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
2019
Journal Article
Elucidating the role of maternal environmental exposures on offspring health and disease using two-sample Mendelian randomization
Evans, David M., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Lawlor, Debbie A. and Warrington, Nicole M. (2019). Elucidating the role of maternal environmental exposures on offspring health and disease using two-sample Mendelian randomization. International Journal of Epidemiology, 48 (3), 861-875. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyz019
2019
Journal Article
IMI - Myopia Genetics Report
Tedja, Milly S., Haarman, Annechien E. G., Meester-Smoor, Magda A., Kaprio, Jaakko, Mackey, David A., Guggenheim, Jeremy A., Hammond, Christopher J., Verhoeven, Virginie J. M., Klaver, Caroline C. W., for the CREAM Consortium, Bailey-Wilson, Joan E., Baird, Paul Nigel, Veluchamy, Amutha Barathi, Biino, Ginevra, Burdon, Kathryn P., Campbell, Harry, Chen, Li Jia, Cheng, Ching-Yu, Chew, Emily Y., Craig, Jamie E., Cumberland, Phillippa M., Deangelis, Margaret M., Delcourt, Cecile, Ding, Xiaohu, van Duijn, Cornelia M., Evans, David M., Fan, Qiao, Fossarello, Maurizio, Foster, Paul J. ... Zhou, Xiangtian (2019). IMI - Myopia Genetics Report. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 60 (3), M89-M105. doi: 10.1167/iovs.18-25965
2019
Journal Article
Natural History of Drusenoid Pigment Epithelial Detachment Associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration <i>Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Report No. 17</i>
Yu, Jeannette J., Agron, Elvira, Clemons, Traci E., Domalpally, Amitha, van Asten, Freekje, Keenan, Tiarnan D., Cukras, Catherine, Chew, Emily Y., Ferris, Frederick L., SanGiovanni, John Paul, Clemons, Traci, Lindblad, Anne, Lindblad, Robert, Shah, Nilay, Sperduto, Robert, McBee, Wendy, Gensler, Gary, Harrington, Molly, Henning, Alice, Jones, Katrina, Thotapally, Kumar, Tull, Diana, Watson, Valerie, Williams, Kayla, Gentry, Christina, Kaufman, Francine, Morrison, Chris, Saverino, Elizabeth, Schenning, Sherrie ... Rathert, Greg (2019). Natural History of Drusenoid Pigment Epithelial Detachment Associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Report No. 17. Ophthalmology, 126 (2), 261-273. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.08.017
2019
Journal Article
An atlas of genetic influences on osteoporosis in humans and mice
Morris, John A., Kemp, John P., Youlten, Scott E., Laurent, Laetitia, Logan, John G., Chai, Ryan C., Vulpescu, Nicholas A., Forgetta, Vincenzo, Kleinman, Aaron, Mohanty, Sindhu T., Sergio, C. Marcelo, Quinn, Julian, Nguyen-Yamamoto, Loan, Luco, Aimee-Lee, Vijay, Jinchu, Simon, Marie-Michelle, Pramatarova, Albena, Medina-Gomez, Carolina, Trajanoska, Katerina, Ghirardello, Elena J., Butterfield, Natalie C., Curry, Katharine F., Leitch, Victoria D., Sparkes, Penny C., Adoum, Anne-Tounsia, Mannan, Naila S., Komla-Ebri, Davide S. K., Pollard, Andrea S., Dewhurst, Hannah F. ... Richards, J. Brent (2019). An atlas of genetic influences on osteoporosis in humans and mice. Nature Genetics, 51 (2), 258-266. doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0302-x
2019
Journal Article
Low-frequency variation in TP53 has large effects on head circumference and intracranial volume
Haworth, Simon, Shapland, Chin Yang, Hayward, Caroline, Prins, Bram P., Felix, Janine F., Medina-Gomez, Carolina, Rivadeneira, Fernando, Wang, Carol, Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S., Vrijheid, Martine, Guxens, Mònica, Sunyer, Jordi, Tachmazidou, Ioanna, Walter, Klaudia, Iotchkova, Valentina, Jackson, Andrew, Cleal, Louise, Huffmann, Jennifer, Min, Josine L., Sass, Lærke, Timmers, Paul R. H. J., Turki, Saeed Al, Anderson, Carl A., Anney, Richard, Antony, Dinu, Artigas, María Soler, Ayub, Muhammad, Bala, Senduran, Barrett, Jeffrey C. ... St Pourcain, Beate (2019). Low-frequency variation in TP53 has large effects on head circumference and intracranial volume. Nature Communications, 10 (1) 357. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07863-x
2019
Journal Article
Publisher correction: Novel pleiotropic risk loci for melanoma and nevus density implicate multiple biological pathways
Duffy, David L., Zhu, Gu, Li, Xin, Sanna, Marianna, Iles, Mark M., Jacobs, Leonie C., Evans, David M., Yazar, Seyhan, Beesley, Jonathan, Law, Matthew H., Kraft, Peter, Visconti, Alessia, Taylor, John C., Liu, Fan, Wright, Margaret J., Henders, Anjali K., Bowdler, Lisa, Glass, Dan, Ikram, M. Arfan, Uitterlinden, André G., Madden, Pamela A., Heath, Andrew C., Nelson, Elliot C., Green, Adele C., Chanock, Stephen, Barrett, Jennifer H., Brown, Matthew A., Hayward, Nicholas K., MacGregor, Stuart ... Martin, Nicholas G. (2019). Publisher correction: Novel pleiotropic risk loci for melanoma and nevus density implicate multiple biological pathways. Nature Communications, 10 (1) 299, 299. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08078-w
2019
Conference Publication
Genes within the context of development: changes in genetic trait architectures during childhood and adolescence
St Pourcain, Beate, Eaves, Lindon, Verhoef, Ellen, Shapland, Chin Yang, Ring, Susan M., Fisher, Simon E., Medland, Sarah E., Evans, David and Smith, George Davey (2019). Genes within the context of development: changes in genetic trait architectures during childhood and adolescence. 25th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Orlando, FL, United States, 13-17 October 2017. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2017.06.071
2019
Journal Article
Discovery of the first genome-wide significant risk loci for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Demontis, Ditte, Walters, Raymond K., Martin, Joanna, Mattheisen, Manuel, Als, Thomas D., Agerbo, Esben, Baldursson, Gísli, Belliveau, Rich, Bybjerg-Grauholm, Jonas, Bækvad-Hansen, Marie, Cerrato, Felecia, Chambert, Kimberly, Churchhouse, Claire, Dumont, Ashley, Eriksson, Nicholas, Gandal, Michael, Goldstein, Jacqueline I., Grasby, Katrina L., Grove, Jakob, Gudmundsson, Olafur O., Hansen, Christine S., Hauberg, Mads Engel, Hollegaard, Mads V., Howrigan, Daniel P., Huang, Hailiang, Maller, Julian B., Martin, Alicia R., Martin, Nicholas G., Moran, Jennifer ... Kemp, John P. (2019). Discovery of the first genome-wide significant risk loci for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Nature Genetics, 51 (1), 63-75. doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0269-7
2019
Journal Article
Calculating Power to Detect Maternal and Offspring Genetic Effects in Genetic Association Studies
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hemani, Gibran, Warrington, Nicole M. and Evans, David M. (2019). Calculating Power to Detect Maternal and Offspring Genetic Effects in Genetic Association Studies. Behavior Genetics, 49 (3), 327-339. doi: 10.1007/s10519-018-9944-9
2019
Conference Publication
Effects of assortative mating on estimates of SNP heritability
Keller, Matthew, de Candia, Teresa, Jones, Matt, Tahmasbi, Rasool, Evans, Luke, Evans, David, Eaves, Lindon, Yang, Jian, Visscher, Peter and Goddard, Mike (2019). Effects of assortative mating on estimates of SNP heritability. 25th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Orlando, FL, United States, 13-17 October 2017. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2017.08.016
2019
Conference Publication
Maternal and paternal effects on offspring internalising problems: findings from family data and extended GCTA analyses
Shahid, Eshim, Eilertsen, Espen, Hammerschlag, Anke, Sallis, Hannah, Qiao, Zhen, Evans, David, Ystrom, Eivind, Bartels, Meike and Middeldorp, Christel M. (2019). Maternal and paternal effects on offspring internalising problems: findings from family data and extended GCTA analyses. 27th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Los Angeles, CA, United States, 26-31 October, 2019. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.07.034
2019
Conference Publication
A large-scale deep-coverage whole genome sequencing to identify less common and rare variants associated with BMD and fractures: the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMED) study
Hsu, Yi-Hsiang, Xu, Hanfei, Zhang, Xiaoyu, Liu, Ching-Ti, Montasser, May, Fu, Mao, O'Connell, Jeff, Perry, James, Salimi, Shabnam, Streeten, Elizabeth, Mitchell, Braxton D., Crandall, Carolyn, Delaney, Chris, Justice, Anne, Karasik, David, Wallace, Robert, Evans, David M., Tobias, Jonathan H., Richards, Brent, Blangero, John, Wiggins, Kerri, Jackson, Rebecca and Kiel, Douglas (2019). A large-scale deep-coverage whole genome sequencing to identify less common and rare variants associated with BMD and fractures: the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMED) study. Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Orlando, FL, United States, 20-23 September 2019. Hoboken, NJ, United States: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.3936
2019
Conference Publication
Identification and Validation of Targets for Osteoporosis: Evidence from Whole exome Sequencing in 42,263 individuals, CRISPR-Cas9 and murine models
Laurent, Laetitia, Zhou, Sirui, Forgetta, Vincenzo, Richards, J. Brent, Kemp, John P., Evans, David M., Pramatarova, Albena, Croucher, Peter I., Williams, Graham R., Bassett, J. H. Duncan and Goltzman, David (2019). Identification and Validation of Targets for Osteoporosis: Evidence from Whole exome Sequencing in 42,263 individuals, CRISPR-Cas9 and murine models. Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Orlando, FL, United States, 20-23 September, 2019. Hoboken, NJ United States: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.3936
2019
Conference Publication
Using Mendelian randomization to estimate the causal effect of maternal (intrauterine) exposures on late onset offspring outcomes
Evans, David, Warrington, Nicole, Partida, Gabriel Cuellar and Hwang, Daniel (2019). Using Mendelian randomization to estimate the causal effect of maternal (intrauterine) exposures on late onset offspring outcomes. 49th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association (BGA), Stockholm, Sweden, 26-29 June, 2019. New York, NY, United States: Springer New York LLC. doi: 10.1007/s10519-019-09973-8
2018
Journal Article
Antibody response to common human viruses is shaped by genetic factors
Hayward, Tanisha A., Zhu, Gu, Warrington, Nicole M., Wong, Yide, Ryan, Rachael Y.M., Murray, Abella M., Haigh, Oscar, Martin, Nicholas G., Miles, John J. and Evans, David M. (2018). Antibody response to common human viruses is shaped by genetic factors. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 143 (4), 1640-1643. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2018.11.039
2018
Journal Article
Genetic determinants of glucose levels in pregnancy: genetic risk scores analysis and GWAS in the Norwegian STORK cohort
Moen, Gunn-Helen, LeBlanc, Marissa, Sommer, Christine, Prasad, Rashmi B., Lekva, Tove, Normann, Kjersti R., Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Groop, Leif, Birkeland, Kåre I., Evans, David M. and Frøslie, Kathrine F. (2018). Genetic determinants of glucose levels in pregnancy: genetic risk scores analysis and GWAS in the Norwegian STORK cohort. European Journal of Endocrinology, 179 (6), 363-372. doi: 10.1530/EJE-18-0478
2018
Journal Article
Novel pleiotropic risk loci for melanoma and nevus density implicate multiple biological pathways
Duffy, David L., Zhu, Gu, Li, Xin, Sanna, Marianna, Iles, Mark M., Jacobs, Leonie C., Evans, David M., Yazar, Seyhan, Beesley, Jonathan, Law, Matthew H., Kraft, Peter, Visconti, Alessia, Taylor, John C., Lui, Fan, Wright, Margaret J., Henders, Anjali K., Bowdler, Lisa, Glass, Dan, Ikram, Arfan M., Uitterlinden, André G., Madden, Pamela A., Heath, Andrew C., Nelson, Elliot C., Green, Adele C., Chanock, Stephen, Barrett, Jennifer H., Brown, Matthew A., Hayward, Nicholas K., MacGregor, Stuart ... Martin, Nicholas G. (2018). Novel pleiotropic risk loci for melanoma and nevus density implicate multiple biological pathways. Nature Communications, 9 (1) 4774, 4774. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06649-5
2018
Journal Article
Genome analyses of >200,000 individuals identify 58 loci for chronic inflammation and highlight pathways that link inflammation and complex disorders
Ligthart, Symen, Vaez, Ahmad, Võsa, Urmo, Stathopoulou, Maria G., de Vries, Paul S., Prins, Bram P., Van der Most, Peter J., Tanaka, Toshiko, Naderi, Elnaz, Rose, Lynda M., Wu, Ying, Karlsson, Robert, Barbalic, Maja, Lin, Honghuang, Pool, René, Zhu, Gu, Macé, Aurélien, Sidore, Carlo, Trompet, Stella, Mangino, Massimo, Sabater-Lleal, Maria, Kemp, John P., Abbasi, Ali, Kacprowski, Tim, Verweij, Niek, Smith, Albert V., Huang, Tao, Marzi, Carola, Feitosa, Mary F. ... Alizadeh, Behrooz Z. (2018). Genome analyses of >200,000 individuals identify 58 loci for chronic inflammation and highlight pathways that link inflammation and complex disorders. American Journal of Human Genetics, 103 (5), 691-706. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.09.009
2018
Journal Article
Imputation-based analysis of MICA alleles in the susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis
Cortes, Adrian, Gladman, Dafna, Raychaudhuri, Soumya, Cui, Jing, Wheeler, Lawrie, Brown, Matthew A., International Genetics of Ankylosing Spondylitis Consortium (IGAS) and Evans, David (2018). Imputation-based analysis of MICA alleles in the susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 77 (11), 1691-1692. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-213413
2018
Journal Article
Identification of novel loci associated with hip shape: a meta-analysis of genomewide association studies
Baird, Denis A., Evans, Daniel S., Kamanu, Frederick K., Gregory, Jennifer S., Saunders, Fiona R., Giuraniuc, Claudiu V., Barr, Rebecca J., Aspden, Richard M., Jenkins, Deborah, Kiel, Douglas P., Orwoll, Eric S., Cummings, Steven R., Lane, Nancy E., Mullin, Benjamin H., Williams, Frances M. K., Richards, J Brent, Wilson, Scott G., Spector, Tim D., Faber, Benjamin G., Lawlor, Deborah A., Grundberg, Elin, Ohlsson, Claes, Pettersson-Kymmer, Ulrika, Capellini, Terence D., Richard, Daniel, Beck, Thomas J., Evans, David M., Paternoster, Lavinia, Karasik, David and Tobias, Jonathan H. (2018). Identification of novel loci associated with hip shape: a meta-analysis of genomewide association studies. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 34 (2), 241-251. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.3605
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor David Evans is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
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
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
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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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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