Epigenetics

Our research aims to understand how epigenetic modifications induced through environmental exposures at different life stages can modulate disease risk throughout the lifecourse. We utilise our access to large cohorts and primary tissues to study both the environmental influences on the genome and the mechanisms underlying disease risk. We employ state-of-the-art cellular, molecular, and bioinformatic approaches to our work, including transcriptomics, single-cell transcriptomics, genome-wide methylation studies and innovative machine learning techniques. 

Our main research areas include:

1. the impact of early life environment including gestational diabetes (GDM) on offspring obesity and associated health trajectories 
2. investigating how the environment from early life and throughout the lifecourse impacts muscle resilience and risk of sarcopenia during later life 
3. identification of epigenetic predictive and diagnostic biomarkers of sarcopenia and muscle ageing to stratify for the development of precision medicine approaches
4. the effect of environment on the epigenetic-genetic-metabolomic axis and susceptibility to mental health disorders (https://www.etherealproject.eu)

Our aim is to use this knowledge to identify individuals with increased risk profiles, inform nutritional recommendations and develop novel/targeted intervention strategies to promote healthy ageing and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) throughout life.

In the news

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