Staff Profile

Introduction 

I am a Research Associate in Epidemiology within the Population Health Sciences Institute. I work on a number of different projects and am interested in many research areas. These areas include, but are not limited to; parental and child health, pregnancy, long term and fatigue related conditions, health inequalities, life-course epidemiology and epidemiological research which investigates risk factors of, and causal pathways to adverse health and behaviour outcomes.  

Qualifications 

PhD Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology, 2020, Newcastle University 

MSc Public Health and Health Services Research, 2014, Newcastle University 

BSc (Hons), 2013, Food and Human Nutrition, Newcastle University 

Previous positions 

Research Assistant, 2019-2020, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University  

Research Assistant, 2013-2013, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University 

Research Assistant (Placement student), 2011-2012, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University

MRes

• Lecturer on the Clinical Epidemiology module 
• Dissertation supervisor 

MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research 

• Lecturer on the Project Scheduling module 
• Dissertation supervisor, dissertation examiner 

BSc Biomedical Sciences 

• Dissertation supervisor 

• Articles

  • Slack E, Pears KA, Rankin J, Newton JL, Pearce M. Identifying, synthesising and appraising existing evidence relating to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and pregnancy: a mixed-methods systematic review. BMJ Open 2023, 13(10), e070366.
  • Iskakova B, Forster LN, Mann KD, Brown M, Slack EL, Rees A, Pearce MS. Differences Between Self-Reported and Objectively Measured Hearing Loss at Age 61–63 Years: The Newcastle Thousand Families Birth Cohort. American Journal of Audiology 2023, 32(2), 500-506.
  • Pennock E, Slack EL, Grebby JA, Forster LN, Pearce MS. Associations between early infections and childhood cognition in the Newcastle Thousand Families Study birth cohort. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2023, 14(5), 648-657.
  • Schoon H, Slack E, Pearce M, Ng W, Hackett K. Activity interference in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome: a cross-sectional study of 149 patients in the UK. Rheumatology 2022, 198(1), 142-150.
  • Slack E, Best KE, Rankin J, Heslehurst N. Maternal obesity classes, preterm and post-term birth: a retrospective analysis of 479,864 births in England. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2020, 19, 1-9.
  • Insan N, Slack E, Heslehurst N, Rankin J. Antenatal depression and anxiety and early pregnancy BMI among White British and South Asian women: Retrospective analysis of data from the Born in Bradford cohort. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2020, 20(1), 502.
  • Heslehurst N, Vieira R, Akhter Z, Bailey H, Slack E, Ngongalah L, Pemu A, Rankin J. The association between maternal body mass index and child obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine 2019, 16, e1002817.
  • Slack E, Rankin J, Jones D, Heslehurst N. Effects of maternal anthropometrics on pregnancy outcomes in South Asian women: a systematic review. Obesity Reviews 2018, 19(4), 485-500.
  • Heslehurst N, Vieira R, Hayes L, Crowe L, Jones D, Robalino S, SLack L, Rankin J. Maternal body mass index and post-term birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews 2017, 18(3), 293–308.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Heslehurst N, Vieira R, Hayes L, Crowe L, Jones D, Robalino S, Slack E, Rankin J. The association between maternal body mass index (BMI), prolonged pregnancy (PP; ≥41 weeks gestation) and post-term birth (PTB; ≥42 weeks gestation): a systematic review with meta-analysis. In: British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society. 2016, University of Birmingham, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  • Slack E, Heslehurst N, Best K, Rankin J. Association between maternal extreme obesity and pre- and post-term birth: a national study. In: British Maternal & Fetal Medicine Society (BMFMS) 17th Annual Conference 2015. 2015, London, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  • Reilly JK, Basterfield L, Slack EL, Parkinson KN, Jones AR, Pearce MS, Dale A, Le Couteur AS, Adamson AJ. Tracking of fruit and vegetable consumption from childhood to adolescence: The Gateshead Millennium Study. In: Nutrition Society Annual Summer Meeting. 2013, Newcastle, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Basterfield L, Reilly JK, Slack EL, Parkinson KN, Pearce MS, Dale A, Le Couteur AS, Adamson AJ, Reilly JJ. Diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in 11-13 year old UK adolescents: The Gateshead Millennium Study. In: Nutrition Society Annual Summer Meeting. 2013, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge University Press.

• Letter

  • Carvallaro F, Lugg-Widger F, Cannings-John R, Harron K, McNally R, Pollock AM, Blakey K, Sharp L, O’Donnell A, Hayes L, Pearce M, Harbron R, Slack E. Open letter to the ICO, CMOs and UK data providers: Reducing barriers to data access for research in the public interest - lessons from covid-19. British Medical Journal 2020, 1-13.