Stephen Kaptoge
Principal Research Associate (senior statistician) at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) funded group
Biography
Dr Kaptoge is a principal research associate (senior statistician) at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) funded group. He is a graduate of the University of Cambridge (PhD Epidemiology 2005, MPhil Statistical science 2000) and University of Nairobi (BSc Mathematics 1998).
He has strong interests in epidemiology and biostatistics with more than 20 years’ experience in the design, coordination, and analysis of data from large-scale epidemiological studies and trials. He leads the biostatistical work in large-scale international collaborative studies, involving the development of applied statistical methods for meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD), as well as the design, monitoring, and analysis of pragmatic randomised trials.
Research Approach:
Dr Kaptoge works collaboratively across several interdisciplinary research projects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and beyond, providing essential biostatistical leadership in the design and establishment of new studies, data monitoring, and analysis and reporting of findings. He mentors staff and graduate students working on the different research projects.
Current projects:
Dr Kaptoge leads the development and implementation of applied statistical methods for IPD meta-analysis [1] to help assess the relevance of biomarkers, lifestyle factors, and genetic risk factors to disease aetiology, with potential to improve scientific understanding, risk prediction, and public health. He has specific epidemiological interests in studying the relevance of inflammation to cardiovascular disease (CVD), for which he has performed literature-based meta-analyses and led IPD meta-analyses in the Emerging Risk factors Collaboration (ERFC) [2, 3].
His current research involves development and validation of CVD risk prediction models calibrated to diverse populations [4] and also conducting public health modelling to assess screening strategies and potential impact of risk factors on life expectancy. He collaborates as lead statistician in pragmatic randomised trials on blood donation [5] and screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) to reduce stroke. He is the principal investigator/scientific coordinator of the Vitamin D Studies Collaboration (VitDSC) and a statistical member of trial management/steering committees, including the STRIDES, INTERVAL, SAFER and PHOENIX-F trials. He has published key papers in the field of osteoporosis, and led work packages in the EU funded genetic factors for osteoporosis (GEFOS) consortium, involving collaborative meta-analysis to assess genome-wide determinants of heel bone properties.
Selected Publication
- Thompson S, Kaptoge S, White I, Wood A, Perry P, Danesh J, Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration. Statistical methods for the time-to-event analysis of individual participant data from multiple epidemiological studies. Int J Epidemiol 2010;39(5):1345-59. PM:20439481
- 2Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, Kaptoge S, Di Angelantonio E, Lowe G, Pepys MB, Thompson SG, Collins R, Danesh J. C-reactive protein concentration and risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and mortality: an individual participant meta-analysis. Lancet 2010;375(9709):132-40. PM:20031199
- Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, Kaptoge S, Di Angelantonio E, Pennells L, Wood AM, White IR, Gao P, Walker M, Thompson A, Sarwar N, Caslake M, Butterworth AS, Amouyel P, Assmann G, Bakker SJ, Barr EL, Barrett-Connor E, Benjamin EJ, Bjorkelund C, Brenner H, Brunner E, Clarke R, Cooper JA, Cremer P, Cushman M, Dagenais GR, D'Agostino RB, Sr., Dankner R, vey-Smith G, Deeg D, Dekker JM, Engstrom G, Folsom AR, Fowkes FG, Gallacher J, Gaziano JM, Giampaoli S, Gillum RF, Hofman A, Howard BV, Ingelsson E, Iso H, Jorgensen T, Kiechl S, Kitamura A, Kiyohara Y, Koenig W, Kromhout D, Kuller LH, Lawlor DA, Meade TW, Nissinen A, Nordestgaard BG, Onat A, Panagiotakos DB, Psaty BM, Rodriguez B, Rosengren A, Salomaa V, Kauhanen J, Salonen JT, Shaffer JA, Shea S, Ford I, Stehouwer CD, Strandberg TE, Tipping RW, Tosetto A, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Wennberg P, Westendorp RG, Whincup PH, Wilhelmsen L, Woodward M, Lowe GD, Wareham NJ, Khaw KT, Sattar N, Packard CJ, Gudnason V, Ridker PM, Pepys MB, Thompson SG, Danesh J. C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and cardiovascular disease prediction. N Engl J Med 2012;367(14):1310-20. PM:23034020
- 4WHO CVD Risk Chart Working Group, Kaptoge S, Pennells L, De BD, Cooney M, Kavousi M, [89 co-authors], Onuma O, Varghese C, Ezzati M, Graham I, Jackson R, Danesh J, Di AE. World Health Organization cardiovascular disease risk charts: revised models to estimate risk in 21 global regions. Lancet Glob Health 2019 October;7(10):e1332-e1345.
- Kaptoge S, Di Angelantonio E, Moore C, Walker M, Armitage J, Ouwehand WH, Roberts DJ, Danesh J, Thompson SG. Longer-term efficiency and safety of increasing the frequency of whole blood donation (INTERVAL): extension study of a randomised trial of 20 757 blood donors. Lancet Haematol 2019 October;6(10):e510-e520.
Research collaborators/links
BHF Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit (CEU)
NIHR Blood and Transplant Research Unit (BTRU) in Donor Health and Behaviour
