Dr Mark Pearce
Reader in Lifecourse Epidemiology

  • Email: mark.pearce@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 282 1355
  • Fax: +44 (0) 191 282 4724
  • Address: Institute of Health & Society
    Newcastle University
    Sir James Spence Institute of Child Health
    Royal Victoria Infirmary
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 4LP

Introduction

I am a Reader in Lifecourse Epidemiology within the Institute of Health and Society. I am the Director of the Newcastle Thousand Families Study, a birth cohort established in 1947 and lead a programme of epidemiological research assessing risk factors for and causal pathways to adverse health and behavioural outcomes. This encompasses the effects of medical radiation exposures (primarily CT scans), the lifecourse influences on chronic disease and more generally am able to adapt to most areas of epidemiology. I am open to collaborations in any epidemiological field and to approaches from potential MRes and PhD students.

Roles and Responsibilities

Director, The Newcastle Thousand Families Study

Member of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) 

Programme lead of the MRes in Epidemiology

Module lead for MRes Clinical Epidemiology module

Qualifications

BSc (Hons), 1993, University of Wales

MSc in Medical Statistics, 1994, University of Leicester

PhD Epidemiology, 2000, Newcastle University 

Previous Positions

Senior Lecturer, Newcastle University, 2008-2011

Lecturer, Newcastle University, 2005-2008

Senior Research Associate, Newcastle University, 2003-2005

Research Associate, Newcastle University, 2002-2003 

Post-doctoral Fellow, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, 2000-2001

Research Associate, Newcastle University, 1997-2000

Junior Research Associate, Newcastle University, 1995-1997

Research Assistant, Institute of Cancer Research (London), 1994-1995 

 

Research Interests

My research is centred within the field of aetiological epidemiology with an ability to adapt to changing research needs or collaborative requests.to cover most aspects of epidemiology. Within this I have 2 primary research fields, i) lifecourse influences on health and behaviour, and ii) the effects of medical radiation exposures on health.

 

Research Roles 

I am the Director of the Newcastle Thousand Families Study, a birth cohort established in 1947, a co-investigator on two other birth cohorts based at Newcastle University, the Gateshead Millennium Study and the Newcastle Pre-Term Birth Cohort, and a collaborator with the Australian Aboriginal Birth Cohort. The key theme within these studies is to identify aetiological risk factors for chronic diseases,  in both childhood and adulthood. We quantify the relative importance of different risk factors, and the pathways between them, so as to identify areas that should of most interest for public health interventions and thus translation. As part of this, I am also investigating factors that influence health behaviours, such as physical activity, as it is likely that interventions will work differently in different groups of people.

I also lead a programme of research into the potential risks associated with medical radiation exposures in young people. The main study within this is the UK CT Scan Study from which we reported, in the Lancet in 2012, our findings of significantly increased risks of both leukaemias and brain tumours with increasing organ-specific radiation doses from having a CT scan. As well as leading the UK Study, I also instigated the European-wide EPI-CT study and am a co-investigator on a similar study in Brazil. 

I am also involved in a number of other externally funded research projects, including a wide range of collaborative studies with colleagues in Child Health.

 

Postgraduate Supervision

I am currently supervising seven PhD students. Details of these and those post submission can be found under the teaching tab.  

MRes

  • Programme lead for MRes (Epidemiology) 
  • Module lead - Clinical epidemiology (also open to MClinRes and MSc Medical Sciences students
  • Dissertation supervisor, dissertation examiner, personal tutor

MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research

  • Lecturer on the Applied Epidemiology module
  • Dissertation supervisor, dissertation examiner

PGClinRes

  •  Lecturer on the Research Study Design and Data Interpretation module

MBBS

  • Personal tutor
  • Annual appraisals
  • Assignment marker

BSc Biomedical Sciences

Dissertation supervisor, dissertation examiner

 BSc Biology

Dissertation supervisor, dissertation examiner

 Current PhD students

  • Ajay Abraham (post-viva) - Lifecourse influences on osteoarthritis of the knees, hips and hands as defined by musculoskeletal ultrasound
  • Abdulkareem Al-Quwaidhi (submitted)- Modelling of diabetes prevalence in Saudi Arabia
  • Majid Althaqafy - Seroimmunity profile and associated knowledge and concern of Hepatitis B, measles and varicella infections among employees in the Saudi National Guard- Western Region
  • Alex Battersby - An investigation into the physical and psychological health of carriers of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease in the United Kingdom
  • Theresa Cole (submitted) - A comparison of clinical outcome, quality of life, emotional well being and cognitive function in those with Chronic Granulomatous Disease managed conservatively and curati
  • Rhiannon Davies - What are the lifecourse and recent determinants of poor oral health in later life?
  • Richard Harbron - Radiation doses and associated risks from cardiac catheterization in children and young adults
  • Claire McDonald - A prospective evaluation of the associations of neurocardiovascular instability in community dwelling older people
  • Kay Mann  - The estimation of wholegrain food intake and influence on health: The National Diet and Nutrition Survey and the Newcastle Thousand Families Study.
  • Fiona Pearson (post-viva) - Diabetes and the risk of tuberculosis: how strong is the association and what is its public health impact?
  • Matthew Thomas (post-viva) - The increasing incidence of childhood empyema thoracis: epidemiology and clinical aspects  

 Completed PhD Students

  • Rakesh Ghosh (2008) Interaction between environmental factors and gender on perinatal outcomes
  • Simon Kerr (2009) The prevalence of neurocardiovascular instability and its clinical associations in community-dwelling older people
  • Jane Salotti (2010) An epidemiological survey of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis in children in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland 
  • Basilio Gomez-Pozo (2012) Spatial epidemiology of lung cancer mortality: Geographical heterogeneity and risk factors assessment
  • Richard Morris (2013) Knee joint kinematics associated with osteoarthritis in an older cohort

PhD Examination

  •  Newcastle University (2), Edinburgh University, RMIT (Melbourne)