James Heckman will carry out his ERC-funded research, on the origins and evolution of health inequalities, at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he holds the title of professor of Science and Society. He will be supported by a team of seven researchers, including co-investigator George Davey Smith, professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Bristol University UK, and Director of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and their Children, which is following the health and development of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992.
The research will combine health, social and economic research, studying the origins and the evolution of health inequalities over the life of humans and across generations. This will bring the team to focus, for instance, on experiences and conditions during early childhood, such as family environment, wellbeing, cognitive ability, and their long-term effects on health.
The project will also explore policy implications for health prevention and remediation.
ERC President Professor Helga Nowotny said it is, “encouraging and exciting” for the ERC to number Heckman amongst its grant holders. “This most recent example of an American top researcher attracted by an ERC grant to work in Europe is further recognition of the attractiveness of the ERC.”
Heckman won his Nobel prize in 2000 for his development of statistical methods for analysing selective samples.
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