An aetiological epidemiologist, the objective of my research is to understand how psychological, biological, and behavioural factors from across the life course, and between generations, influence the risk of the major causes of mortality.  The ultimate aim of this body of research is prevention.  With colleagues, I use a series of approaches to explore these areas, including deeply phenotyped cohort studies, linkage of routinely collected data resulting in ‘mega’ cohort studies (1 million+ individuals) and so-called ‘big data’, Mendelian randomisation, aetiological trials, and individual-participant meta-analysis.  I am an investigator on the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the National Child Development Study (NCDS/1958 birth cohort).