Initiatives and lessons: social- biological transitions. David Blane. ESRC International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health – ICLS.

Initiative (1): Summer School in Longitudinal & Life Course Research. Summer school designed to bring together the different traditions of quantitative life course research in demography, epidemiology and sociology. Doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows and occasional research methods master’s student; students each year. Faculty from each of the three disciplines.

Lessons. Students: too often use concepts and measures which lack clarity and precision such as socio-economic status and self-assessed health. Faculty: main division is between (a) epidemiology and (b) demography & sociology which differ only in their range of topics and whether qualitative methods can be used; genuine interest in biology, although tendency to equate it with genetics.

Initiative (2): day schools in biomedical measures. Designed to introduce non-biologists to the biomedical measures collected by some large-scale social surveys, of which ELSA, NCDS and UKHLS are on open academic access at UK Data Archive. Forced expiratory volume in 1 second, grip strength, systolic blood pressure, glycated haemoglobin, C-reactive protein are examples.

Lessons. Non-biologists gain the confidence to use biomedical measures. Glossaries are available on-line: (1) gold standard detail on UKHLS measures from Understanding Society website; (2) wider ranging coverage from ICLS website. Problem: non-biologists often lack the knowledge to put measures in their wider biological context.

Initiative (3): day school introduction to biology. Designed to put biomedical measures in context. eg1: Height, weight and adiposity as context for physical growth, body mass index, waist circumference, obesity. eg2: Cardio-respiratory physiology as context for lung function, blood pressure, ECG abnormalities.

Lessons. Somewhat surprisingly, appreciated equally by non-biologists and by those with a biological background. Started discussions between non- biologists and biologists; further such day schools requested. Hopefully will lay the basis for inter- disciplinary research collaborations.

Initiative (4): imaginary lives. Designed to introduce social-biological plausibility to interdisciplinary researchers. Specify the social and biological characteristics of a person (eg. Age 37 years, medical secretary, recently diagnosed cervical cancer) and ask the group to suggest a socially & biologically plausible life course.

Lessons. Creative and enjoyable. Requires collaboration between social and biological scientists. Demonstrates that life course research requires inter-disciplinarity. Counter-intuitive, so tendency for lesson to be forgotten.

Summary. The life course perspective offers a way into understanding social-biological transitions. Much of the necessary data are available on open academic access. There is much interest among researchers in this area of science. We’re starting to learn how to make the most of these opportunities.