Professor Cyrus Cooper

Professor Cyrus Cooper, Past-Director, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre

Professor Cyrus Cooper

I am a clinically qualified Consultant Rheumatologist, as well as a Professor and Past-Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton.  The Unit that I direct hosts the Southampton Women’s Survey, which is the major UK resource relating women’s body composition and lifestyle before conception to their environment during pregnancy and then studying the baby following its birth.  Our particular interest lies in linking the mother’s nutrition before and during pregnancy to the fat, muscle and bone mass of the baby after it is born.  The children have been followed up in infancy and childhood, with current evaluations ongoing at ages 11-13 years.

As Past-Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, I have overarching responsibility for the Southampton Women’s Survey, as well as our other cohort studies and trials.  The Centre has a staff of around 80 people, working in diverse programmes which explore the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disease, diabetes and obesity.  We write more than 200 research papers each year, and have several contacts with local and national media.

University of Southampton Profile for Professor Cyrus Cooper