About the event

The CLS British cohort studies are large-scale, nationally representative samples that collect rich information about cohort members’ lives – their social background, education, income, mental health, relationships and more. To complement this, there is a wide range of genetic data that are available from each of these studies.  

From these genetic data, CLS researchers have derived a list of polygenic scores – summary measures that combine the estimated effects of many different genes on a specific trait or characteristic, such as a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, substance abuse, or mental health disorders, for example. These polygenic scores can be combined with existing survey data to offer a more nuanced understanding of how cohort members’ outcomes may be shaped. 

This webinar will provide an overview of the polygenic scores that are now available from the UK Data Service across four British cohort studies: 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), Next Steps and Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). We will detail the range of available polygenic scores, how these can be accessed, give examples of how they have been used before, and illustrate the unique research opportunities they offer. 

What’s covered in the event?

• Introduction to the polygenic scores now available in the CLS cohorts.
• Guidance on how you can access these data under the secure license from the UK Data Service and signposts to resources to help you implement them in your research. 
• Insights into previous case examples of using polygenic scores such as BMI and education in genetically informed social science research. 
• Overview of future research avenues using polygenic scores and other cohort data.

Who should attend?

Whether you are an experienced user of genetic data or not familiar at all, this webinar will be a unique opportunity to discover the potential of using polygenic scores in your research. It will be of particular interest to social scientists including economists, education researchers, psychologists, demographers, and epidemiologists.

Why take part?

• Discover the range of polygenic scores – physical, health-related and psychological – that are available across four different cohort studies and find out how they were generated.
• Find out practical applications of polygenic scores for a variety of disciplinary specialities and how you can use them in your research.
• Ask questions to an expert panel of the survey and genetic CLS data users.

Which studies are covered?

• 1958 National Child Development Study
• 1970 British Cohort Study  
• Next Steps  
• Millennium Cohort Study 

Who is presenting?

• Tim Morris is a Senior Research Fellow in Social Science Genetics at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
• David Bann is a Professor of Population Health and Strategic Lead of Genomics at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
• Liam Wright is a Lecturer in Statistics and Survey Methodology at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
• Vanessa Moulton is a Senior Research Fellow at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
• Morag Henderson is a Professor of Sociology and Principal Investigator of Next Steps. 

Register now