Dabeeru Rao
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Genetics
High blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, excess body fat and type 2 diabetes are major health burdens. Together they are called cardiometabolic traits, and they hit non-European ancestry populations especially hard.
- Fields
Genetics
Public Health & Epidemiology
Mathematics & Statistics
- Topics
genetic epidemiology
gene-environment interaction
GxE
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Identify new genetic loci for cardiometabolic traits through genome-wide interaction studies (GWIS) with lifestyle factors in about 1.267 million European, African, Hispanic and Asian ancestry participants.
- Extend gene-lifestyle analyses to body-fat and diabetes traits using quantitative exposures such as cigarettes per day and combined Lifestyle Risk Scores, comparing results across ancestries and sexes.
- Evaluate how identified gene-lifestyle interactions affect clinical outcomes such as coronary heart disease and assess whether they could be targeted by drugs.
- Characterize the molecular basis of interactions using existing omics data on DNA methylation, gene expression and metabolites.
More about the research
Both genes and lifestyle shape these traits, and a gene may matter more or less depending on habits such as smoking or exercise. This project searches for these gene-lifestyle interactions across very large, diverse populations.
Why it matters
Cardiometabolic diseases weigh most heavily on non-European ancestry populations. Identifying gene-lifestyle interactions across diverse groups could lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic tools, including possible drug targets. It could also support precision care, which tailors prevention and treatment of hypertension, abnormal cholesterol, obesity and diabetes to a person's genes and lifestyle.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kaixiong Ye
University of Georgia, GA·Genetics
Develop and apply statistical tests to detect genetic and polygenic responses to the Agricultural Revolution using ancient DNA, identifying adaptive variants whose mismatch with modern lifestyles may underlie today's common diseases.
Marguerite Irvin
University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify genetic variants that predict blood pressure response to chlorthalidone (a diuretic) or lisinopril (an ACE inhibitor) in more than 6,500 African Americans from the randomized GenHAT trial, with validation through the ICAPS consortium.
Ginger Nicol
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Genetics
Identify genetic variants linked to antipsychotic-induced weight gain and cardiometabolic risk through genotyping, GWAS and meta-analysis of about 15,000 biobank participants, using directly measured body fat rather than BMI.
The school
Washington University in St Louis: 97 labs on PI Pages, $1.2B a year on research, 365 research doctorates a year.
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