Research themes
Departments and Institutes
Research Interests
I am a chronic disease and genetic epidemiologist with an interest in identifying novel causal pathways and new therapeutic targets for reducing risk of chronic diseases. Since March 2018, I have been working as a Research Associate in the Stroke Research Group in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. My current research primarily focuses on utilising epidemiological, clinical, genetic, and imaging data to investigate relationships between vascular risk, stroke, and dementia. Specific projects that I have been involved in include identifying (1) the role of genetic and haematological traits on stroke and its subtypes, and (2) the role of lipids in markers of small vessel disease.
Prior to this, I worked as a Research Assistant in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care while also completing my PhD. My doctoral dissertation involved analysis of hundreds of lipid metabolites in a large epidemiological study, which resulted in the identification of novel relationships between genetic loci and lipid metabolites and contributed to advanced understanding of the effect of perturbations in levels of lipid metabolites on coronary heart disease and its risk factors.
Key Publications
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8767-0928
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=pXmj9RMAAAAJ
Mendelian randomization to assess causal effects of blood lipids on coronary heart disease: lessons from the past and applications to the future. Burgess, S. & Harshfield, E. (2016). Curr Opin Endocrin Diabetes, 23(2): 124-130.
Association of hypertension and hyperglycaemia with socioeconomic contexts in resource-poor settings: the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Harshfield, E., Chowdhury, R., Harhay, M.N., Bergquist, H., Harhay, M.O. (2015). Int J Epidemiol, 44(5): 1625-1636.
Covariate-adjusted measures of discrimination for survival data. White, I.R., Rapsomaniki, E., The Emerging Risk Factor Collaboration [Harshfield, E. was one of 207 collaborators]. (2015). Biometric Journal, 57(4):592-613.
The Bangladesh Risk of Acute Vascular Events (BRAVE) Study: an epidemiological bioresource to study environmental, genetic and other determinants of first-ever myocardial infarction in Bangladesh. Chowdhury, R., [19 other co-authors], Harshfield, E., [8 other co-authors], Danesh, J., & Di Angelantonio, E. (2015). Eur J Epidemiol, 30(7): 577-587.
Cardiometabolic effects of genetic upregulation of the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist: a Mendelian randomisation analysis. Freitag, D.F., [12 other co-authors], Harshfield, E., [152 other co-authors], & Danesh, J. (2015). Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 3(4):243-253.
Life, health, and safety of industrial workers in Bangladesh: should they be driven by economic rationale or moral imperative? Chowdhury, R., Harshfield, E., Roy, S., Flora, M.S., Akram, K., Bhuiya, A., & Ahsan, H. (2014). J Occup Environ Med, 56(4):e12-e13.
Glycated hemoglobin measurement and prediction of cardiovascular disease. The Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration [Harshfield, E. was one of 189 collaborators], [73 other co-authors], Danesh, J. (2014). JAMA, 311(12):1225-1233.
Evaluating the sustained health impact of household chlorination of drinking water in rural Haiti. Harshfield, E., Lantagne, D., Turbes, A., & Null, C. (2012). Am J Trop Med Hyg, 87(5):786-795.
An up-to-date list of publications is available at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pXmj9RMAAAAJ&hl=en.
