Uses of the Twins UK genetic database

Tim Spector is a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London and Director of the Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit at St Thomas' Hospital, London. Professor Spector graduated from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, London, in 1982. After working in General Medicine, he completed a MSc in Epidemiology, and his MD degree at the University of London in 1989. He founded the UK Twins Registry of 10,000 twins in 1993, which is one of the largest collections of genotype and phenotype information on twins worldwide, whose breadth of research has expanded to cover a wide range of common complex traits many of which were previously thought to be mainly due to aging and the environment. He has published over 350 research articles on common diseases. He has written several original articles on the genetics of a wide range of diseases and traits including back pain, acne, inflammation, obesity, memory, musical ability and sexuality. He is the principal investigator of the EU Euroclot and Treat OA study, and a partner in five others. He has written several books, focusing on osteoporosis and genetics and, in 2003, he published a popular book on genetics: Your Genes Unzipped.