Dow Courtney, PhD

Senior Researcher

Research - Environmental and Spatial Epidemiology

Phone
+41 31 684 67 05
E-Mail
courtney.dow@unibe.ch
Office
496
Postal Address
Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern

Field of work

I am an epidemiologist with a research focus on environmental and life-course epidemiology, particularly how maternal and early-life exposures influence health and disease. My previous research has investigated maternal lifestyle factors, including diet and physical activity, as well as maternal obesity, inflammation, and environmental contaminants, and their associations with child neurodevelopment, mental health, and allergic and atopic diseases. My research has also included diabetes and metabolic health, spanning gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetic complications, and, more recently, type 1 diabetes.

As a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), my current research focuses on the role of environmental exposures in childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers. Within the European MIREYA project, I contribute to the coordination of a work package investigating key environmental exposures, quantifying their effects on cancer risk, and exploring how socioeconomic position shapes the personal exposome and cancer risk.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2020–2023
Graduate Certificate in Food, Nutrition, and Health (GradCert), University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

2015–2018
Doctorate in Epidemiology (PhD), University Paris-Saclay, Paris, France

2013–2015
Master of Public Health (MPH), EHESP School of Public Health, Paris, France

2007–2012
Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Biology (BSc Honours), University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Work experience

2026–today
Senior Researcher, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern, Switzerland

2026–today
Guest Lecturer & Module Coordinator, MPH Programme, EHESP School of Public Health, Rennes and Paris, France

2025–today
Independent Research Consultant in Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Refined Research, Trilport, France

2024–2025
Contractual Researcher, INSERM, OPPaLe Team “Obstetric, Perinatal, Paediatric Life Course Epidemiology”, Paris, France

2023–2024
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, INRAE, CRESS Team “Early Life Research on Later Health”, Paris, France

2022
Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow, IS Global (Barcelona Institute for Global Health), Barcelona, Spain

2020–2025
Graduate Teaching Assistant & Thesis Jury Member, MPH Programme, EHESP School of Public Health, Rennes and Paris, France

2020–2023
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, INSERM, CRESS Team “Early Life Research on Later Health”, Paris, France

2019–2020
Research Analyst, Santé Publique France, Paris, France

2016–2017
Visiting PhD Candidate, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia

2015–2018
PhD Candidate, INSERM, Team “Health Across Generations”, Paris, France

2015
Epidemiology Intern, Santé Publique France, Paris, France

2014
Epidemiology Intern, Université Paris-Sud, France

2013
English Teacher, Prague, Czech Republic