News from the Institute of Metabolic Science (IMS) Epidemiology. 2026, Issue 2
Welcome to the latest epigram, the newsletter from IMS Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge.
Our researchers study changes in health and society in the UK and around the world, and work with communities to better understand the interacting factors that influence our health.
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The power of weight loss
The media continues to highlight the different types of weight gain and myriad ways – both positive and negative – we can lose it.
Skinny fat
Professor Nita Forouhi was interviewed by the BBC Persian service; she discussed the paradoxical issue of individuals who are “thin on the outside and fat on the inside”. This health concern focuses on those with a seemingly healthy BMI but who also have high amounts visceral fat hidden around their vital organs. The article also discusses how hidden fats impact our health. Read it here.
Too young for weight loss drugs?
An article by the Financial Times journalist Laura Hughes, aims to understand why children and young people are being prescribed GLP-1s. IMS Epidemiology’s Professor Ken Ong, who also leads the Complications from Excess Weight (CEW) clinic at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, says that children with severe excessive weight are often dealing with multiple difficulties and that he and his team see the “very severe end of the spectrum”. Is it safe for children to use weight loss drugs?
Learn something new everyday
It’s been over two decades since the first GLP-1 was made available as a type 2 diabetes treatment. And now, instead of a weekly injection, you can take a daily pill. But what do we know about the longer impact of the drugs? Dr Marie Spreckley, a Research Programme Manager at IMS Epidemiology was interviewed for The New York Time’s article, which discussed why “What we know about weight-loss drugs is rapidly changing”
In their words
From their minds to yours, our researchers share the purpose of their research
Pollution and our health
Researchers are finding potential correlations between pollution and Parkinson’s disease. In a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating long-term exposure to common air pollutants, researchers – including Dr Annalan Navaratnam and Dr Haneen Khreis from IMS Epidemiology – found evidence of a link with two types of pollutants in particular.
Dr Khreis and colleagues previously created an open-access interactive tool mapping the effectiveness of over 1,000 unique policy interventions to reduce traffic-related emissions and air pollution.
OBSCORE – the accurate obesity risk model
IMS Epidemiology Director Nick Wareham was a co-author for a new study about a new obesity-risk model, which was recently published in Nature Medicine. The model was developed and tested by researchers from Queen Mary University of London, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité and the University of Cambridge.
Analysing thousands of health factors from 200, 000 UK Biobank participants the researchers identified 20 factors that could predict future health risks. Identifying those high-risk individuals early could help healthcare professionals choose the appropriate intervention and prioritise treatments to those that need them the most.
Bradford Hill Seminars
The Bradford Hill Seminar series features internationally recognised speakers covering topics of broad interest to our public health research community.
It is brought to you by the Cambridge Population Health Sciences Partnership, in collaboration with the PHG Foundation.
Upcoming talks are listed here
The global syphilis epidemic: Why is this happening and what should we do about it?
Hybrid seminar on Wednesday 28 October 2026, 1:00pm – 2:00pm, register to attend
Professor Michael Marks
Michael Marks is Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Professor of Medicine at LSHTM. His work is focused on the control of syphilis in the UK and worldwide. The seminar will cover current challenges facing the syphilis epidemic globally and the potential for new tools to help improve our understanding of syphilis and our public health response.
About epigram
epigram is the newsletter for everyone interested in work happening at IMS Epidemiology, University of Cambridge.
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