Laura Portas
MSc, MScRes, PhD
Researcher in Genomic Discovery
Laura joined the wearables group at the Big Data Institute and Oxford Population Health as a postdoctoral researcher in genomic discovery in June 2022.
Her current research focuses on reproducible genomic discovery analyses using novel wearable-derived phenotypes in the context of cardiometabolic disease.
She spent several years as a statistical geneticist at the National Research Council of Italy focusing on the genetic epidemiology of common complex-trait diseases in isolated genetic populations.
Laura also worked as a postdoctoral research associate in Epidemiology/Medical Statistics at Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London, on large-scale genetic epidemiological projects.
Laura has an MSc in Biology, an MScRes in Bioinformatics, and a PhD in Epidemiology/Biostatistics.
Recent publications
Genetic architecture of sleep in a genome wide association study of device measured sleep traits.
Journal article
Portas L. et al, (2026), Nat Commun
Lung development genes, adult lung function and cardiovascular comorbidities.
Journal article
Portas L. et al, (2025), Thorax, 80, 738 - 747
Association of Daily Steps with Incident Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Evidence from the UK Biobank Cohort.
Journal article
Fulda ES. et al, (2025), Med Sci Sports Exerc, 57, 1905 - 1913
Effect of vitamin A on adult lung function: a triangulation of evidence approach.
Journal article
Mongey R. et al, (2025), Thorax, 80, 236 - 244
Joint association of genetic risk and accelerometer-based step count with cardiovascular disease: a UK-Biobank cohort study
Preprint
Birmpili P. et al, (2025)