Research
Our research in the media
7 Jul 2021
BBC News
Dying too young: Maps show little has changed in 170 years
This article features research by LCDS Associate Member Alice Reid. The article says the geography of coronavirus deaths in the UK closely follows the pattern of poor health in the 19th Century. Alice's research was supported by The Cambridge Group for the History of Population at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, the ESRC and www.PopulationsPast.com
8 Apr 2021
Financial Times
People struggle to assess risk, especially in a pandemic
With worries circulating about the risk of blood clots possibly linked with a COVID-19 vaccine, our Director Professor Melinda Mills wrote this opinion piece on public perception of risk. It alters in times of uncertainty, such as a pandemic.
'If you take the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, you have a 99.9996% chance of not developing a clot,' she wrote.
28 Apr 2021
Associated Press - the story was also covered in Mail Online, Chicago Sun Times and other publications
Is it safe to go to big sporting events during the pandemic?
Professor Jennifer Dowd says there are ways to make it safer if you do decide to go to sports stadiums. "Yelling, chanting, hugging and generally pouring out our sports enthusiasm is still not the safest activity...Spaces that are indoors with lots of people eating and drinking without masks are still among the riskiest," she said.
7 Apr 2021
BBC2 Newsnight
Professor Mills shared her views on concerns about a link between the risk of rare blood clots and the Oxford Astrazenca COVID-19 vaccine.
'People get in a car and think it’s low risk as they’re in control. And they think GM, food preservatives and vaccines, which they are unrelated to, as high risk. Actually it's the reverse,' she says. Watch the interview at 6m 45s
29 Mar 2021
Newsweek
What we know about when the U.S. may reach herd immunity with COVID
Estimates vary, and some think it's impossible to predict when the country will meet the immunity threshold.
Professor Jennifer Beam Dowd is interviewed in this article. It's impossible to predict when herd immunity will be reached, she says. But if kids are vaccinated in the fall, the difference will be felt by New Year 2022.
25 Mar 2021
Bloomberg
The Uncertain Science Behind Vaccine Passports
Professor Mills is interviewed:
“What happens if I’m sitting in another country and my vaccine is paused?” says Melinda Mills, who recently co-led a report on vaccine passports for the Royal Society. “What is a valid vaccine? It’s a moving target.”
1 Jun 2021
Radio 4
All in the Mind
Dr Per Block is interviewed about his research Sharing the load: Contagion and tolerance of mood in social networks
The study examined mood contagion between teenage musicians on tour, and showed that they caught moods from each other and that bad moods are more contagious than good ones. Listen at 17m 50s.
13 Apr 2021
Mail Online
Primary school pupils learned 'little or nothing' from online lessons during lockdown and lost a FIFTH of the progress they would have made in the classroom, study finds
Research conducted by Per Engell, Arun Frey and Mark Verhagen found that primary school children learned very little or nothing during lockdown, without face to face teaching. The team studied evidence from the Netherlands, and suggest their findings are applicable internationally.
6 Apr 2021
The Guardian
Would Covid passports be damaging to public health?
Guardian Health Policy, Head to Head
Would Covid passports be damaging to public health?
Our Director Professor Melinda Mills, author of the Royal Society report on vaccine passports goes Head to Head with Stephen Reicher
Covid passports could be workable, but they’ll need to meet certain criteria, says Professor Mills.
24 Mar 2021
Tech Monitor
Vaccine passports are coming – but they may exclude millions
To be truly safe, “these passports would have to have an expiry date on them”, explains Professor Melinda Mills, director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science. “You’d also have to be able to revoke them” in extreme cases.
Research Impact
The Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science is at the forefront of research relating to COVID-19. Research into the demographics of COVID-19 mortality rates, the effectiveness of face coverings and social bubbles has helped shape policy-making in response to the virus, both in the UK and internationally, as well as raising public awareness of measures to stop the spread of the virus. The research has also led to the development of a Coronavirus Hotspots Dashboard which helps local authorities to predict areas at risk of an outbreak. The initiative Dear Pandemic, co-founded by Jennifer Dowd, has disseminated the research results to a wide public audience, focusing on practical recommendations.
Publications
Unpacking intentions to leave the parental home in Europe using the Generations and Gender Survey
Demographic Research
Katrin Schwanitz, Francesco Rampazzo, Agnese Vitali
5 Jul 2021
Publication
Identification of 371 genetic variants for age at first sex and birth linked to externalising behaviour
Nature Human Behaviour
Melinda C. Mills, Felix C. Tropf, David M. Brazel, Natalie van Zuydam, Ahmad Vaez, eQTLGen Consortium, BIOS Consortium, Human Reproductive Behaviour Consortium, Tune H. Pers, Harold Snieder, John R. B. Perry, Ken K. Ong, Marcel den Hoed, Nicola Barban & Felix R. Day
1 Jul 2021
Publication
Behind the Paper: The genetics of the timing of sex and reproduction
Nature Portfolio Behavioural & Social Sciences
Professor Melinda Mills
30 Jun 2021
Publication
Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality - using big data for insights into the gender digital divide for girls: A discussion paper
Unicef
Ridhi Kashyap
29 Jun 2021
Publication
The Scar Effects of Unemployment on Electoral Participation: Withdrawal and Mobilization across European Societies
European Sociological Review
Leo Azzollini
27 Jun 2021
Publication
Mortality, migration and epidemiological change in English cities, 1600–1870
International Journal of Paleopathology
Davenport, RJ
16 Jun 2021
Publication
The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis
Nature Communications
Fernando Colchero, José Manuel Aburto, Elizabeth A. Archie, Christophe Boesch, Thomas Breuer, Fernando A. Campos, Anthony Collins, Dalia A. Conde, Marina Cords, Catherine Crockford, Melissa Emery Thompson, Linda M. Fedigan, Claudia Fichtel, Milou Groenenberg, Catherine Hobaiter, Peter M. Kappeler, Richard R. Lawler, Rebecca J. Lewis, Zarin P. Machanda, Marie L. Manguette, Martin N. Muller, Craig Packer, Richard J. Parnell, Susan Perry, Anne E. Pusey, Martha M. Robbins, Robert M. Seyfarth, Joan B. Silk, Johanna Staerk, Tara S. Stoinski, Emma J. Stokes, Karen B. Strier, Shirley C. Strum, Jenny Tung, Francisco Villavicencio, Roman M. Wittig, Richard W. Wrangham, Klaus Zuberbühler, James W. Vaupel & Susan C. Alberts
15 Jun 2021
publication
The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis
Nature Communications
Fernando Colchero, José Manuel Aburto, Elizabeth A. Archie, Christophe Boesch, Thomas Breuer, Fernando A. Campos, Anthony Collins, Dalia A. Conde, Marina Cords, Catherine Crockford, Melissa Emery Thompson, Linda M. Fedigan, Claudia Fichtel,
Milou Groenenberg, Catherine Hobaiter, Peter M. Kappeler, Richard R. Lawler,
Rebecca J. Lewis, Zarin P. Machanda, Marie L. Manguette, Martin N. Muller, Craig Packer, Richard J. Parnell, Susan Perry, Anne E. Pusey, Martha M. Robbins, Robert M. Seyfarth, Joan B. Silk, Johanna Staerk, Tara S. Stoinsk, Emma J. Stoke, Karen B. Strier, Shirley C. Strum, Jenny Tung, Francisco Villavicencio, Roman M. Wittig Richard W. Wrangham, Klaus Zuberbühler, James W. Vaupel & Susan C. Alberts
15 Jun 2021
Publication
Reconstructing Sociogenomics Research: Dismantling Biological Race and Genetic Essentialism Narratives
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Pamela Herd, Melinda C. Mills, Jennifer Beam Dowd
8 Jun 2021
Publication
Lack of trust, conspiracy beliefs, and social media use predict COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Vaccines
Will Jennings, Gerry Stoker, Hannah Bunting, Viktor Orri Valgarðsson, Jennifer Gaskell, Daniel Devine, Lawrence McKay, Melinda C. Mills
2 Jun 2021
Publication