent twin sibships: Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie
Gillespie, Nathan A., Zhu, Gu, Evans, David M., Medland, Sarah E., Wright, Margie J. and Martin, Nick G. (2008). A genome-wide scan for Eysenckian personality dimensions in adolescent twin sibships: Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie. Journal of Personality, 76 (6), 1415-1445. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00527.x
2007
Journal Article
Localization of type 1 diabetes susceptibility to the MHC class I genes HLA-B and HLA-A
Nejentsev, S., Howson, J. M. M., Walker, N. M., Szeszko, J., Field, S. F., Stevens, H. E., Reynolds, P., Hardy, M., King, E., Masters, J., Hulme, J., Maier, L. M., Smyth, D., Bailey, R., Cooper, J. D., Ribas, G., Campbell, R. D., The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Bradbury, Linda A., Brown, Matthew A. and Evans, David (2007). Localization of type 1 diabetes susceptibility to the MHC class I genes HLA-B and HLA-A. Nature, 450 (7171), 887-892. doi: 10.1038/nature06406
2007
Journal Article
Rheumatoid arthritis association at 6q23
Thompson, Wendy, Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Brown, Matthew A., Bradbury, Linda A., et al. and Evans, David (2007). Rheumatoid arthritis association at 6q23. Nature Genetics, 39 (12), 1431-1433. doi: 10.1038/ng.2007.32
2007
Journal Article
Association scan of 14,000 nonsynonymous SNP's in four diseases identifies autoimmunity variants
Wellcome Trust Case control Consortium, The Australo-Anglo-American Spondylitis Consortium, Sims, A-M., Bradbury, L. A., Brown, M. A., Doan, T., Dowling, A. and Evans, D. (2007). Association scan of 14,000 nonsynonymous SNP's in four diseases identifies autoimmunity variants. Nature Genetics, 39 (11), 1329-1337. doi: 10.1038/ng.2007.17
2007
Journal Article
A second generation human haplotype map of over 3.1 million SNPs
Frazer, K.A., Ballinger, D.G., Cox, D.R., Hinds, D.A., Stuve, L.L., Gibbs, R.A., Belmont, J.W., Boudreau, A., Hardenbol, P., Leal, S.M., Pasternak, S., Wheeler, D.A., Willis, T.D., Yu, F., Yang, H., Zeng, C., Gao, Y., Hu, H., Hu, W., Li, C., Lin, W., Liu, S., Pan, H., Tang, X., Wang, J., Wang, W., Yu, J., Zhang, B., Zhang, Q. ... Stewart, J. (2007). A second generation human haplotype map of over 3.1 million SNPs. Nature, 449 (7164), 851-861. doi: 10.1038/nature06258
2007
Journal Article
Genome-wide detection and characterization of positive selection in human populations
Sabeti P.C., Varilly P., Fry B., Lohmueller J., Hostetter E., Cotsapas C., Xie X., Byrne E.H., McCarroll S.A., Gaudet R., Schaffner S.F., Lander E.S., Frazer K.A., Ballinger D.G., Cox D.R., Hinds D.A., Stuve L.L., Gibbs R.A., Belmont J.W., Boudreau A., Hardenbol P., Leal S.M., Pasternak S., Wheeler D.A., Willis T.D., Yu F., Yang H., Zeng C., Gao Y. ... Stewart J. (2007). Genome-wide detection and characterization of positive selection in human populations. Nature, 449 (7164), 913-918. doi: 10.1038/nature06250
2007
Journal Article
Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls
The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Bradbury, L. A., Brown, M. A. and Evans, D. (2007). Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls. Nature, 447 (7145), 661-678. doi: 10.1038/nature05911
2007
Conference Publication
Il-23r is a major determinant of ankylosing spondylitis risk - The tasc study
Reveille, J. D., Zhou, X., Bradbury, L. A., Cardon, L. R., Davis, J. C., Deloukas, P., Evans, D. M., Keniry, A., McGinnis, R., Pointon, J., Ward, M. M., Weisman, M. H., Wordsworth, P. and Brown, M. A. (2007). Il-23r is a major determinant of ankylosing spondylitis risk - The tasc study. Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2007), Barcelona Spain, Jun 13-16, 2007. LONDON: B M J PUBLISHING GROUP.
2007
Conference Publication
A Phase 1 Genomewide Association Study in Osteoporosis
Sims, A. M., Duncan, E. L., Dowling, A., Doan, T., Evans, D., Eisman, J., Jones, G., Nicholson, G., Prince, R., Seeman, E., Wass, J. and Brown, M. A. (2007). A Phase 1 Genomewide Association Study in Osteoporosis. GeneMappers 2007 Conference, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 29-31 August 2007.
2007
Conference Publication
A phase 1 Genome-wide association study in Ostoeporosis
Sims, A. M., Duncan, E. L., Dowling, A., Doan, T., Evans, D., Eisman, J., Jones, G., Nicholson, G., Prince, R., Seeman, E., Wass, J. and Brown, M. A. (2007). A phase 1 Genome-wide association study in Ostoeporosis. 17th Annual Meeting of the Australian & New Zealand Bone & Mineral Society, Queenstown, New Zealand,, 9-12 September, 2007.
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor David Evans is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
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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
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding the genetic epidemiology of women's reproductive health
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Gunn-Helen Moen
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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
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Doctor Philosophy
Harnessing Genetically Informative Within-Family Research Designs for Deeper Insights into the Intrauterine Developmental Period and Downstream Effects on Offspring Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Daniel Hwang, Dr Gunn-Helen Moen
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Doctor Philosophy
Multi-omic Approaches to Understanding Septic Shock
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Daniel Hwang
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Doctor Philosophy
Multi-omic Approaches to Understanding Septic Shock
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Daniel Hwang
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Doctor Philosophy
Developing and Applying Statistical Genetics Methods to Elucidate the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicole Warrington
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Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the association between maternal and fetal HLA-KIR genotypes and offspring birth weight
Principal Advisor
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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
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Harnessing Genetically Informative Within-Family Research Designs for Deeper Insights into the Intrauterine Developmental Period and Downstream Effects on Offspring Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Daniel Hwang, Dr Gunn-Helen Moen
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Using genetics to investigate the interplay of maternal and fetal factors in pregnancy outcomes
Principal Advisor
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Using Genetics to Understand the Relationship Between the Intrauterine Environment and Future Offspring Cardiometabolic Risk
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicole Warrington
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Detecting and Quantifying the Effect of Assortative mating and Maternal Effects on Statistical Genetics Analyses
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicole Warrington
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Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor David Evans directly for media enquiries about:
- Genetics
- Genome-wide association
- Mendelian randomization
- Twin Studies
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