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Research project

Hanson RG/15/17/31749 Epigenetic Biomarkers and Determinants of Cardiovascular Risk in Children

Project overview

This application aims to determine: early biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk at birth/during childhood; the window(s) when early life interventions to reduce the risk of obesity and CVD are most effective; and the nature of potentially effective intervention(s). In the Southampton Women's Survey (SWS) prospective preconception cohort, we have discovered perinatal epigenetic biomarkers of later CVD risk in mechanistically relevant genes, now confirmed in our other cohorts. We will determine how these biomarkers relate to the trajectory of adiposity, cardiovascular structure, function and fitness in SWS children to age 12yrs. Using SWS samples collected at birth and age 12yrs we will extend our panel of epigenetic biomarkers and investigate interactions with fixed genetic variants in relation to CVD risk. Then we will relate the resulting biomarker panel to CVD risk in children from ongoing cohorts in which pre- or post-natal interventions to modify risk factors are being made.

Staff

Lead researchers

Emeritus Professor Mark Hanson

Research interests
  • Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Developmental nutrition and epigenetic mechanisms
Connect with Mark

Email: M.Hanson@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Cyrus Cooper

Prof Rheumatology Clinical Epidemiology
Research interests
  • Key research contributions have been:
  • discovery of the developmental influences which contribute to the risk of osteoporosis and hi…
  • demonstration that maternal vitamin D insufficiency is associated with sub-optimal bone miner…
Connect with Cyrus

Email: cc@mrc.soton.ac.uk

Professor Keith Godfrey

Associate Dean – KEE
Connect with Keith

Email: kmg@mrc.soton.ac.uk

Emeritus Professor Hazel Inskip MSc, PhD, FFPH

Connect with Hazel

Email: hmi@mrc.soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

Do the concepts of ‘life course approach’ and ‘developmental origins of health and disease’ underpin current maternity care? Study protocol
Chandni Maria Jacob, Wendy Lawrence, Hazel Inskip, Fionnuala M. McAuliffe, Sarah Louise Killeen & Mark Hanson, 2019, International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 147(2), 140-146
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.12955
Type: article
Pregnancy Nutrition: a protocol for the development of a Core Outcome Set (PRENCOS)
Sarah Louise Killeen, Eileen C. O'Brien, Chandni Maria Jacob, Sharleen O'Reilly, Mark Hanson & Fionnuala M. McAuliffe, 2019, International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 147(2), 134-139
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.12953
Type: article
The FIGO Pregnancy and Obesity Initiative (PONI)
Mark Hanson, Chandni Maria Jacob, Moshe Hod, Sarah Louise Killeen & Fionnuala M. McAuliffe, 2019, International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 147(2), 131-133
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.12950
Type: letterEditorial
Maternal obesity during pregnancy alters daily activity and feeding cycles, and hypothalamic clock gene expression in adult male mouse offspring
Jane Cleal, Kimberley D. Bruce, Jasmine L. Shearer, Hugh Thomas, Jack Plume, Louise Gregory, James Shepard, Kerry Spiers-Fitzgerald, Ravi Mani, Rohan Lewis, Karen Lillycrop, Mark Hanson, Christopher Byrne & Felino Cagampang, 2019, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(21), 1-19
DOI: 10.3390/ijms20215408
Type: article
Myo-inositol alters C-labelled fatty acid metabolism in human placental explants
Oliver C. Watkins, Mohammed Omedul Islam, Preben Selvam, Reshma Appukuttan Pillai, Amaury Cazenave-Gassiot, Anne K. Bendt, Neerja Karmani, Keith Godfrey, Rohan Lewis, Markus R. Wenk & Shiao-Yng Chan, 2019, Journal of Endocrinology, 243(1), 73-84
DOI: 10.1530/JOE-19-0267
Type: article
Niche modification, human cultural evolution and the anthropocene
Felicia M. Low, Peter D. Gluckman & Mark Hanson, 2019, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 34(10), 883-885
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.07.005
Type: letterEditorial
The inheritance of cardiovascular disease risk
Mark Hanson, 2019, Acta Paediatrica, 108(10), 1747-1756
DOI: 10.1111/apa.14813
Type: article