Epigenetic Regulation and Inference of Lifestyle Factors and Health

Lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking and alcohol consumption) are associated with an increased risk for heart disease, which results in nearly 18 million deaths per year.

Our lifestyle changes our epigenetic pattern which plays a big role in our gene expression. It is important to gain a better understanding of how our lifestyle influences the risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease (e.g., high blood pressure and high cholesterol).

In this thesis, I used prediction models based on epigenetic patterns to determine if someone is a smoker or drinks alcohol. Also, I looked at smoking-related changes in these epigenetic patterns and gene expression and how these changes are related to cardio-metabolic traits. Finally, I investigated how epigenetic alterations are associated with cardio-metabolic traits and bone mineral density.