Cambridge ESRC DTP Interdisciplinary Studentship 2021: Early-life and intergenerational effects on later-life outcomes over the long-term

My proposed research will explore two main themes, using the two data sources mentioned in the project description. Firstly, I hope to use the detailed Derbyshire Health Visitor records to study the short- and long-term impact of the 1918/1919 influenza epidemic on infants during gestation and the first year of life. I want to identify the general impact of influenza on both pregnant mothers and the infants themselves, and how the timing of the influenza-onset may have impacted its effect. I hope this study can add to the 'positive selection' debate regarding shocks in utero. I will also use the dataset to look at the relationship between infant mortality and the foetal origins thesis. Secondly, I will use the Cambridge Group Family Reconstitution dataset to study infant mortality clustering in England, and intergenerational fertility and mortality rates. Through these ideas, I hope to expand our understanding of the mechanisms through which infant mortality is propagated individually and across populations, and how in utero environments are impacted by exogenous factors. I am particularly interested in how the causes behind health inequality and infant mortality manifest themselves biologically over time, and how to break these cycles.