This workshop introduces participants to linking small-area level data on the local physical (air quality, greenspace etc) and social (access to services, deprivation) environment to cohort and administrative data.
About the event

This training workshop took place in July 2024 and was aimed at researchers and data analysts with an interest in examining the association between aspects of the physical or social environment and health, economic, education or behavioural outcomes using Centre for Longitudinal Studies’ cohorts or administrative data from the UK.
The workshop introduce participants to linking small-area level data on the local physical (air quality, greenspace etc) and social (access to services, deprivation) environment to cohort and administrative data. Attendees will learn basic concepts in geo-linkage and be introduced to key local social and environmental datasets. The workshop includes practical sessions to start building geographical information systems (GIS) skills for users of cohort and administrative data. The event is presented in collaboration with the Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond St. Institute of Child Health.
Why take part
- We will outline reasons for geo-linking small-area level environmental data to cohort and administrative data.
- We will signpost organisations that provide datasets on environmental and social topics for research and spatial analysis.
- We will describe the structure of key social and physical environmental datasets used and applied for research purposes in the UK.
- We will introduce basic methods for accessing, cleaning and managing environmental data, and linking these to cohort and administrative data, including practical sessions in R.
Presenters
- Dr Selin Akaraci is a research fellow in environmental epidemiology at the UCL GOSH Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, with a primary focus on exploring the impact of urban environment features on health.
- Dr David Church is a Geographical information systems (GIS) developer at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
- Dr Joana Cruz is an environmental researcher at the UCL GOSH Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department. Her research interests include impact of environment on human health.
- Professor Pia Hardelid is an epidemiologist at the UCL GOSH Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department. Her research focuses on how physical environment impacts child health.
- Professor Morag Henderson is the Director of ‘Next Steps’, a large longitudinal cohort study and is a quantitative sociologist at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
- Dr Amal Rammah is an environmental epidemiologist at the UCL GOSH Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department. Her research has focused on maternal and child environmental health and health disparities.
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