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
1981
Journal Article
ACCELERATION OF LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CATABOLISM IN MAN BY TOTAL PARENTERAL-NUTRITION
CHAIT, A, FOSTER, D, MILLER, DG and BIERMAN, EL (1981). ACCELERATION OF LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CATABOLISM IN MAN BY TOTAL PARENTERAL-NUTRITION. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 168 (1), 97-104.
1981
Journal Article
A PERCUTANEOUS INSTRUMENT FOR BIOPSY OF SOFT-TISSUE MASSES
MILLER, DG (1981). A PERCUTANEOUS INSTRUMENT FOR BIOPSY OF SOFT-TISSUE MASSES. Journal of Surgical Oncology, 17 (2), 195-200. doi: 10.1002/jso.2930170216
1980
Journal Article
EXPERIENCE WITH AN INDWELLING RIGHT ATRIAL CATHETER FOR HOME PARENTERAL-NUTRITION
MILLER, DG, IVEY, M, IVEY, T and SCRIBNER, BH (1980). EXPERIENCE WITH AN INDWELLING RIGHT ATRIAL CATHETER FOR HOME PARENTERAL-NUTRITION. Surgery Gynecology & Obstetrics, 151 (1), 108-110.
1938
Journal Article
Tissue pressure (intracutaneous, subcutaneous, and intramuscular) as related to venous pressure, capillary filtration, and other factors
Wells, HS, Youmans, JB and Miller, DG (1938). Tissue pressure (intracutaneous, subcutaneous, and intramuscular) as related to venous pressure, capillary filtration, and other factors. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 17 (4), 489-499. doi: 10.1172/JCI100976
1933
Journal Article
A formula and nomogram for the estimation of the osmotic pressure of colloids from the albumin and total protein concentrations of human blood sera
Wells, HS, Youmans, JB and Miller, DG (1933). A formula and nomogram for the estimation of the osmotic pressure of colloids from the albumin and total protein concentrations of human blood sera. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 12 (6), 1103-1117. doi: 10.1172/JCI100561
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
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
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
Understanding the genetic epidemiology of women's reproductive health
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Gunn-Helen Moen
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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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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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