Baylin Group - Nutritional Epidemiology and Cardiovascular Disease

>> Coronary Artery Calcification

Coronary Artery Calcification (CAC) is a subclinical measure of coronary artery atherosclerosis. Our studies of CAC in the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy (GENOA) indicate that it is heritable and associated with variation in multiple genes.... More >>

>> Peripheral Vascular Disease

Peripheral arterial disease is a common condition in the elderly. It has two important clinical consequences. First, affected individuals generally have widespread atherosclerosis and consequently are at increased risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death. Second, PAD can markedly affect quality-of-life by causing exertional leg pain (i.e., intermittent claudication) and functional impairment of the lower extremities. In the GENOA cohort, the ankle-brachial index was measured to assess PAD.... More >>

>> Scan Statistics

We have developed a scan statistic methodology that is suitably general to be used in a variety of genome-wide studies.... More >>

>> Exomic Sequencing in Sibships to Identify Target Organ Damage Genes

As part of the GENOA study, quantitative measures of subclinical target organ disease have already been collected. Measurement of 900,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms distributed across the genome, enabled pursuit of candidate genes under significant linkage peaks and unbiased genome-wide association analyses to identify common variants predisposing to subclinical disease. Yet, most of the heritable variation in these measures of target organ damage still remains unexplained and unexplored. In this project, we are gearing up to identify low-frequency and ... More >>

>> Genetic Architecture of Leukoaraiosis

Ischemic damage to the subcortical white matter of the brain, referred to as leukoaraiosis, is a frequent complication of hypertension-related microvascular disease and contributes to the risk of stroke and vascular dementia. As part of a NINDS grant entitled Genetics of Microangiopathic Brain Injury (RO1 NS41558), GENOA participants have been assessed for leukoaraiosis as well as brain atrophy and ventricular volume using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).... More >>

>> Exomic Sequencing of Low-Renin Hypertensives

High blood pressure (BP), or hypertension, affects one billion people worldwide and is the most prevalent modifiable risk factor for vascular diseases of the brain, heart, and kidneys. The underlying causes remain enigmatic in most cases (90%), referred to as primary hypertension. Biometrical analyses have consistently demonstrated the heritability of BP levels and hypertension; however, most DNA sequence variants contributing to BP elevation have eluded discovery through candidate gene or whole-genome analyses. Consequently, the potential to improve ... More >>

>> Predictors of Blood Pressure Control

>> Risk Index Methods

Integrating clinical and genetic information to improve clinicians' ability to estimate an individual's disease risk is an important biomedical research challenge. Beginning from the concept of genetic risk scores, which estimate an individual's risk of developing a disease by summing risk information from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we have developed a "risk index" procedure that combines clinical data and genome-wide genotypes to make a prediction about an individual's risk of disease.... More >>

>> Toward a New Molecular Classification of Cancer

For most types of cancer, histopathology is insufficient to predict disease progression and clinical outcome. Working with researchers at the UM Cancer Center, we helped develop and apply methods for identifying genes expression profiles based on microarray analysis that could be used for identifying histological subtypes of cancers, distinguishing between cancer stages, and predicting patient survival.... More >>

>> Epigenetic Predictors of Common Chronic Diseases

Epigenetic mechanisms play a key role in multiple cellular processes and have been hypothesized as a link between environmental factors, lifestyle, and alterations in chronic disease susceptibility. We are studying inter-individual differences in DNA methylation profiles to identify individuals at risk for the development of disease outcomes at a presymptomatic stage when preventive efforts will be most beneficial.... More >>

>> Anthropometric Traits

>> Kidney Phenotypes

>> Gene-by-Drug Interactions

>> Gene-by-Risk Factor Interactions

>> Stress, Gene-Environment Interaction and Cardiovascular Disease

This NIH-funded project examines the interrelations between the social environments, stress processes, and cardiovascular risk. The project collects data on multiple biomarkers of stress in a large population based multiethnic sample in order to examine upstream social predictors of the stress response as well as the downstream consequences of stress for proximal biological pathways such as hemostasis, inflammation, and metabolic changes that may lead to cardiovascular disease. The project also collects data on stress responsivity using a standardized stress challenge. ... More >>

>> Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities (P60 MD002249)

The goal of the Michigan Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities (CIAHD) is to promote and support research that comprehensively integrates social and biological factors within a multilevel framework in understanding the determinants of minority health and health disparities with a special focus on cardiovascular disease disparities. CIAHD is a collaboration between the University of Michigan and the Jackson Heart Study through its partners the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Jackson State University. CIAHD is funded through a ... More >>