DrJamesBentham

Summary

I work at the intersection of statistics, data science and public health, applying sophisticated algorithms to large datasets.

My PhD project involved analysis of free text descriptions of patient safety incidents. I developed an innovative model of the text that captured semantic content, and used pattern detection algorithms to identify groups of incidents of potential interest.

As a postdoctoral researcher, I had a significant role in the largest genome-wide association study of systemic lupus erythematosus to date, carrying out statistical analysis at all stages of the project.¹ We have also carried out analyses to compare the genes that increase disease risk in European and Chinese cohorts.²

For the past three and half years, I have led statistical analysis for the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). We work with scientists around the world to provide data on risk factors for non-communicable diseases. We have recently published data describing trends in body-mass index,^3,4 diabetes,^5,6 height^7,8 and blood pressure^9,10 in adults in all countries in the world. We have produced dynamic visualisations of our results, which can be viewed at ncdrisc.org.

1. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v47/n12/full/ng.3434.html.

2. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v48/n8/full/ng.3603.html.

3. http://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2816%2930054-X/fulltext.

4. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2082754-explore-how-global-obesity-crisis-has-exploded-in-past-40-years.

5. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2816%2900618-8/fulltext.

6. www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/04/07/473406951/a-global-alarm-about-diabetes-and-dont-blame-it-all-on-fast-food.

7. https://elifesciences.org/content/5/e13410.

8. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/26/tall-story-men-and-women-have-grown-taller-over-last-century-study-shows.

9. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)31919-5/fulltext.

10. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/200-million-Indians-had-high-BP-in-2015-Lancet/articleshow/55475381.cms.

Professional Experience

2013-    Research Associate, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, UK
2013-2016    Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King's College London, UK
2010-2013    Research Associate, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King's College London, UK
2010    Research Associate, Department of Rheumatology, Imperial College London, UK

Conference talks

2016      China Heart Congress, Beijing, China. Worldwide patterns and mortality consequences of cardiometabolic risk factors.
2011    Platform presentation, American Society of Human Genetics Meeting/International Congress of Human Genetics, Montreal, Canada
‘Novel loci identified by the largest genome-wide association study of lupus to date’
2009        12th International Conference, Discovery Science, Porto, Portugal
2009        Royal Statistical Society 175th Anniversary Conference, Edinburgh, UK

Invited talk

2008    Royal Statistical Society Statistical Computing Section meeting on text mining (natural language processing), London, UK

Education

2010    Doctor of Philosophy, ‘Discovering new kinds of patient safety incidents’.  Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, UK.  Supervisor: Professor David Hand
2006    Master of Science (Distinction), Probability and Statistics.  Department of Probability and Statistics, University of Sheffield, UK
2000    Master of Engineering, Engineering (Civil).  School of Engineering, University of Warwick, UK
2000    Bachelor of Engineering, Engineering (Civil), School of Engineering, University of Warwick, UK

Selected Publications

Conference

More Publications