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Dr. Cathal Mc Crory
Professor In, Medical Gerontology

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

McCrory, C., Fiorito, G., Ni Cheallaigh, C., Polidoro, S., Karisola, P., Alenius, H., Layte, R., Seeman, T., Vineis, P. & Kenny, RA. , How does socio-economic position (SEP) get biologically embedded? A comparison of allostatic load and the epigenetic clock(s)., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 104, 2019, p64 - 73 Journal Article, 2019 TARA - Full Text URL

McCrory C, Leahy, Ribeiro AI, Fraga S, Barros H, Avendano M, Vineis P, Layte R; LIFEPATH consortium, Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries., Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries., 2019 Journal Article, 2019 TARA - Full Text

Fiorito G, McCrory C, Robinson O, Carmeli C, Rosales CO, Zhang Y, Colicino E, Dugué PA, Artaud F, McKay GJ, Jeong A, Mishra PP, Nøst TH, Krogh V, Panico S, Sacerdote C, Tumino R, Palli D, Matullo G, Guarrera S, Gandini M, Bochud M, Dermitzakis E, Muka T, Schwartz J, Vokonas PS, Just A, Hodge AM, Giles GG, Southey MC, Hurme MA, Young I, McKnight AJ, Kunze S, Waldenberger M, Peters A, Schwettmann L, Lund E, Baccarelli A, Milne RL, Kenny RA, Elbaz A, Brenner H, Kee F, Voortman T, Probst-Hensch N, Lehtimäki T, Elliot P, Stringhini S, Vineis P, Polidoro S; BIOS Consortium; Lifepath consortium., Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: a multi-cohort analysis., Aging, 11, (7), 2019, p2045 - 2070 Journal Article, 2019 DOI TARA - Full Text

McCrory, C., Berkman, L., Nolan, H., O'Leary, N., Foley, M., & Kenny, R.A., Speed of Heart Rate Recovery in Response to Orthostatic Challenge: A Strong Risk Marker of Mortality., Circulation Research, 119, (5), 2016, p666 - 675 Journal Article, 2016 URL

McCrory, C., Berkman, L., Moore, P.V., & Kenny, R.A. , What Explains Socioeconomic Differences in the Speed of Heart Rate Recovery to Postural Challenge?, Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 72, (12), 2017, p1717 - 1723 Journal Article, 2017 DOI TARA - Full Text

McCrory, C., O'Leary, N., Fraga, S., Ribeiro, A.I., Barros, H., Kartiosuo, N. Raitakari, O., Kivimaki, M., Vineis, & Layte, R. for the Lifepath Consortium, Socioeconomic differences in children's growth trajectories from infancy to early adulthood: evidence from four European countries, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 71, (10), 2017, p981 - 989 Journal Article, 2017 URL

Stinghini, S., Carmeli, C., Jokela, M., Avendano, M., McCrory, C. et al., Socioeconomic status, non-communicable disease risk factors, and walking speed in older adults: multi-cohort population based study, British Medical Journal, 360, 2018 Journal Article, 2018 URL

Fiorito, G., Polidoro, S. Dugue, P.A., Kivimaki, M., Ponzi, E., Matullo, G., Guarrera, S., Assummaa, M.B. Georgiadis, P., Kyrtopoulos, S.O. Krogh, V. Palli, D., Panico, S., Sacerdote, C. Tumino, R., Chadeau-Hyam, M., Stringhini, S., Severi, G., Hodge, A.M., Giles, G.G., Marioni, R., Linnér, R.K. O'Halloran, A., Kenny, R.A., Layte, R., McCrory, C., Baglietto, L., Milne, R.L., Vineis, P. (2017)., Social adversity and epigenetic aging: a multi-cohort study on socioeconomic differences in peripheral blood DNA methylation., Scientific Reports, 7, (1), 2017, p16391 - 16395 Journal Article, 2017 TARA - Full Text DOI URL

Nolan A, McCrory C, Moore P, Personality and preventive healthcare utilisation: Evidence from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing., Preventive Medicine, 120, 2019, p107 - 112 Journal Article, 2019

Canney, M., Leahy, S., Scarlett, S., Kenny, R.A,, Little, M., O'Seaghdha, C., McCrory, C, Kidney disease in women is associated with disadvantaged childhood socioeconomic position, American Journal of Nephrology, 47, (5), 2018, p292 - 299 Journal Article, 2018 URL

Layte, R & McCrory, C., Fiscal Crises and Personal Troubles: The Great Recession in Ireland and Family Processes, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 53, (9), 2018, p987 - 1001 Journal Article, 2018 URL

McCrory, C., Kenny R.A., Rebuking the concept of ageing as a disease., The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 6, (10), 2018, p768- Journal Article, 2018 URL

McCrory, C. Dooley, C., Layte, R., & Kenny RA, The Lasting Legacy of Childhood Adversity for Disease Risk In Later Life, Health Psychology, 34, (7), 2015, p687-696 Journal Article, 2015 TARA - Full Text URL

Layte, R., Bennett, A., McCrory, C., & Kearney, J., Social class variation in the predictors of rapid growth in infancy and obesity at age three years, International Journal of Obesity, 38, (1), 2014, p82 - 90 Journal Article, 2014 TARA - Full Text URL

McCrory, C., Finucane, C., O'Hare, C., Frewen, J., Nolan, H., Layte, R., Kearney, P., & Kenny, R.A., Social Disadvantage and Social Isolation are Associated with a Higher Resting Heart Rate: Evidence from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71, (3), 2016, p463 - 473 Journal Article, 2016 URL

Mosca, I., & McCrory, C. , Personality and Wealth Accumulation Among Older Couples: Do Dispositional Characteristics Pay Dividends? , Journal of Economic Psychology, 56, 2016, p1 - 19 Journal Article, 2016 URL

McCrory, C. & Layte, R., Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Smoking and Childhood Behavioural Problems, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, (8), 2012, p1277 - 1288 Journal Article, 2012

Reinhard, E., Layte, R., McCrory, C., Panico, L., & Avendano, M. , The Great Recession and the Health of Young Children: A Fixed Effects Analysis in Ireland, American Journal of Epidemiology, 2018, pin press Journal Article, 2018

Henretta, J.C., & McCrory, C., Childhood Circumstances and Mid-life Functional Mobility, Journal of Aging & Health, 28, (3), 2016, p440 - 459 Journal Article, 2016 URL

O'Hare, C., McCrory, C., O'Connell, M.D.L., & Kenny, R.A., Sub-clinical Orthostatic Hypotension is Associated with Greater Subjective Memory Impairment in Older Adults., International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32, (4), 2017, p429 - 438 Journal Article, 2017 URL

McCrory, C., & Layte, R., Breastfeeding and risk of overweight and obesity at nine years of age, Social Science and Medicine, 75, (2), 2012, p323 - 330 Journal Article, 2012 TARA - Full Text

d'Errico A. Ricceri, F. Stringhini, S., Carmeli, C., Kivimaki, M. Bartley M., McCrory, C. Bochud, M. Vollenweider, P. Tumino, R., Goldberg, M. Zins, M., Barros, H., Giles, G., Costa, G., Severi, G., & Vineis, P., Socioeconomic indicators in epidemiologic research: a practical example from the LIFEPATH study, PLOS One, 12, (5), 2017, pe0178071 Journal Article, 2017 URL

McCrory, C. & Murray, A., The effect of breastfeeding on neuro-development in infancy, Maternal and Child Health Journal, 17, (9), 2013, p680 - 688 Journal Article, 2013

Vineis, P., Avendano-Pabon, M., Barros, H., Chadeau-Hyam, M., Costa, G., Dijmarescu, M., Delpierre, C., D'Errico, A, Fraga, S., Giles, G., Goldberg, M., Zins, M., Kelly-Irving, M., Kivimaki, M., Lang, T., Layte, R., Mackenbach, J., Marmot, M., McCrory, C., Carmeli, C., Milne, R.L., Muennig, P., Nusselder, W., Polidoro, S., Ricceri, F., Robinson, O., Stringhini, S. & The LIFEPATH Consortium, The biology of inequalities in health: the LIFEPATH project., Longitudinal and Life Course Studies,, 8, (4), 2017, p417 - 439 Journal Article, 2017 URL

McCrory, C. & McNally, S., The effect of pregnancy intention on maternal prenatal behaviours and parent and child health: results of an Irish cohort study, Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 27, (2), 2013, p208 - 215 Journal Article, 2013 TARA - Full Text

'Hare, C., McCrory, C., O'Leary, N., O'Brien, H., & Kenny, R.A. , Childhood Trauma and Lifetime Syncope Burden Among Older Adults. , Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 97, 2017, p63 - 69 Journal Article, 2017 URL

McCrory, C. & Layte, R., Testing competing models of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire's (SDQ's) factor structure for the parent-informant instrument, Personality and Individual Differences, 52, (8), 2012, p882 - 887 Journal Article, 2012

Humphreys, G.W., Duta, M.D., Montana, L., Demeyere, N., McCrory, C., Rohr, J., Kahn, K., Tollman, S. & Berkman, L. , Cognitive Function in Low-Income and Low-Literacy Settings: Validation of the Tablet-Based Oxford Cognitive Screen in the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI)., Journals of Gerontology (Series B): Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 72, (1), 2017, p38 - 50 Journal Article, 2017 URL

Layte, Richard; McCrory, Cathal, Paediatric Chronic Illness and Educational Failure: the Role of Emotional and Behavioural Problems, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48, (8), 2013, p1307 - 1316 Journal Article, 2013 DOI

Layte, Richard; McCrory, Cathal, Growing Up in Ireland - National Longitudinal Study of Children: Overweight and Obesity Among 9-Year-Olds, Dublin, Stationery Office, November , 2011 Report, 2011 TARA - Full Text

McCrory, C. & Layte, R., The effect of breastfeeding on children's educational test scores at nine years of age: Results of an Irish cohort study, Social Science & Medicine, 72, (5), 2011, p1515 - 1521 Journal Article, 2011

McCrory, Cathal; Murray, Aisling, The Effect of Breastfeeding on Neuro-Development in Infancy, Maternal and Child Health Journal, 17, (9), 2013, p1680 - 1688 Journal Article, 2013 DOI

Williams, James; Murray, Aisling; McCrory, Cathal; McNally, Sinéad , Growing Up In Ireland: Development from Birth to Three Years, Dublin, Stationery Office / Department of Children and Youth Affairs, September, 2013 Report, 2013 TARA - Full Text

McCrory, C., & Cooper, C., Overlap between different visual inspection time tasks and general intelligence., Learning and Individual Differences, 17, (2), 2007, p187 - 192 Journal Article, 2007 URL

McCrory, C., & Cooper, C., The relationship between three auditory inspection time tasks and general intelligence, Personality and Individual Differences, 38, (8), 2005, p1835 - 1845 Journal Article, 2005 URL

Layte, R. and McCrory, C. , Maternal Health Behaviours and Child Growth in Infancy, 4, Dublin, Dept. of Children and Youth Affairs, February, 2015 Report, 2015

O'Hare C, McCrory C, O'Leary N, O'Brien H, Kenny R.A, Childhood trauma and lifetime syncope burden among older adults, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 97, 2017, p63 - 69 Journal Article, 2017 DOI URL

Layte, R. and McCrory, C., Ni Cheallaigh, C., Bourke, N., Kivimaki, M., Ribeiro, A.I, Stringhini, S. and Vineis, P., A Comparative Analysis of the Status Anxiety Hypothesis of Socio-Economic Inequalities in Health Based on 18,349 individuals in Four Countries and Five Cohort Studies, Scientific Reports, Online, 2019, p1 - 6 Journal Article, 2019 URL

McNally, S., McCrory, C., Quigley, J. & Murray, A., Decomposing the social gradient in children's vocabulary skills at 3 years of age: a mediation analysis using data from a large representative cohort study, Infant Behaviour & Development, 57, 2019 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Canney M, Induruwage D, Sahota A, McCrory C, Hladunewich MA, Gill J, Barbour SJ., Socioeconomic Position and Incidence of Glomerular Diseases., Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN, 15, (3), 2020, p367-374 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

Vineis P, Delpierre C, Castagné R, Fiorito G, McCrory C, Kivimaki M, Stringhini S, Carmeli C, Kelly-Irving M., Health inequalities: Embodied evidence across biological layers., Soc Sci Med, 246, 2020, p112781 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

Cathal McCrory, Giovanni Fiorito, Sinead McLoughlin, Silvia Polidoro, Cliona Ni Cheallaigh, Nollaig Bourke, Piia Karisola, Harri Alenius, Paolo Vineis, Richard Layte, Rose Anne Kenny, Epigenetic clocks and allostatic load reveal potential sex-specific drivers of biological ageing, Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 2019 Journal Article, 2019

Ribeiro A.I., Fraga S., Correia-Costa L., McCrory C., Barros H., Socioeconomic disadvantage and health in early childhood: a population-based birth cohort study from Portugal, Pediatric Research, 2020 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

Céline De Looze, Wilby Williamson, Rebecca Hirst, John O'Connor, Silvin Knight, Cathal McCrory, Daniel Carey, Rose‐Anne Kenny, Impaired orthostatic heart rate recovery is associated with smaller thalamic volume: Results from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA), Human Brain Mapping, 2020 Journal Article, 2020 URL TARA - Full Text DOI

Jessica E Laine, Valéria T Baltar, Silvia Stringhini, Layte, R., The LIFEPATH Consortium, Reducing socio-economic inequalities in all-cause mortality: a counterfactual mediation approach, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2019 Journal Article, 2019

Petrovic D, Haba-Rubio J, de Mestral Vargas C, Kelly-Irving M, Vineis P, Kivimäki M, Nyberg S, Gandini M, Bochud M, Vollenweider P, d'Errico A, Barros H, Fraga S, Goldberg M, Zins M, Steptoe A, Delpierre C, Heinzer R, Carmeli C, Chadeau-Hyam M, Stringhini S, Lifepath Consortium ., The contribution of sleep to social inequalities in cardiovascular disorders: a multi-cohort study., Cardiovascular research, 2019 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

McCrory C, McLoughlin S, O'Halloran AM, Socio-Economic Position Under the Microscope: Getting 'Under the Skin' and into the Cells, Current Epidemiology Reports, 6, (4), 2019, p403 - 411 Journal Article, 2019 URL DOI

Vineis, Paolo, Avendano-Pabon, Mauricio, Barros, Henrique, Bartley, Mel, Carmeli, Cristian, Carra, Luca, Chadeau-Hyam, Marc, Costa, Giuseppe, Delpierre, Cyrille, D'Errico, Angelo, Fraga, Silvia, Giles, Graham, Goldberg, Marcel, Kelly-Irving, Michelle, Kivimaki, Mika, Lepage, Benoit, Lang, Thierry, Layte, Richard, MacGuire, Frances, Mackenbach, Johan P., Marmot, Michael, McCrory, Cathal, Milne, Roger L., Muennig, Peter, Nusselder, Wilma, Petrovic, Dusan, Polidoro, Silvia, Ricceri, Fulvio, Robinson, Oliver, Stringhini, Silvia, Zins, Marie, Special Report: The Biology of Inequalities in Health: The Lifepath Consortium, Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 2020 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

Leahy, Siobhan, Canney, Mark, Scarlett, Siobhan, Anne Kenny, Rose, McCrory, Cathal, Life-course social class is associated with later-life diabetes prevalence in women: evidence from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 2020 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

McLoughlin S, Kenny RA, McCrory C., Does the choice of Allostatic Load scoring algorithm matter for predicting age-related health outcomes?, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 120, 2020, p104789 Journal Article, 2020 TARA - Full Text DOI

McDowell, Cillian P., Wilson, Kathryn E., Monroe, Derek C., McCrory, Cathal, Kenny, Rose Anne, Herring, Matthew P., Physical activity partially mediates associations between "Big" personality traits and incident generalized anxiety disorder: Findings from the irish longitudinal study on ageing, Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 2020, p46-52 Journal Article, 2020 TARA - Full Text DOI

McLoughlin S, Kenny RA, McCrory C., Critiquing a study or a paradigm?: In response to: The Promise of Allostatic Load Rests Upon Strategic Operationalization, Scoring, and Targeted Interventions., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 123, 2021, p104881 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Rocha V, Fraga S, Moreira C, Carmeli C, Lenoir A, Steptoe A, Giles G, Goldberg M, Zins M, Kivimäki M, Vineis P, Vollenweider P, Barros H, Stringhini S, LIFEPATH Consortium, members of the LIFEPATH Consortium (in alphabetical order):., Life-course socioeconomic disadvantage and lung function: a multicohort study of 70"496 individuals., The European respiratory journal, 57, (3), 2021 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

McLoughlin S, Kenny RA, McCrory C., Psychosocial adversity and allostatic load burden in midlife and older ages., Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 40, (7), 2021, p468-471 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

McCrory C, Fiorito G, Hernandez B, Polidoro S, O'Halloran AM, Hever A, Ni Cheallaigh C, Lu AT, Horvath S, Vineis P, Kenny RA., GrimAge outperforms other epigenetic clocks in the prediction of age-related clinical phenotypes and all-cause mortality., The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 76, (5), 2021, p741 - 749 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Maurel M, Castagné R, Berger E, Bochud M, Chadeau-Hyam M, Fraga S, Gandini M, Hutri-Kähönen N, Jalkanen S, Kivimäki M, Marmot M, McCrory C, Preisig M, Raitakari O, Ricceri F, Salmi M, Steptoe A, Vineis P, Delpierre C, Kelly-Irving M., Patterning of educational attainment across inflammatory markers: Findings from a multi-cohort study., Brain, behavior, and immunity, 90, 2020, p303-310 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

McCrory C, Fiorito G, O'Halloran AM, Polidoro S, Vineis P, Kenny RA., Early life adversity and age acceleration at mid-life and older ages indexed using the next-generation GrimAge and Pace of Aging epigenetic clocks., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 137, 2021, p105643 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Hernández B, Voll S, Lewis NA, McCrory C, White A, Stirland L, Kenny RA, Reilly R, Hutton CP, Griffith LE, Kirkland SA, Terrera GM, Hofer SM., Comparisons of disease cluster patterns, prevalence and health factors in the USA, Canada, England and Ireland., BMC Public Health, 21, (1), 2021, p1674 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Fiorito G, Pedron S, Ochoa-Rosales C, McCrory C, Polidoro S, Zhang Y, Dugué PA, Ratliff S, Zhao WN, McKay GJ, Costa G, Solinas MG, Mullan Harris K, Tumino R, Grioni S, Ricceri F, Panico S, Brenner H, Schwettmann L, Waldenberger M, Matias-Garcia PR, Peters A, Hodge A, Giles GG, Schmitz LL, Levine M, Smith JA, Liu Y, Kee F, Young IS, McGuinness B, McKnight AJ, van Meurs J, Voortman T, Kenny RA, Vineis P, Carmeli C., The role of epigenetic clocks in explaining educational inequalities in mortality: a multi-cohort study and meta-analysis., The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2022 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Ribeiro AI, Fraga S, Severo M, Kelly-Irving M, Delpierre C, Stringhini S, Kivimaki M, Joost S, Guessous I, Severi G, Giles G, Sacerdote C, Vineis P, Barros H, LIFEPATH Consortium., Association of neighbourhood disadvantage and individual socioeconomic position with all-cause mortality: a longitudinal multicohort analysis. , The lancet. Public health, 7, (5), 2022, pe447-e457 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

McLoughlin S, Präg P, Bartley M, Kenny RA, McCrory C., Intergenerational social mobility and allostatic load in mid-life and older ages; a diagonal reference modelling approach., The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2022, pgbac122 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Cappozzo A, McCrory C, Robinson O, Freni Sterrantino A, Sacerdote C, Krogh V, Panico S, Tumino R, Iacoviello L, Ricceri F, Sieri S, Chiodini P, McKay GJ, McKnight AJ, Kee F, Young IS, McGuinness B, Crimmins EM, Arpawong TE, Kenny RA, O'Halloran A, Polidoro S, Solinas G, Vineis P, Ieva F, Fiorito G., A blood DNA methylation biomarker for predicting short-term risk of cardiovascular events., Clinical epigenetics, 14, (1), 2022, p121 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Petrovic D, Carmeli C, Sandoval JL, Bodinier B, Chadeau-Hyam M, Schrempft S, Ehret G, Dhayat NA, Ponte B, Pruijm M, Vineis P, Gonseth-Nusslé S, Guessous I, McCrory C, Bochud M, Stringhini S., Life-course socioeconomic factors are associated with markers of epigenetic aging in a population-based study., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 147, 2022, p105976 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

De Looze C, Demnitz N, Knight S, Carey D, Meaney J, Kenny RA, McCrory C., Examining the impact of socio-economic position (SEP) across the life course on cognitive function and brain structure in healthy ageing., The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2023, pglad068 Journal Article, 2023 DOI

McCrory, C., McLoughlin, S., Layte, R., Ni Cheallaigh, C., O'Halloran, A.M, Barros, H., Berkman, L.F., Bochud, M., Crimmins, E., Farrell, M., Fraga, S., GrundyE., Kelly-Irving, M., Petrovic, D., Seeman, T., Stringhini, S., Vollenveider, P., Kenny, R.A, Towards a consensus definition of allostatic load: a multi-cohort, multi-system, multi-biomarker individual participant data (IPD ) meta-analysis, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2023 Journal Article, 2023

Azizi Z, Hirst RJ, O' Dowd A, McCrory C, Kenny RA, Newell FN, Setti A., Evidence for an association between allostatic load and multisensory integration in middle-aged and older adults., Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 116, 2023, p105155 Journal Article, 2023 DOI

McCarthy K, O'Halloran AM, Fallon P, Kenny RA, McCrory C., Metabolic syndrome accelerates epigenetic ageing in older adults: Findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)., Experimental gerontology, 183, 2023, p112314 Journal Article, 2023 DOI TARA - Full Text

De Looze C, McCrory C, O'Halloran A, Polidoro S, Anne Kenny R, Feeney J., Mind versus body: Perceived stress and biological stress are independently related to cognitive decline. , Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2023, pS0889-1591(23)00322-7 Journal Article, 2023 DOI

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Social Variation in Child Health and Development: A Life Course Approach in, editor(s)James Williams, Elizabeth Nixon, Emer Smyth, Dorothy Watson , Cherishing All the Children Equally? Ireland 100 years on from the Easter Rising, Dublin, Oak Tree Press, 2016, pp194 - 214, [Layte, R & McCrory, C.] Book Chapter, 2016

Research Expertise

Description

My research utilizes population-level data to explore the pathways, processes and mechanisms through which variation in exposure to risk and protective factors over the life course precipitates earlier disease and mortality among more socially disadvantaged groups. Since 2006, I have been involved with the two flagship national longitudinal studies of children and older people in Ireland: Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) and the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Since May 2015 I have also been involved with a large European consortium on a large European Union funded Horizon 2020 project called LIFEPATH with 15 partner institutions across the UK, Europe and the US. I was the recipient of an Emerging Investigator Award from the Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland in December 2017 to explore social differentials in health and mortality using putative markers of accelerated ageing. The ALLOSTAT project will chart the social distribution of neuroendocrine, inflammatory, cardiovascular and metabolic markers in TILDA and other international ageing datasets; and examine the predictive utility of a composite index derived from this battery of biomarkers for identifying emergent disease states, frailty and mortality. The project will also examine the magnitude and degree of association between Allostatic Load and other putative markers

Projects

  • Title
    • Social circumstances and epigenomics supporting health in 3 countries
  • Funding Agency
    • National Institutes of health / Science Foundation Ireland
  • Date From
    • Oct 2020
  • Date To
    • Oct 2025
  • Title
    • The ALLOSTAT Project
  • Summary
    • A consistent finding in the epidemiological literature is that health is socially patterned. On average, individuals from more disadvantaged social backgrounds will develop diseases earlier and will die earlier compared with their more advantaged peers. So ubiquitous is the association between health and wealth that it has been referred to as a "fundamental" cause of disease. But what is it about low socio-economic status (SES) that makes a person growing up disadvantaged more likely to experience disease, to experience earlier onset of disease, and more likely to suffer premature mortality? Understanding how social group-based differences in SES become biologically embedded in the tissues and organs of the body over the life course is the focus of this project. We will develop a measure for estimating the impact of life course stresses on the body and explore the extent to which this construct explains differences in longevity between different SES groups. It is anticipated that this project will lead to the identification of modifiable risk and resilience factors that contribute to accelerated ageing and will help inform societal approaches to reduce health inequalities and promote healthy ageing.
  • Funding Agency
    • Health Research Board
  • Date From
    • December 2017
  • Date To
    • December 2021
  • Title
    • The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) core grant
  • Summary
    • Provides the survey and administrative infrastructure for waves 5-6 of the TILDA study
  • Funding Agency
    • Health Research Board
  • Date From
    • 2017
  • Date To
    • 2022
  • Title
    • A single supplier framework agreement for Secondary data analysis of GUI datasets for an alcohol and other drugs study under a three-year agreement to the HRB
  • Summary
    • This secondary data analysis project using the Growing Up in Ireland 98 cohort will identify factors predicting onset and patterns of drug use among young people in Ireland and the impact of this drug use on young people in order to identify potential areas for intervention.
  • Funding Agency
    • Health Research Board
  • Title
    • Premature Ageing in Long-term Homeless Adults (PATH)
  • Summary
    • The number of homeless adults in Ireland is rising. Homeless people have more chronic illnesses and a shorter life-expectancy than people who have somewhere secure to live. We have carried out a pilot study showing that homeless people have dementia, frailty and other diseases associated with ageing at a much younger age than expected. We will now carry out an in-depth study to see whether homeless people are ageing more rapidly. This will give those who provide accommodation and care for homeless people the information they need to plan what buildings, staff and healthcare they should provide in the future for homeless people. It will also give us a better understanding of what factors lead to premature or accelerated ageing in homeless people.
  • Funding Agency
    • Health Research Board
  • Date From
    • September 2018
  • Date To
    • September 2020
  • Title
    • The impact of socioeconomic position (SEP) across the life course on brain structure in healthy ageing
  • Funding Agency
    • Global Brain Health Institute
  • Title
    • SocialPaths: Sex-specific socioeconomic pathways to cardiovascular disease risk across the life course
  • Funding Agency
    • Health Research Board

Recognition

Awards and Honours

Editors Choice Award - Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences Jan 2021

Editors Choice Award - Psychoneuroendocrinology June 2019

Memberships

Research Affiliate, Economic and Social Research Institute 2012

Member of the Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (SLLS) 2014

Member of the Expert Advisory Group - Growing Up in Ireland – 2015