Joshua Bell is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on obesity and cardiometabolic disease. As an EBI Early Career Fellow within the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, he investigates the impact of body composition and physical activity on metabolism in early life and how these extend to later risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. He works with data from cohort studies including the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and combines prospective observational and genetically informed methods to improve causal inference. The wider aim of his work is to better understand modifiable factors that influence chronic disease risk and how these can be targeted for public health benefit.