Associate Professor Iona Millwood
Iona Millwood
DPhil
Associate Professor; Deputy Director of Graduate Studies
Iona co-leads a Genetic Epidemiology module for the MSc in Global Health Science and Epidemiology. She joined the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU) in 2009, to work on the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), including designing and conducting genomic and multi-omic assays to enhance and develop the CKB resources.
Her current research interests focus on using genetic and molecular epidemiology to understand the aetiology of cardio-metabolic and other chronic diseases, using genetic approaches to identify and evaluate potential drug targets, and investigating the role of infection in cancer risk, and the health effects of alcohol consumption.
Iona completed an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and a DPhil in Molecular Genetics at the University of Oxford. She worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Imperial College London, on large-scale genetic epidemiological projects including the Northern Finland Birth Cohorts. Iona also spent several years as a Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Australia, developing and conducting clinical trials for biomedical methods of HIV prevention in Australia and South-East Asia.
Recent publications
Phenome-Wide Associations of Polygenic Scores for Schizophrenia and Major Depression in 100,000 Chinese Adults.
Journal article
Wang B. et al, (2026), Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci, 6
Dairy consumption and risk of cardiometabolic diseases: a prospective cohort study of the China Kadoorie Biobank.
Journal article
Kakkoura MG. et al, (2026), J Nutr
Patterns and correlates of visual impairment and ocular hypertension among older adults in the general Chinese population: results from the CKB Biobank.
Journal article
Shao Z. et al, (2025), Br J Ophthalmol, 110, 107 - 116
Expanded mosaic chromosomal alterations, frailty, and risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among Chinese and the UK adults: evidence from two prospective cohorts.
Journal article
Song M. et al, (2025), BMC Med, 23
Natural selection exerted by historical coronavirus epidemic(s): comparative genetic analysis in China Kadoorie Biobank and UK Biobank.
Journal article
Morris S. et al, (2025), BMC Genomics, 26

