Dr Luisa Zuccolo

Summary

Luisa Zuccolo is Senior Research Fellow in Epidemiology at the University of Bristol. 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 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 (University of Bristol). She was then awarded a second MRC Fellowship in population health science epidemiology, after which, in 2018, she secured a tenured position at the University of Bristol. Dr Zuccolo researches the causal effects of alcohol on health, in particular of prenatal alcohol exposure, using methods and designs that improve causal inference. She is also interested in barriers to and effects of prolonged breastfeeding. 

Expertise

I study the effects alcohol has on health, in particular prenatal alcohol exposure. I am interested in both very low levels of exposure ("is there a safe threshold for alcohol use in pregnancy?"), and in heavier alcohol use ("why are some children more vulnerable to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder?"). I am also starting a program of work looking at barriers to and effects of prolonged breastfeeding. I use population health science research methods that help disentangle causes from correlations in large datasets.

Memberships

Organisations

Bristol Medical School (PHS)

Other sites

• Cancer
• Populationhealth

Centres, collaborations and units

• Centre for Academic Mental Health

Recent publications

• Howe, L, Sharp, G, Hemani, G, Zuccolo, L, Richmond, S & Lewis, S, 2019, ‘Prenatal alcohol exposure and facial morphology in a UK cohort’. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol 197., pp. 42-47
• Liu, M, Jiang, Y, Wedow, R, Li, Y, Brazel, DM, Chen, F, Datta, G, Davila-Velderrain, J, McGuire, D, Tian, C, Zhan, X, Choquet, H, Docherty, AR, Faul, JD, Foerster, JR, Fritsche, LG, Gabrielsen, ME, Gordon, SD, Haessler, J, Hottenga, J-J, Huang, H, Jang, S-K, Jansen, PR, Ling, Y, Mägi, R, Matoba, N, McMahon, G, Mulas, A, Orrù, V, Palviainen, T, Pandit, A, Reginsson, GW, Skogholt, AH, Smith, JA, Taylor, AE, Turman, C, Willemsen, G, Young, H, Young, KA, Zajac, GJM & others 2019, ‘Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use’. Nature Genetics, vol 51., pp. 237-244
• Sharp, G, Arathimos, R, Reese, S, Page, C, Felix, JF, Kupers, L, Rifas-Shiman, SL, Liu, C, Burrows, K, Zhao, S, Magnus, M, Duijts, L, Corpeleijn, E, DeMeo, D, Litonjua, A, Baccarelli, A, Hivert, M-F, Oken, E, Snieder, H, Jaddoe, VWV, Nystad, W, London, S, Relton, C & Zuccolo, L, 2018, ‘Maternal alcohol consumption and offspring DNA methylation: findings from six general population-based birth cohorts’. Epigenomics.
• Mamluk, L, Edwards, H, Savović, J, Leach, V, Jones, T, Moore, T, Ijaz, S, Lewis, S, Donovan, J, Lawlor, D, Smith, GD, Fraser, A & Zuccolo, L, 2017, ‘Low alcohol consumption and pregnancy and childhood outcomes: time to change guidelines indicating apparently ‘safe’ levels of alcohol during pregnancy? A systematic review and meta-analyses’. BMJ Open, vol 7.
• Zuccolo, L & Holmes, MV, 2017, ‘Commentary: Mendelian randomization-inspired causal inference in the absence of genetic data’. International Journal of Epidemiology, vol 46., pp. 962-965
• Gregson, CL & Zuccolo, L, 2017, ‘Letter regarding 'Does a bit of alcohol turn off inflammation and improve health?'’. Age and Ageing, vol 46., pp. 158-159
• Brunner, C, Davies, NM, Martin, R, Eeles, R, Easton, D, Kote-Jarai, Z, Al Olama, AA, Benlloch, S, Muir, K, Giles, GG, Wiklund, F, Grönberg, H, Haiman, CA, Schleutker, J, Nordestgaard, BG, Travis, RC, Neal, DE, Donovan, J, Pashayan, N, Khaw, K-T, Stanford, JL, Blot, WJ, Thibodeau, S, Maier, C, Kibel, AS, Cybulski, C, Cannon-Albright, L, Brenner, H, Park, J, Kaneva, R, Batra, J, Teixeira, MR, Pandha, H, & Zuccolo, L, 2017, ‘Alcohol consumption and prostate cancer incidence and progression: A Mendelian randomisation study’. International Journal of Cancer, vol 140., pp. 75-85
• Taylor, M, Simpkin, A, Haycock, P, Dudbridge, F & Zuccolo, L, 2016, ‘Exploration of a polygenic risk score for alcohol consumption: A longitudinal analysis from the ALSPAC cohort’. PLoS ONE, vol 11.
• Zuccolo, L, DeRoo, L, Wills, A, Smith, GD, Surén, P, Roth, C, Stoltenberg, C & Magnus, P, 2016, ‘Pre-conception and prenatal alcohol exposure from mothers and fathers drinking and head circumference: results from the Norwegian Mother-Child Study (MoBa)’. Scientific Reports, vol 7.
• Murray, J, Burgess, S, Zuccolo, L, Hickman, M, Gray, R & Lewis, SJ, 2015, ‘Moderate alcohol drinking in pregnancy increases risk for children's persistent conduct problems: causal effects in a Mendelian randomisation study’. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system