The groundbreaking five-year project, led by researchers in the University of Bristol, the MRC Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in India, will explore key population health questions using datasets from across African, Asian, and North and South American continents.
The Diverse Epigenetic Epidemiology Partnership (DEEP) study, funded by the Medical Research Council, will generate genomic datasets in underrepresented populations. The DEEP study will develop software and infrastructure and conduct advanced statistical analyses to build new resources. These new resources will sit alongside international health and genetics databases to look at trends in variation in DNA methylation - a process where chemical groups attach to DNA in order to help to turn genes on and off.
There is huge variation in disease onset and symptoms for people living in different global regions. Much of the population health research conducted to date has drawn heavily on data collected from people of white European origins. This means that many global communities are often under-represented in health studies and the important effects of genetic and environmental diversity on health within those communities can be missed, for example the huge genetic diversity across Africa.
The DEEP study researchers aim to bridge this gap by studying individuals representing diverse genetic and environmental contexts and learn which DNA methylation patterns contribute to their disease risk in each context. This research will enable identification of disease-causing mechanisms that are common worldwide and those which are unique to particular groups or regions. It will help with answering questions such as whether medicines developed in one part of the world will be effective for all. Ultimately the DEEP study hopes to enable targeted interventions or treatments and reduce global health disparity and inequity.
The project will initially focus on early-life health, which is a particular interest to the partners in Africa, and cardiovascular health, which is important to the partners in India.
The project welcomes participation from additional partners who have collected DNA methylation and genetic data.