Biography
Daniel is a Senior Research Associate statistician at the Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, joining the unit in 2016. He is a member of the Royal Statistical Society and holds Chartered Statistician (CStat) accreditation.
Daniel previously studied mathematics (BSc) and medical statistics (MSc) at the University of Leicester. He completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Antonis Antoniou. Daniel’s thesis examined, developed, and applied statistical methodology to analyse genetic associations with cancer risk for high-risk gene carriers ascertained under non-random sampling designs.
Daniel’s research interests broadly cover the areas of genetic epidemiology, medical statistics and statistical genetics – especially genome-wide association studies and polygenic scores.
His current research aims to understand modifiers of cancer risk for high-risk BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers. This work is done in collaboration with international partners in the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 (CIMBA), as well as collaborative efforts with the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) and Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC). His work focuses mainly on common cancer – breast and ovarian cancer for female BRCA1/2 carriers and breast and prostate cancer for male BRCA1/2 carriers.
Previously, Daniel has worked as a statistician at the MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge and a Research Associate statistician at the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit (University of Cambridge).
Research
Daniel’s current research interests are statistical analyses of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation carriers, primarily through data obtained by the CIMBA consortium. These individuals are at increased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in women, and breast cancer and prostate cancer in men. Analyses that Daniel is particularly interested in are genome-wide association analyses, fine-mapping, polygenic risk scores, gene-based testing and pathway analyses.
Publications
Risks of breast, ovarian, and contralateral breast cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers
KB Kuchenbaecker, JL Hopper, DR Barnes et al. 2017 JAMA 317 (23), 2402-2416
Breast and Prostate Cancer Risks for Male BRCA1 and BRCA2 Pathogenic Variant Carriers Using Polygenic Risk Scores
DR Barnes et al. 2022 Journal of the National Cancer Institute 114 (1), 109-122
Polygenic risk scores and breast and epithelial ovarian cancer risks for carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants
DR Barnes et al. 2020 Genetics in Medicine 22 (10), 1653-1666
Evaluation of association methods for analysing modifiers of disease risk in carriers of high‐risk mutations
DR Barnes et al. 2012 Genetic Epidemiology 36 (3), 274-291
