Research Associate

Physical Activity and Public Health

Left the Unit in 2018

Work and interests

Craig was a Research Associate in Physical Activity and Public Health within the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), having joined in December 2016. He left the Unit in 2018.

His primary interests lie with the use of large-scale longitudinal datasets as a means of better understanding relationships between modifiable health behaviours and the risk of non-communicable disease. He has an applied knowledge of statistical techniques including dose-response meta-analysis and polynomial regression, complex survey design and multiple imputation, multi-level and growth curve modelling.

He is keen to broaden his skillset and collaborate on natural experimental studies and projects that evaluate the health and lifestyle impacts of environmental and behavioural policies and interventions.

He is currently using prospective data from UK Biobank to investigate the effect of changes to commute behaviour upon the onset and development of depressive symptoms.

Background and experience

Craig completed a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL in 2016. Funded by European Research Council (ERC), his work focussed on the role of alcohol as a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. He utilised repeated measures of alcohol consumption within the Whitehall II cohort to estimate trajectories of drinking through adulthood and predict the risk of T2DM according to intake at different stages of the adult life course.

During his time at UCL, Craig also worked on health survey data as a Research Assistant within the Health and Social Surveys Research Group, publishing research on topics from alcohol-derived calories and obesity, trends in hypertension management, and ethnic health inequalities. He completed an MSc in Social Epidemiology at UCL in 2013.

Qualifications

• PhD Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (UCL)
• MSc Social Epidemiology, UCL
• BSc (Hons) Social Science with Social Policy, Open University

Publications

• MRC Epidemiology Unit publications on the Publications Database

Selected publications

1. 1. Knott C, Bell S, Britton A. Alcohol consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of more than 1.9 million individuals from 38 observational studies. Diabetes Care 2015; 38(9): 1804-1812.
   2. Knott CS, Coombs N, Stamatakis E, Biddulph JP. All-cause mortality and the case for age specific alcohol consumption guidelines: pooled analyses of up to 10 population based cohorts. BMJ 2015; 350: h384.
   3. Mindell JS, Knott CS, Ng Fat LS, Roth MA, Manor O, Soskolne V, et al. Explanatory factors for health inequalities across different ethnic and gender groups: data from a national survey in England. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2014; 68: 1133-1144.
   4. Falaschetti E, Mindell J, Knott C, Poulter N. Hypertension management in England: a serial cross-sectional study from 1994 to 2011. Lancet. 2014; 383(9932): 1912-1919.
   5. Shelton N, Knott C. Association between Alcohol Calorie Intake and Overweight and Obesity in English Adults. Am J Public Health. 2014; 104(4): 629-31.
   6. Knott C. Chapter 4: General mental and physical health. In. Craig R, Mindell J (eds.) Volume 1: Health, social care and lifestyles. Leeds: Health and Social Care Information Centre; 2013. Available online: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB13218
   7. Knott CS, Scholes S, Shelton NJ. Could more than three million older people be at risk of alcohol-related harm? A cross-sectional analysis of age-specific drinking guidelines. Age and Ageing. 2013; 42(5): 598-603.
   8. Knott C, Mindell J. Chapter 3: Hypertension. In. Craig R, Mindell J (eds.) Volume 1: Health Survey for England: 2011 report. Leeds: Health and Social Care Information Centre; 2012. Available online: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB09300