Luisa Zuccolo
- Research Group Leader, Zuccolo Group
Dr. Luisa Zuccolo is an epidemiologist with expertise in causal inference applied to population health. Following her first degree in Physics, she obtained a Fellowship from the University of Turin, Italy, in Cancer Epidemiology and Surveillance. She then moved to the University of Bristol (UK) and was awarded a pre-doctoral Fellowship from the UK Medical Research Council to complete an MSc in Epidemiology (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and a PhD in Genetic Epidemiology with Prof. George Davey Smith (University of Bristol). She was then awarded a second MRC Fellowship in Population Health Science and Epidemiology, after which, in 2018, she secured a tenured position at the University of Bristol. Dr. Zuccolo’s past research includes the causal effects of alcohol on health, in particular of prenatal alcohol exposure, using methods and designs that improve causal inference. More recently, she has focussed on maternal and child health, researching barriers to and effects of prolonged breastfeeding, the impact of COVID-19 on fertility and pregnancy outcomes, and misinformation around public health messaging on social media.
Publications
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01/2023 - Epidemiology
Partial Identification of the Average Causal Effect in Multiple Study Populations: The Challenge of Combining Mendelian Randomization Studies
Background: Researchers often use random-effects or fixed-effects meta-analysis to combine findings from multiple study populations. However, the causal interpretation of these models is not always clear, and they do not easily translate to settings where bounds, rather than point estimates, are computed. Methods: If bounds on an average causal effect of interest in a well-defined […]
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12/2022 - BMC Infectious Diseases
COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy: views and vaccination uptake rates in pregnancy, a mixed methods analysis from SAIL and the Born-In-Wales Birth Cohort
Background Vaccine hesitancy amongst pregnant women has been found to be a concern during past epidemics. This study aimed to (1) estimate COVID-19 vaccination rates among pregnant women in Wales and their association with age, ethnicity, and area of deprivation, using electronic health record (EHR) data linkage, and (2) explore pregnant women’s views on receiving […]
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12/2022 - Nature
Genetic diversity fuels gene discovery for tobacco and alcohol use
Tobacco and alcohol use are heritable behaviours associated with 15% and 5.3% of worldwide deaths, respectively, due largely to broad increased risk for disease and injury1–4. These substances are used across the globe, yet genome-wide association studies have focused largely on individuals of European ancestries5. Here we leveraged global genetic diversity across 3.4 million individuals […]
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10/2022 - Journal of the American Heart Association
Alcohol Intake and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Negative Control Analysis in the ALSPAC Cohort
Background Alcohol intake increases blood pressure yet estimates of associations between maternal intake and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are sparse and range from null to a protective effect. Here we estimated the association of maternal drinking during pregnancy with preeclampsia and gestational hypertension (separately and jointly, as HDP). We used partner’s alcohol intake as […]
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10/2022 - Addiction
Prenatal smoking, alcohol and caffeine exposure and offspring externalizing disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background and aims Several studies have indicated an association between maternal prenatal substance use and offspring externalizing disorders; however, it is uncertain whether this relationship is causal. We conducted a systematic review to determine: (1) if the literature supports a causal role of maternal prenatal substance use on offspring externalizing disorders diagnosis and (2) whether […]
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