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
2017
Journal Article
Bivariate genome-wide association meta-analysis of pediatric musculoskeletal traits reveals pleiotropic effects at the SREBF1/TOM1L2 locus
Medina-Gomez, Carolina, Kemp, John P., Dimou, Niki L., Kreiner, Eskil, Chesi, Alessandra, Zemel, Babette S., Bonnelykke, Klaus, Boer, Cindy G., Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S., Bisgaard, Hans, Evangelou, Evangelos, Heppe, Denise H. M., Bonewald, Lynda F., Gorski, Jeffrey P., Ghanbari, Mohsen, Demissie, Serkalem, Duque, Gustavo, Maurano, Matthew T., Kiel, Douglas P., Hsu, Yi-Hsiang, Van Der Eerden, Bram C. J., Ackert-Bicknell, Cheryl, Reppe, Sjur, Gautvik, Kaare M., Raastad, Truls, Karasik, David, Van De Peppel, Jeroen, Jaddoe, Vincent W. V., Uitterlinden, André G. ... Rivadeneira, Fernando (2017). Bivariate genome-wide association meta-analysis of pediatric musculoskeletal traits reveals pleiotropic effects at the SREBF1/TOM1L2 locus. Nature Communications, 8 (1) 121, 121. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00108-3
2017
Journal Article
Association between telomere length and risk of cancer and non-neoplastic diseases a Mendelian randomization study
Haycock, Philip C., Burgess, Stephen, Nounu, Aayah, Zheng, Jie, Okoli, George N., Bowden, Jack, Wade, Kaitlin Hazel, Timpson, Nicholas J., Evans, David M., Willeit, Peter, Aviv, Abraham, Gaunt, Tomr., Hemani, Gibran, Mangino, Massimo, Ellis, Hayley Patricia, Kurian, Kathreena M., Pooley, Karen A., Eeles, Rosalind A., Lee, Jeffrey E., Fang, Shenying, Chen, Wei V., Law, Matthew H., Bowdler, Lisa M., Iles, Mark M., Yang, Qiong, Worrall, Bradford B., Markus, Hugh Stephen, Hung, Rayjean J., Amos, Chris I. ... Smith, George Davey (2017). Association between telomere length and risk of cancer and non-neoplastic diseases a Mendelian randomization study. JAMA Oncology, 3 (5), 636-651. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.5945
2017
Journal Article
Epigenome-wide association of DNA methylation in whole blood with bone mineral density
Morris, John A., Tsai, Pei-Chien, Joehanes, Roby, Zeng, Jie, Trajanoska, Katerina, Soerensen, Mette, Forgetta, Vincenzo, Castillo-Fernandez, Juan Edgar, Frost, Morten, Spector, Tim D., Christensen, Kaare, Christiansen, Lene, Rivadeneira, Fernando, Tobias, Jonathan H., Evans, David M., Kiel, Douglas P., Hsu, Yi-Hsiang, Richards, J. Brent and Bell, Jordana T. (2017). Epigenome-wide association of DNA methylation in whole blood with bone mineral density. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 32 (8), 1644-1650. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.3148
2017
Journal Article
Pharmacogenetics of antidepressant response: a polygenic approach
García-González, Judit, Tansey, Katherine E., Hauser, Joanna, Henigsberg, Neven, Maier, Wolfgang, Mors, Ole, Placentino, Anna, Rietschel, Marcella, Souery, Daniel, Žagar, Tina, Czerski, Piotr M., Jerman, Borut, Buttenschøn, Henriette N., Schulze, Thomas G., Zobel, Astrid, Farmer, Anne, Aitchison, Katherine J., Craig, Ian, McGuffin, Peter, Giupponi, Michel, Perroud, Nader, Bondolfi, Guido, Evans, David, O'Donovan, Michael, Peters, Tim J., Wendland, Jens R., Lewis, Glyn, Kapur, Shitij, Perlis, Roy ... Fabbri, Chiara (2017). Pharmacogenetics of antidepressant response: a polygenic approach. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 75, 128-134. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.01.011
2017
Journal Article
Shared genetic influences between dimensional ASD and ADHD symptoms during child and adolescent development
Stergiakouli, Evie, Davey Smith, George, Martin, Joanna, Skuse, David H., Viechtbauer, Wolfgang, Ring, Susan M., Ronald, Angelica, Evans, David E., Fisher, Simon E., Thapar, Anita and St Pourcain, Beate (2017). Shared genetic influences between dimensional ASD and ADHD symptoms during child and adolescent development. Molecular Autism, 8 (1) 18, 18. doi: 10.1186/s13229-017-0131-2
2017
Other Outputs
Maternal and fetal genetic contribution to gestational weight gain
Warrington, Nicole M, Richmond, Rebecca, Fenstra, Bjarke, Myhre, Ronny, Gaillard, Romy, Paternoster, Lavinia, Wang, Carol A, Beaumont, Robin N, Das, Shikta, Murcia, Mario, Barton, Sheila J, Espinosa, Ana, Theiring, Elisabeth, Atalay, Mustafa, Pitkänen, Niina, Ntalla, Ioanna, Jonsson, Anna E, Freathy, Rachel, Karhunen, Ville, Tiesler, Carla MT, Allard, Catherine, Crawford, Andrew, Ring, Susan M, Melbye, Mads, Magnus, Per, Rivadeneira, Fernando, Skotte, Line, Hansen, Torben, Marsh, Julie ... consortium, Early Growth Genetics (2017). Maternal and fetal genetic contribution to gestational weight gain. doi: 10.1101/116434
2017
Journal Article
Genome-wide association analyses for lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease identify new loci and potential druggable targets
Wain, Louise V., Shrine, Nick, Artigas, María Soler, Erzurumluoglu, A. Mesut, Noyvert, Boris, Bossini-Castillo, Lara, Obeidat, Ma’en, Henry, Amanda P., Portelli, Michael A., Hall, Robert J., Billington, Charlotte K., Rimington, Tracy L., Fenech, Anthony G., John, Catherine, Blake, Tineka, Jackson, Victoria E., Allen, Richard J., Prins, Bram P., Campbell, Archie, Porteous, David J., Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta, Wielscher, Matthias, James, Alan L., Hui, Jennie, Wareham, Nicholas J., Zhao, Jing Hua, Wilson, James F., Joshi, Peter K., Stubbe, Beate ... Tobin, Martin D. (2017). Genome-wide association analyses for lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease identify new loci and potential druggable targets. Nature Genetics, 49 (3), 416-425. doi: 10.1038/ng.3787
2017
Journal Article
Using Mendelian randomization to determine causal effects of maternal pregnancy (intrauterine) exposures on offspring outcomes: Sources of bias and methods for assessing them
Lawlor, Deborah, Richmond, Rebecca, Warrington, Nicole , McMahon, George, Davery Smith, George, Bowden, Jack and Evans, David M. (2017). Using Mendelian randomization to determine causal effects of maternal pregnancy (intrauterine) exposures on offspring outcomes: Sources of bias and methods for assessing them. Wellcome Open Research, 2 (11) 11, 11. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.10567.1
2017
Journal Article
LD Hub: a centralized database and web interface to perform LD score regression that maximizes the potential of summary level GWAS data for SNP heritability and genetic correlation analysis
Zheng, Jie, Erzurumluoglu, A. Mesut, Elsworth, Benjamin L., Kemp, John P., Howe, Laurence, Haycock, Philip C., Hemani, Gibran, Tansey, Katherine, Laurin, Charles, St Pourcain, Beate, Warrington, Nicole M., Finucane, Hilary K., Price, Alkes L., Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan K., Anttila, Verneri, Paternoster, Lavinia, Gaunt, Tom R., Evans, David M. and Neale, Benjamin M. (2017). LD Hub: a centralized database and web interface to perform LD score regression that maximizes the potential of summary level GWAS data for SNP heritability and genetic correlation analysis. Bioinformatics, 33 (2), 272-279. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btw613
2017
Conference Publication
Genome-wide association study of extreme high bone mass identifies NPR3 as a novel BMD-associated gene and highlights the contribution of common genetic variation to extreme BMD phenotypes
Gregson, Celia, Newell, Felicity, Leo, Paul, Paternoster, Lavinia, Marshall, Mhairi, Clark, Graeme, Morris, John, Ge, Bing, Bao, Xiao, Bassett, Duncan, Williams, Graham, Youlten, Scott, Croucher, Peter, Smith, George Davey, Evans, David, Kemp, John, Brown, Matthew, Tobias, Jon and Duncan, Emma (2017). Genome-wide association study of extreme high bone mass identifies NPR3 as a novel BMD-associated gene and highlights the contribution of common genetic variation to extreme BMD phenotypes. Annual Meeting of the American-Society-for-Bone-and-Mineral-Research (ASBMR), Denver CO, United States, 8-11 September 2017. Hoboken, NJ United States: Wiley.
2017
Conference Publication
Estimating developmental changes within the genetic architecture of social communication traits: a multivariate study of genetic variance in unrelated individuals
St Pourcain, Beate, Eaves, Lindon, Verhoef, Ellen, Shapland, Chin Yang, Ring, Susan M., Fisher, Simon E., Medland, Sarah, Evans, David and Smith, George Davey (2017). Estimating developmental changes within the genetic architecture of social communication traits: a multivariate study of genetic variance in unrelated individuals. 47th Annual Meeting of the Behavior-Genetics-Association (BGA), Oslo Norway, Jun 28-Jul 01, 2017. New York, NY, United States: Springer.
2017
Journal Article
HAPRAP: a haplotype-based iterative method for statistical fine mapping using GWAS summary statistics
Zheng, Jie, Rodriguez, Santiago, Laurin, Charles, Baird, Denis, Trela-Larsen, Lea, Erzurumluoglu, Mesut A., Zheng, Yi, White, Jon, Giambartolomei, Claudia, Zabaneh, Delilah, Morris, Richard, Kumari, Meena, Casas, Juan P., Hingorani, Aroon D., Evans, David M. , Gaunt, Tom R. and Day, Ian N. M. (2017). HAPRAP: a haplotype-based iterative method for statistical fine mapping using GWAS summary statistics. Bioinformatics, 33 (1), 79-86. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btw565
2017
Conference Publication
Common polygenic risk for ASD and ADHD is associated with childhood linguistic traits within the general population, but with opposite effects
St Pourcain, Beate, Verhoef, Ellen, Fisher, Simon E., Stergiakouli, Evie, Evans, David E., Ring, Susan M. and Smith, George Davey (2017). Common polygenic risk for ASD and ADHD is associated with childhood linguistic traits within the general population, but with opposite effects. 24th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Jerusalem Israel, October 30-November 4 2016. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.09.470
2017
Conference Publication
Genome-wide association study identifies three novel genetic determinants of dental maturation
Grgic, Olja, Medina-Gomez, Carolina, Dhamo, Brunilda, Trajanoska, Katerina, Vucic, Strahinja, Ongkosuwito, Edwin M., Jaddoe, Vincent W. V., Uitterlinden, Andre G., Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta, Timpson, Nicholas, Evans, David M., Wolvius, Eppo B. and Rivadeneira, Fernando (2017). Genome-wide association study identifies three novel genetic determinants of dental maturation. Annual Meeting of the American-Society-for-Bone-and-Mineral-Research (ASBMR), Denver, CO USA, 8-11 September 2017. Hoboken, NJ United States: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
2017
Conference Publication
Trait-specific patterns of common genetic factors influence social-communication difficulties and ADHD symptoms during child and adolescent development
St Pourcain, Beate, Eaves, Lindon, Evans, David M., Stergiakouli, Evie, Fisher, Simon E., Ring, Susan M., Carey, Gregory and George, Davey Smith (2017). Trait-specific patterns of common genetic factors influence social-communication difficulties and ADHD symptoms during child and adolescent development. 24th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Jerusalem Israel, October 30 - November 4 2016. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.09.411
2017
Conference Publication
Performing Mendelian randomization using structural equation models
Evans, David and Warrington, Nicole (2017). Performing Mendelian randomization using structural equation models. 47th Annual Meeting of the Behavior-Genetics-Association (BGA), Oslo Norway, 28 June - 1 July 2017. New York NY United States: Springer.
2017
Conference Publication
Cathepsins B and S Are Novel Biomarkers for Bone Mineral Density: A Mendelian Randomization Study
Morris, John, Kemp, John, Evans, David and Richards, Brent (2017). Cathepsins B and S Are Novel Biomarkers for Bone Mineral Density: A Mendelian Randomization Study. Annual Meeting of the American-Society-for-Bone-and-Mineral-Research (ASBMR), Denver CO, United States, 8-11 September 2017. Hoboken, NJ United States: Wiley.
2017
Conference Publication
Genetic links between social-communication traits, ADHD traits and clinical ADHD during development
St Pourcain, Beate, Martin, Joanna, Stergiakouli, Evie, Robinson, Elise, Skuse, David, Susan, Ring, Ronald, Angelica, Evans, David, Timpson, Nicholas, Thapar, Anita and Smith, George Davey (2017). Genetic links between social-communication traits, ADHD traits and clinical ADHD during development. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, Oct 16-20 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
Developmental changes in genetic relationships between traits and disease: Analyses of genetic overlaps between social-communication difficulties, autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia
St Pourcain, Beate, Robinson, Elise, Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan, Anttila, Verneri, Maller, Julian, Skuse, David, Rings, Susan, Evans, David, Timpson, Nicholas, Ronald, Angelica, Grove, Jakob, Borglum, Anders, Mortensen, Preben Bo, Daly, Mark and Smiths, George Davey (2017). Developmental changes in genetic relationships between traits and disease: Analyses of genetic overlaps between social-communication difficulties, autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, Oct 16-20 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2016
Other Outputs
MR-Base: a platform for systematic causal inference across the phenome using billions of genetic associations
Hemani, Gibran, Zheng, Jie, Wade, Kaitlin H, Laurin, Charles, Elsworth, Benjamin, Burgess, Stephen, Bowden, Jack, Langdon, Ryan, Tan, Vanessa, Yarmolinsky, James, Shihab, Hashem A., Timpson, Nicholas, Evans, David M, Relton, Caroline, Martin, Richard M, Smith, George Davey, Gaunt, Tom R, Haycock, Philip C, Soranzo, Nicole, van Heel, David A, Okada, Yukinori, Tang, Clara S., Garcia-Barcelo, Merce, Tam, Paul KH, Jacobsen, Kaya Kvarme, Jones, Gregory T, Bown, Matthew J, Albagha, Omar, Ralston, Stuart H. ... Lee, Jeffrey E (2016). MR-Base: a platform for systematic causal inference across the phenome using billions of genetic associations. doi: 10.1101/078972
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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