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), Nature communications
Association of Daily Steps with Incident Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Evidence from the UK Biobank Cohort.
Journal article
Fulda ES. et al, (2025), Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 57, 1905 - 1913
Lung development genes, adult lung function and cardiovascular comorbidities.
Journal article
Portas L. et al, (2025), Thorax, 80, 738 - 747
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)