HDHL: A precision nutri-epigenetic approach to tackle the mother-to-child transmission of impaired glucose metabolism
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: School of Public Health
Abstract
There is a long-standing tracking of the risk of impaired glycaemic health being transmitted from one generation to another that is hypothesised to causally link exposure to adverse glycaemic health in pregnancy and the offspring glycaemic health via epigenetic mechanisms. The potential biological and nutritional pathways underlying the paradigm can be of paramount importance to understand, prevent or reverse the consequences of gestational diabetes for life-long obesity, glycaemic adversity and type 2 diabetes; the key outcomes here. PREcisE project joins a consortium with complementary domains of expertise and data to uncover DNA methylation markers sensitive to variation by maternal glycaemic health in pregnancy, considering pre- and postnatal dietary exposures as possible modulators, and characterise their importance in explaining the mother-to -offspring transmission of impaired glycaemic health. We integrate human data spanning from pre-conception to age 50 years with dense DNA methylation data in the mother, the newborn and the adult with repeated measure tochallenge the question of replicability, specificity and persistency. Precisely, PREcisE consortium will organise its working plan into three workpackages to i) perform epigenome wide association study on glucose level exposure in utero followed by downstream analysis in a biobank of liver, skeletal muscles and adipose tissues, ii) infer the primary role of pre- and postnatal dietary exposures in modulating the association of methylation with adiposity and glycaemic health outcomes and iii) integrate its findings further into a life-course model for adiposity and glycaemic health outcomes trained in large birth cohort data. PREcisE will aim to answer the expected impact of the call focusing on causality, nutrition and tissue specificity. Causality will be tested by three complementary design: randomised control trial, mendelian randomisation and causal modelling including triangulation to validate results. Tissue-specific molecular pathways will be addressed by a unique transcriptomic DNAmethylation approach. PREcisE project will aim to bring sufficient evidence to three key exploitable results: DNA methylation risk scores at maternal glucose response loci for precision epigenetics, dietary recommendations to help optimising the DNA methylation at these loci and a life-course model to inform policy on the long-lasting effects and opportunity to promote life-long glycaemic health.
Technical Summary
PREcisE will operate the overarching hypothesis that the transgenerational association between maternal gestational diabetes and risk of T2D and glycaemic adversity in the next generation(s) can be
partially explained by a causal association mediated by durable epigenetic modification of 'maternal glucose responsive (MGR)' loci. The hypothesis is that:
- The risk is causal, dose dependent and interplay with maternal psycho-social factors;
- The risk is mediated and/or modulated by the glycaemic load and/or the inflammatory score of the diet;
- The risk is causally associated with the regulation of genes in the major metabolic tissues (i.e. liver, skeletal muscles, adipose tissues);
- There are causal pathways linking the alteration of MGR loci and glycaemic health in the offspring, part of which is mediated through early growth.
PREcisE project harnesses very large data prospectively collected from Spain, Germany, Finland, France and The Netherlands, including randomised control trial and combines with long lasting
collaboration with the pregnancy and childhood (PACE), the early growth (EGG) and recent Global MethQTL consortia, to establish the mother-to-offspring transmission of glycaemic health through robust epigenetic factors. The consortium will reach sufficient power to perform its research through the use of data and biological atlas collected prospectively by its PIs.
partially explained by a causal association mediated by durable epigenetic modification of 'maternal glucose responsive (MGR)' loci. The hypothesis is that:
- The risk is causal, dose dependent and interplay with maternal psycho-social factors;
- The risk is mediated and/or modulated by the glycaemic load and/or the inflammatory score of the diet;
- The risk is causally associated with the regulation of genes in the major metabolic tissues (i.e. liver, skeletal muscles, adipose tissues);
- There are causal pathways linking the alteration of MGR loci and glycaemic health in the offspring, part of which is mediated through early growth.
PREcisE project harnesses very large data prospectively collected from Spain, Germany, Finland, France and The Netherlands, including randomised control trial and combines with long lasting
collaboration with the pregnancy and childhood (PACE), the early growth (EGG) and recent Global MethQTL consortia, to establish the mother-to-offspring transmission of glycaemic health through robust epigenetic factors. The consortium will reach sufficient power to perform its research through the use of data and biological atlas collected prospectively by its PIs.
Planned Impact
The PREcisE project is ambitious and realistic joining teams from five EU countries and collaborators in Australia bringing experts in nutrition physiology, genetics and epigenetics, molecular biology, biostatistics, lifecourse
epidemiology, clinical sciences and public health. PREcisE's overarching goal studies life-course data from the pre-conceptual period up until adulthood to explore the life-course and molecular pathways pertaining the mother to offspring transmissibility of impaired glycaemic health. PREcisE will aim at breakthrough in understanding i) the causal epigenetic pathways underpinning fetal exposure to impaired glycaemic health, ii) the role played by the glycaemic and the inflammatory load of the diet in inducing and modulating DNA methylation and iii) the life-course consequences. In addition, PREcisE shall provide four Key Exploitable results: DNA methylation MGR risk scores; dietary
recommendations; a EU-Nutri-Epigenetic-Data platform and a life-course model.
The project aims to establish new DNA methylation marks linked to impaired maternal glucose metabolism, which represents a growing problem worldwide co-occuring with rapid changes in population diet and physical activity behaviour. We aim at evidence based solutions to create new bio-tools, diagnosis markers and recommendations, incorporate into a life-course model and to contribute to the 2030 vision of the ERA-HDHL. In this light, our project will have the potential to generate sustained impact through reducing the risk of adverse glycaemic outcomes associated with exposure to gestational diabetes and associated glycaemic phenotypes. The technologies developed by PREcisE will be rapidly transferable due to the robustness of the approach and quality data management. Moreover, the results from PREcisE will contribute to substantially improving maternal and childhood nutrition and reducing the number of children who become obese. This will yield substantial direct and indirect, current and future savings in healthcare costs. Next to improving maternal and offspring glycaemic health outcomes, the project will have a substantial impact on the competitiveness, innovation capacity and integration of new knowledge for all participants. Importantly, the project will strengthen the competitiveness of EU public-private research in nutrition, healthcare and epigenomics.
epidemiology, clinical sciences and public health. PREcisE's overarching goal studies life-course data from the pre-conceptual period up until adulthood to explore the life-course and molecular pathways pertaining the mother to offspring transmissibility of impaired glycaemic health. PREcisE will aim at breakthrough in understanding i) the causal epigenetic pathways underpinning fetal exposure to impaired glycaemic health, ii) the role played by the glycaemic and the inflammatory load of the diet in inducing and modulating DNA methylation and iii) the life-course consequences. In addition, PREcisE shall provide four Key Exploitable results: DNA methylation MGR risk scores; dietary
recommendations; a EU-Nutri-Epigenetic-Data platform and a life-course model.
The project aims to establish new DNA methylation marks linked to impaired maternal glucose metabolism, which represents a growing problem worldwide co-occuring with rapid changes in population diet and physical activity behaviour. We aim at evidence based solutions to create new bio-tools, diagnosis markers and recommendations, incorporate into a life-course model and to contribute to the 2030 vision of the ERA-HDHL. In this light, our project will have the potential to generate sustained impact through reducing the risk of adverse glycaemic outcomes associated with exposure to gestational diabetes and associated glycaemic phenotypes. The technologies developed by PREcisE will be rapidly transferable due to the robustness of the approach and quality data management. Moreover, the results from PREcisE will contribute to substantially improving maternal and childhood nutrition and reducing the number of children who become obese. This will yield substantial direct and indirect, current and future savings in healthcare costs. Next to improving maternal and offspring glycaemic health outcomes, the project will have a substantial impact on the competitiveness, innovation capacity and integration of new knowledge for all participants. Importantly, the project will strengthen the competitiveness of EU public-private research in nutrition, healthcare and epigenomics.
Organisations
- Imperial College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Co-funder)
- Newcastle University (Collaboration)
- Joint Programming Initiative a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (Collaboration)
- Friedberg Genizah Project (Collaboration)
- University of Oulu (Collaboration)
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Collaboration)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Palaniswamy S
(2021)
Non-occupational exposure to pesticides and health markers in general population in Northern Finland: Differences between sexes.
in Environment international
Palaniswamy S
(2020)
Could vitamin D reduce obesity-associated inflammation? Observational and Mendelian randomization study.
in The American journal of clinical nutrition
Parmar P
(2020)
Understanding the cumulative risk of maternal prenatal biopsychosocial factors on birth weight: a DynaHEALTH study on two birth cohorts.
in Journal of epidemiology and community health
Pawlow X
(2021)
A new mathematical approach to improve the original dietary inflammatory index (DII) calculation.
in PloS one
Pazoki R
(2021)
Genetic analysis in European ancestry individuals identifies 517 loci associated with liver enzymes
in Nature Communications
Pinot De Moira A
(2021)
The EU Child Cohort Network's core data: establishing a set of findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable (FAIR) variables.
in European journal of epidemiology
Rantakallio JSS
(2021)
Association of Self-Reported Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Obesity, and Weight Gain From Adolescence to Adulthood With Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Community-Based Approach.
in Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)
Rauschert S
(2020)
Machine Learning-Based DNA Methylation Score for Fetal Exposure to Maternal Smoking: Development and Validation in Samples Collected from Adolescents and Adults.
in Environmental health perspectives
Robinson O
(2020)
Determinants of accelerated metabolomic and epigenetic aging in a UK cohort.
in Aging cell
Robinson O
(2021)
Metabolic profiles of socio-economic position: a multi-cohort analysis.
in International journal of epidemiology
| Description | Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin & Sylvain Sebert (IC); Policy briefing presenting policy recommendations aimed at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | This paper was circulated to policy makers / MEPs in the EU parliament and was welcomed. The paper was also taken into account to shaping the new EU call (continuum) on obesity from a life-course perspective. |
| Description | Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (IC); Protective and preventive healthcare. Highlights of the importance of lifestyle factors and early years intervention. Interview paper aimed at scientists. policy makers, general public |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://www.healtheuropa.eu/protective-and-preventive-healthcare-with-dynahealth/103519/ |
| Description | Round Table Discussion "Diet and type 2 diabetes" - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Sandra Hummel (FDeV); Lecture in MSc Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany: Prediction and Prevention of Diabetes - Intergenerational transmission of obesity and diabetes. Prevention and health promotion as well as knowledge transfer on PREcisE related topics |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Steegers-Theunissen RPM [ERASMUS}. Een gezonde baby: wat kun je zelf doen? For You Magazine editie Rotterdam 2019, 2: 30. Title in English: A healthy baby; what can you do? Magazine interview aimed at the public for the lower income parts of Rotterdam. |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | Van der Kleij R, Van der Windt M, Steegers- Theunissen RPM [ERASMUS]. Handboek Leeftstijlgeneeskunde - De eerste 1000 dagen en de 100 ervoor | rond de zwangerschap. Handbook aimed aimed at Dutch general practitioners and midwifes. |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | (EUCAN-Connect) - A federated FAIR platform enabling large-scale analysis of high-value cohort data connecting Europe and Canada in personalized health |
| Amount | € 6,717,954 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 824989 |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 01/2019 |
| End | 12/2023 |
| Description | Causative mechanisms & integrative models linking early-life-stress to psycho-cardio-metabolic multi-morbidity (EarlyCause) |
| Amount | € 5,997,381 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | Grant agreement ID: 848158 |
| Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 12/2023 |
| Description | Dynamic longitudinal exposome trajectories in cardiovascular and metabolic non-communicable diseases (longITOOLS) |
| Amount | € 11,997,449 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | Grant agreement ID: 874739 |
| Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 12/2024 |
| Title | Effect of the randomised control trial NIGOHEALTH intervention on placenta DNA methylation at birth. |
| Description | PREcisE partners will use evidence from a formal randomized control trial (NIGOHealth - Nutritional Intervention During Gestation and Offspring Health https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02285764) to test whether an intervention, aiming to change maternal glycaemic health in the second and third trimester of pregnancy can affect child DNA methylation. This study follows on from our recent findings by Tobi et al. DOI: 10.2337/dc21-1701 which supports evidence that changes in maternal response to OGTT in pregnancy (AUCglu) is associated with the child DNA methylation at birth. We hypothesize that children born to mother in the treatment arm (TREATED) of the NIGOHEALTH RCT will have a differential placental DNA methylation pattern at birth compared to mother in standard of care group (SOC). We further hypothesisize that changes in maternal glycaemic health (i.e., response to OGTT) can mediate the effect of the treatment on placental DNA methylation profile. An analytical plan has been developed and the analysis is currently ongoing. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Work is in progress. |
| Title | Harmonisation of pre- and post-natal physical activity. |
| Description | In order to evaluate a potential influence of physical activity intensity on DNAm in the offspring, harmonized physical activity data have been assessed by study-specific questionnaires using metabolic equivalent tasks (MET). Cohorts involved: German GDM, BABYDIET, TEENDIAB, POGO, NigoHEALTH, PREDICT, HAVEN, GenR, GenRNext, PREOBE, NFBC1966, NFBC1986, FinnGedi. Physical activity information (type of activity and duration per week) available in the studies' questionnaires are assigned to respective MET units (specific for each activity) according to the literature (PMID: 21681120). The calculation of MET units is in the process and available so far for POGO, TEENDIAB, NFBC1966-31yr, and NFBC1986-16yr. The variable "moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)" for the offspring will be calculated in a subset of studies (PREOBE, GenR, POGO, TEENDIAB, NFBC1966-46yr) to evaluate the results obtained with MET units. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Work in progress. |
| Title | Harmonised pre- and post-natal dietary data. |
| Description | The PREcisE collaborators have been shared their available data on dietary and physical activity data. Based on that, data have been harmonized for optimal use in ongoing or upcoming analysis. For example, breastfeeding data have been harmonized by cut-offs to include most of the studies and which also are in agreement with general cut-offs (e.g., 3-months or 6-months). A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide associations with various breastfeeding variables/cut-offs is ongoing with PREcisE cohorts (POGO, GermanGDM and GenR) and the pregnancy and childhood epigenetics (PACE) consortium. Moreover, dietary data for the use of the glycemic index (GI) and load (GL) have been harmonized between cohorts and the obtained harmonization steps have been applied in the ongoing meta-analysis on maternal dietary GI/GL and cord-blood DNA methylation as well as the cross-sectional meta-analysis on dietary GI/GL and DNA methylation in children and adolescents. Lastly, the calculation of the dietary inflammatory index (DII) has been critically reviewed by PREcisE and, based on limitations in the original calculation method, an improved algorithm has been developed and published. Within this publication, we also present a new way of harmonizing the DII across cohorts. A scientific paper detailing the new mathematical approach to calculate DII was published. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | A new mathematical method for the calculation of DII which optimizes the current (gold standard) approach by Shivappa et al. has been developed within the PREcisE project. The updated method has been made publicly available (open access journal) and therefore, allows all upcoming studies, authorities etc. to apply the improved method. |
| Title | New meta-EWAS summary statistics on dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) in pregnancy. |
| Description | Suboptimal nutrition in pregnancy is associated with worse offspring cardiometabolic health. DNA methylation may be an underlying mechanism. We meta-analyzed epigenome-wide association studies (EWASs) of maternal dietary glycemic index and load with cord blood DNA methylation. The aims of these EWAS meta-analyses are to investigate the association of maternal dietary glycemic index (GI) and maternal dietary glycemic load (GL) during pregnancy, which have been proven to be associated with offspring health status later in life, with offspring neonatal DNA methylation and DNA methylation in children/adolescents. PREcisE partnered with the JPI-funded NutriPROGRAM and PACE Consortium. The participating cohorts are: Generation R, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents And Children (ALSPAC) from Bristol, UK and the INMA Study from Spain. We calculated maternal glycemic index and load from food frequency questionnaires, and ran EWASs on cord blood DNA methylation in 2003 mother-offspring pairs from three cohorts. Analyses were additionally stratified by maternal BMI categories. We looked-up the findings in EWASs of maternal glycemic traits and BMI, and in EWASs of birthweight and child BMI. We examined associations with gene expression in child blood in the online Human Early Life Exposome eQTM catalogue and in 223 adipose tissue samples. Maternal glycemic index and load were associated with cord blood DNA methylation at 41 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites (CpGs, P<1.17x10-7), mostly in mothers with overweight/obesity. We did not observe overlap with CpGs associated with maternal glycemic traits, BMI or child birthweight or BMI. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Work in progress (manuscript submitted). We observed multiple associations of maternal glycemic index and load during pregnancy with cord blood DNA methylation, mostly in mothers with overweight/obesity; some of these CpGs were associated with gene expression. Additional studies are required to further explore functionality, uncover causality, and study pathways to offspring health. Publication ID: 60425edcb1d998.64576920 |
| Title | New meta-EWAS summary statistics on dietary glycemic index and glycemic load in children and adolescents. |
| Description | Description This analysis aims to identify robust associations between the dietary glycemic index and glycemic load, as nutritional markers of carbohydrate quality, and DNA methylation in blood of children and adolescents. The PREcisE collaborators have been partnered with the JPI-funded NutriPROGRAM consortium and the Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) consortium (Harvard Medical School, USA and University of Southern California, USA) to develop the analysis plan, include potential cohorts and maximize the sample size for this meta-analysis. In addition to the cohort data available within the PREcisE consortium, data from the following cohorts have been used: POGO, INMA, ATHEROBES, LIFE, NFBC1986, RAINE and TEENDIAB. Each study followed a common pre-specified analysis plan to harmonize GI and GL calculations from food frequency questionnaires or dietary records, and to perform the epigenome-wide association (EWAS) analyses on single cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) resolution. In addition to the general models, we ran the analyses separately in normal weight and overweight/obese subjects. We cross-checked findings (false discovery rate, FDR <0.05) in published EWAS on related traits, and checked potential associations with published gene expression data. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The analysis is ongoing and planned to be finished until the end of March 2022. |
| Title | New meta-EWAS summary statistics on maternal glucose levels. |
| Description | The PREcisE collaborators have been partnered with the Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) consortium (Harvard Medical School, USA and University of Southern California, USA) to gain additional traction and contacts in order to increase sample size (Howe et al. Diab. Care 2019; PMID: 31601636). In addition to the cohort data available within the PREcisE consortium, data from the following cohorts have been used: POGO, Healthy Start, Gen3G, EDEN, PREDO, FinnGeDi, PREOBE, GUSTO, ENVIRONAGE, GenR. Data were quality checked and several identifications of possible errors in executing the analysis plan were found and remedied. It is worth noting that data from the above studies have been used but no individual level pooling has been done. Because of the collaboration with external cohorts, the original intended 2,130 samples for the glucose EWAS was surpassed and reached 2,450 (fasted ) and 3,400 (fasted+non-fasted); for insulin the sample sizes are 1,000 (fasted) and 2,000 (fasted+non-fasted), and for the OGTT sample size is around 1,200 (fasted by design). Heterogeneity was found in the glucose and OGTT meta-analyses and remedied. No robust association was found with glucose. Insulin was associated with one CpG at the PPID gene, which showed moderate heterogeneity and this meta-analysis was otherwise non-informative (null results). OGTT was associated with one region in the TXNIP gene, involved in hepatic glucose production, but heterogeneity of the meta-analysis of this region is high. Sensitivity analyses in Gen3G and FinnGeDi suggest that GDM treatment dampens the association and a GDM treatment stratified meta-analysis was performed that yielded no new associations. Follow up in PREcisE cohorts and datasets showed that DNAm in liver was associated with TXNIP expression and that also maternal T1D was associated with childhood DNAm. In addition, DNAm at this TXNIP was associated with multiple metabolic phenotypes, including Type 2 Diabetes, in childhood and adulthood. A scientific paper detailing the meta-EWAS was published. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The OGTT meta-analysis yielded one important locus, TXNIP, measured by EPIC array, for which little earlier data exist linking it to gene-expression, genetic variation (for Mendelian randomisation) and cross-tissue variation. Maternal hyperglycemia, as reflected by AUCgluc, was associated with lower cord blood DNAm at TXNIP. Associations between DNAm at these CpGs and metabolic traits in subsequent lookup analyses suggest that these may be candidate loci to investigate in future causal and mediation analyses. PREcisE partners Erasmus, IC and CNRS made an inventory of available sources. These will be made shareable in open or restricted access repositories where possible as soon as the scientific paper detailing the meta-EWAS which is in advanced stages is published. |
| Title | New statistical methods for the analysis of complex longitudinal (life-course) data. |
| Description | Data within PREcisE uniquely feature repeated measurements in the same individuals at different time points and different age ranges, and include both mothers and children (e.g. NFBC1966, NFBC1986 and Generation R). Having access to time-resolved life-course data enables implementation of causal and structural modelling using high-dimensional structural equation models (path analysis). In this context, Bayesian Path Analysis (BPA) models have been developed to investigate the interplay of a number of factors (genetic and non-genetic) simultaneously at different time points of an individual's life span and disease development later in life. Blocks of data corresponding to different life-stages from the prenatal stage until mid-life are analysed simultaneously to determine the causal pathways or networks by which such (combinations of) exposures affect health trajectories or diseases onsets. Analyses on intermediate outcomes from sensitive developmental life stages (e.g. growth parameters at infancy, childhood or adolescence), which are themselves predictors of the primary outcomes of interest are conducted to offer insights for disease development at later stages. The Bayesian BPA model naturally incorporates imputation of endogenous variables. In addition, it includes an imputation part for exogenous variables. This imputation approach effectively assumes a fixed effect imputation model between cohorts (i.e. the relations as summarized by regression coefficients between variables are assumed to be the same for all cohorts). Modelling within the Bayesian framework allowed us, also, to estimate the uncertainty on model estimates, including calculation of mean posterior probabilities of inclusion for each variable and uncertainty on direct and indirect association effects. The Bayesian approach also permitted straightforward imputation of missing values simultaneously with model fitting. The model has been applied and tested to data from the NFBC1966, to develop a life-course model using data from 7 life stages: pre-natal, birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood at 31 years and late adulthood at 46 years, to explore the dynamic determinants of obesity and other glycaemic traits at 46 years. Variables relevant to glucose metabolism and psychosocial factors have been selected for each life stage. The model was initially developed within DynaHEALTH H2020 and relies on an in-house, open source software available in the R statistical software (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/467019v1.article-info) which has been further developed and automated within PREcisE. Ongoing work focusses on testing ways to include the new epigenetic biomarkers, in particular the two probes identified in the meta EWAS on glycaemic traits within PREcisE, into the model to ensure an efficient and meaningful analysis. Validation of these models is planned using the NFBC1986 and GenR. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The suggested approach (Bayesian Path Analysis Model with variable selection) opens new avenues for the analysis of complex longitudinal (life-course) data. The approach showcased on BMI development later in life (46 years of age) has been developed as a manuscript and submitted for publication. |
| Description | Collaboration with ALPHABET and NutriPROGRAM |
| Organisation | Friedberg Genizah Project |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Contributions Made One of the objectives of PREcisE (within WP2) is to investigate the modulating role of pre- and/or post-natal dietary exposures and physical activity intensity on the DNA methylation (DNAm) at Maternal Glucose Responsive (MGR) loci that are discovered as part of the project and at targeted loci known to be associated with other prenatal exposures, such as maternal smoking, pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity, maternal weight gain during pregnancy and foetal growth. To do so a number of indices from relevant data cross the different observational studies and RCTs in the Consortium have been calculated from individual participant data in a harmonized manner to minimize differences across studies. For pre- and post-natal dietary exposures three dietary indices, namely, the glycaemic index (GI), the glycaemic load (GL) and the dietary inflammatory index (DII) have been calculated. For the early post-natal nutrition, in particular, there are two approaches for DII calculation. PREcisE partnered with the JPI-funded ALPHABET consortium and exchanged knowledge on the approach to calculate DII. For the calculation of both prenatal and postnatal GI and GL, PREcisE partnered with NutriPROGRAM due to the fact that both Consortia share the same interests and have common related objectives. The idea behind these collaborations is to use existing standards where they exist and join hands to develop new standards and methodologies where they do not exist. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ALPHABET Consortium shared expert knowledge with PREcisE for the calculation of early post-natal nutrition DII. NutriPROGRAM experts work together with PREcisE experts to develop new standards and methodologies for the calculation of both prenatal and postnatal GI and GL. A joint analysis plan for a pre-natal meta-analysis titled "Associations of maternal glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) in pregnancy with new-born DNA methylation" is being developed and has been announced in PACE: Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium. Likewise, a joint analysis plan for a post-natal meta-analysis titled "Associations of dietary glycemic index and glycemic load and blood DNA methylation in children and adolescents" has been developed and introduced in PACE consortium. |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary involving the following disciplines: epigenetics, genetics, medicine, mathematics, molecular biology, nutrition, statistics. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with ALPHABET and NutriPROGRAM |
| Organisation | Joint Programming Initiative a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Contributions Made One of the objectives of PREcisE (within WP2) is to investigate the modulating role of pre- and/or post-natal dietary exposures and physical activity intensity on the DNA methylation (DNAm) at Maternal Glucose Responsive (MGR) loci that are discovered as part of the project and at targeted loci known to be associated with other prenatal exposures, such as maternal smoking, pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity, maternal weight gain during pregnancy and foetal growth. To do so a number of indices from relevant data cross the different observational studies and RCTs in the Consortium have been calculated from individual participant data in a harmonized manner to minimize differences across studies. For pre- and post-natal dietary exposures three dietary indices, namely, the glycaemic index (GI), the glycaemic load (GL) and the dietary inflammatory index (DII) have been calculated. For the early post-natal nutrition, in particular, there are two approaches for DII calculation. PREcisE partnered with the JPI-funded ALPHABET consortium and exchanged knowledge on the approach to calculate DII. For the calculation of both prenatal and postnatal GI and GL, PREcisE partnered with NutriPROGRAM due to the fact that both Consortia share the same interests and have common related objectives. The idea behind these collaborations is to use existing standards where they exist and join hands to develop new standards and methodologies where they do not exist. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ALPHABET Consortium shared expert knowledge with PREcisE for the calculation of early post-natal nutrition DII. NutriPROGRAM experts work together with PREcisE experts to develop new standards and methodologies for the calculation of both prenatal and postnatal GI and GL. A joint analysis plan for a pre-natal meta-analysis titled "Associations of maternal glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) in pregnancy with new-born DNA methylation" is being developed and has been announced in PACE: Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium. Likewise, a joint analysis plan for a post-natal meta-analysis titled "Associations of dietary glycemic index and glycemic load and blood DNA methylation in children and adolescents" has been developed and introduced in PACE consortium. |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary involving the following disciplines: epigenetics, genetics, medicine, mathematics, molecular biology, nutrition, statistics. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with DataSHIELD (Secure Bioscience Collaboration) |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | One of the objectives of PREcisE is to build and test a novel approach (Bayesian multiphenotype life-course model) and software to distil the causal pathways leading to glycaemic health later in life incorporating epigenetic, genetic, growth, nutrition, physical activity and SES data. To do so and to obtain interpretable robust results, especially in complex epidemiological settings like this, thorough sensitivity analysis and 'replication' of the analysis to data from other cohorts with similar information is crucial. IC/PREcisE partner has initiated a collaboration with DataSHIELD programme which enables the remote and non-disclosive analysis of sensitive research data to overcome the challenges of data sharing. The suggested approach and software have been transferred to DataSHIELD and is ready to be tested by other groups on different data sets. |
| Collaborator Contribution | DataSHIELD provides the platform through which we can securely access individual level (sensitive) data without physically accessing the data. The novel statistical approach and software, already transferred to DataSHIELD, will benefit research groups applying this method to other data sets, hence advancing the knowledge on potential causal pathways leading to poor glycaemic health. |
| Impact | Work is in progress. This collaboration is multi-disciplinary involving disciplines such as statistics, engineering and software development. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with PACE consortium |
| Organisation | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
| Department | Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics Consortium |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | One of the objectives of PREcisE is to investigate the association of maternal dietary glycemic index (GI) and maternal dietary glycemic load (GL) during pregnancy, which have been proven to be associated with subject's health status later in life, with offspring neonatal DNA methylation. In direct relation to this, another objective is to analyse the within-subject association between dietary GI/GL and DNA methylation in children/adolescents. To explore these associations two new Epigenome-wide association studies (EWASs) were initiated. FDeV/PREcisE partnered with the JPI-funded NutriPROGRAM and PACE Consortium to increase sample size and achieve greater power by combining similar data from other cohorts. The participating cohorts are: INMA, ALSPAC, GenR, POGO, LIFE, ATHEROBES, NFBC-1986, RAINE and TEENDIAB and provided necessary information on data availability, e.g. the number of available food variables, if and how scores have already been calculated which was the basis for the harmonisation process. The basis for these two meta-analyses are the same calculation methods for dietary GI/GL, including the same reference data sets (PMID: 20653850, 18835944) for European and non-European studies, and statistical models in a "harmonized" manner, e.g. similar covariates and regression models. Thus, results of both analyses will be much more comparable and may increase the robustness and significance of potential findings. These analyses (analyses plans) were introduced in PACE in Mar 2020 and Oct 2020, respectively. |
| Collaborator Contribution | PACE Consortium partners contributed samples from their studies with similar data for the two EWAS meta-analyses. |
| Impact | Work is in progress. This collaboration is multi-disciplinary involving disciplines such as, epigenetics, genetics, medicine, (bio)statistics. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collabotion with PACE Consortium |
| Organisation | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
| Department | Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics Consortium |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | One of the objectives of PREcisE is to perform Epigenome-wide association studies association studies to identify Maternal Glucose Responsive (MGR) loci in the offspring. In order to increase sample size for an EWAS meta-analysis on maternal glucose, insulin levels, OGTT and offspring DNA methylation, PREcisE partnered up within PACE consortium with Harvard Medical School and University of Southern California, to gain additional traction and contacts in order to increase sample size (Howe et al. Diab. Care 2019; PMID: 31601636). Because of the collaboration with external cohorts, the original intended 2,130 samples for the glucose EWAS will be surpassed. The number of samples for the prenatal fasted glucose reached 2,450; for the fasted insulin the sample size reached 1,000 samples and for OGTT 1,800. The EWAS analysis plan was launched in the PACE consortium in May 2019. |
| Collaborator Contribution | PACE Consortium partners contributed samples form their studies for the EWAS meta-analysis on maternal glucose, insulin levels, OGTT and offspring DNA methylation |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary involving disciplines such as, epigenetics, genetics, medicine, statistics. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | GenR study collaboration. |
| Organisation | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| Department | Generation R Study |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | One of the objectives of PREcisE is to build and test a Bayesian multiphenotype life-course model distilling the causal pathways leading to glycaemic health later in life incorporating epigenetic, genetic, growth, nutrition, physical activity and SES data. Repeating the analysis and testing the model to other datasets with potentially different characterises is an important step for understanding he causal pathways associated with glycaemic health. ERASMUS/PREcisE shared their data on the Generation R (GenR) cohort data with IC after signing a data sharing agreement. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Providing data for further testing the life-course model. |
| Impact | Work is in progress. This collaboration is multi-disciplinary involving disciplines such as, epigenetics, genetics, medicine, statistics. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Longitools partnership |
| Organisation | University of Oulu |
| Department | Institute of Health Sciences |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The EU funded project that is exploring multiple ways to explore longitudinal data, and looking for ways of implementing science into clinical practice. This is a continuum of DynaHEALTH EU funded programme and PREciSE project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Data analyses methods and their implementation |
| Impact | Analyses platform implementation. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Answers to questions - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | World Diabetes Day - social media campaign: Answers to questions on diabetes (type 1, gestational, type 2) on the social media pages of the institute. Public Notice of PREcisE relevant topics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Early-life nutrition, epigenetics and life course health; Where science has taken us - Dr Janine Felix (ERASMUS Medical Centre) & Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lecture during the 6th JPI-HDHL conference, sparked questions and discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/index.php/news-archive/632-save-the-date-6th-jpi-hdhl-inter... |
| Description | Gestational diabetes- podcast - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | To give an update on gestational diabetes - pathogenesis, treatment, short- and longterm consequences, prevention |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.diabinfo.de/nachrichten/article/schwangerschaftsdiabetes-im-gespraech-mit-einer-wissensc... |
| Description | International Symposium - Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium, International Symposium organised by Imperial College London (MRJ), UK, University of Exeter, UK, and University of Oulu, Finland. Session to present scientific works. Prof Jarvelin was a member of the Organising Committee, person who introduced the key note speaker, facilitator and chair of one session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Interview - Prof Steegers-Theunissen RPM (ERASMUS MC). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Magazine interview - Een gezonde baby: wat kun je zelf doen? For You Magazine editie Rotterdam 2019, 2: 30. Title in English: 'A healthy baby; what can you do?' Targeted to the public of the lower income parts of Rotterdam. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Interview paper (profile) - Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview paper (profile). Protective and preventive healthcare. Highlights of the importance of lifestyle factors and early years intervention. Paper targeted to scientists. policy makers and the general public |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://www.healtheuropa.eu |
| Description | Invited Facilitator and Discussant, Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Data Sharing: More Incentives, Better Science - The euCanSHare Consortium virtual workshop. euCanSHare is a joint EU-Canada project aiming to establish a cross-border data sharing and multi-cohort cardiovascular research platform. Specifically, the project will integrate data infrastructures, IT solutions and data sources from EU, Canada and other countries into a web-based data access system with functionalities for increased efficiency in cardiovascular data-driven research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Invited keynote speaker - Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Early growth and adult metabolic disease risk - role of genetic factors- Science Day of the Kontinkangas Campus (University of Oulu). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Lecture - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lecture for MSc Epidemiology of Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany: Prediction and Prevention of Diabetes - Intergenerational transmission of obesity and diabetes. Knowledge transfer on PREcisE related topics, prevention and health promotion. Session sparked questions and discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Lecture - Elmar Tobi (Erasmus MC |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Department talk with title 'A precise meta-analysis on maternal glycemic traits and cord blood DNA methylation' Erasmus MC. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Lecture - Prof Professor Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Interactive introductory session (1.5 hours) for new PhD students in the pathway of Life Course, Psychology and Health (n ~40 ) of the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Programme (LISS), between Imperial College Graduate School, King's College London and Queen Mary University London) Oct 2020. Students and pathway leaders attended. The theme falls into the remits of Precise. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Lecture - Prof Steegers-Theunissan RPM (ErasmusMC) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lecture to scientists one periconception nutrition, one carbon metabolism and fetal programming. Symposium Fetal Programming: Molecular and Clinical aspects - University of Groningen. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Lecture of Dr Janine Felix (ERASMUS Univeristy) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | DNA methylation lecture in "SNPs and human diseases" course. Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Nov 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Lecture of Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V.-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Intergenerational transmission of obesity and diabetes - Oktoberfest symposium, Munich, Germany, Oct 2019. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Lecture of Prof. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Research Design for Social Sciences and Medicine. Three-hour interactive session including aspects of genetic/epigenetic studies. Imperial College Graduate School, London, UK, Feb 2019. Interactive session and training of reseach methods for studenst with wide variety of backgrounds. New learning experience for the students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/graduate-school/students/doctoral/professional-development |
| Description | Lecture of Prof. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | "Nutrition, growth and development of the child". Introduction - Genes and Environment short course, Understanding genetic influence on growth and development, London, UK, Feb 2019. This is a 2 -day module which I am co-leading. Interactive session; lively discussion about the interactions between genetic factors and environment on growth, development and health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/medicine/paediatrics-child-health |
| Description | Lecture of Prof. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Life-course models - data - on metabolic traits addressing early life epigenetics. London, UK, Nov 2019. Very interactive session about data, research results and research methods. History of GWAS and EWAS studies was discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/medicine/health-data-analytics |
| Description | Lecture of Prof. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (IC): Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies - data and some results including early life epigenetics. MSc Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning, London, UK, Jan 2019. Very interactive session about data, research results and research methods. History of GWAS and EWAS studies was discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/medicine/health-data-analytics |
| Description | Lecture of Prof. Regine Steegers-Theunissen (ERASMUS University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Periconception one carbon metabolism and embryonic and placental health, 12th International conference on One Carbon Metabolism, B Vitamins and Homocysteine, Reus, Jun 2019. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Lecture of Sandra Hummel - (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The role of dietary behaviour during pregnancy and lactation on health outcomes in women with GDM - with a special focus on the role of migration. Autumn meeting of the German Diabetes Association, Leipzig, Germany. First joint meeting of migration and pregnancy working groups. Information about PREcisE and first results. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://migration.deutsche-diabetes-gesellschaft.de/die-ddg/arbeitsgemeinschaften/diabetes-migranten... |
| Description | Life-Course Modelling on Adult BMI - Dr Sylvain Sebert (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to the annual meeting of the EUCAN Connect project (https://www.eucanconnect.eu/project-description/) about the novel approach for the analysis of longitudinal (life-course) data transferred into DataSHIELD (FAIR federated data platform). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Moderator/Facilitator - Prof. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial Colelge London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | "Lessons from the DynaHEALTH consortium: bio-psychosocial model of glycaemic health". 55th EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes) Annual Meeting Symposium, Barcelona, Spain, Sept 2019. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards about the importance of early life in relation to adult disease risk. Future plans of research and directions how PREcisE could be developed. Policy paper writing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.easd.org/annual-meeting/easd-2019.html |
| Description | Overweight and diabetes in children - Invited Talk at the annual meeting of the German Diabetes Association - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | To give an up-to-date overview on impact of gestational diabetes on childhood overweight and diabetes risk to more than 1000 physicians, dietitians and nurses involved in diagnosis and treatment/ counselling of patients with gestational diabetes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Participation in panel of Dr Janine Felix (ERASMUS University); |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Participated in the Biosamples panel session during the "Born in Bradford" Science Festival 2019, Bradford, UK, Oct 2019. Annual science festival organized by the "Born in Bradford" study to bring science and the public together. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://eventful.com/events/bibfest-2019-born-bradford-science-festival-/E0-001-125797489-9 |
| Description | Prediction and Prevention of Diabetes - Intergenerational transmission of obesity and diabetes - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Knowledge transfer on PREcisE related topics, prevention and health promotion. Session sparked questions and discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Pregnancy exposures and offspring DNA methylation - Dr Janine Felix (ERASMUS Medical Centre) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Lecture during the FASEB Autumn School "The Epigenome in Human Health and Diseases Conference", which was an online 3-day autumn school, including lectures and discussion sessions. The session sparked questions and discussion, as well as potential future collaborative activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://factuel.univ-lorraine.fr/node/18052 |
| Description | Presentation - Dr Evangelia Tzala (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Scientific presentation with title 'Bayesian Life-course Path Analysis Model for body mass development in Northern Finland Cohort Study 1996 - NFBC1966 - until 46 years of age.' EGG Consortium virtual symposium. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation of Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PREcisE - A precision nutri-epigenetic approach to tackle the mother-to-child transmission - Virtual JPI HDHL symposium for all funded projects of the 'Nutrition & the Epigenome' call. This meeting aims were to present preliminary/expected project results and to identify the impact of the projects. Discussion and feedback from the participants on ideas about next steps. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Scientific Presentation of Dr Evangelia Tzala (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Bayesian Life-Course Path Analysis Model: Application NFBC (Northern Finnish Birth Cohort) 1966. Lille, France, Jun 2019. The novel statistical methodology employed to analyse life-course data was presented and described in detail to the scientists attending the workshop. Session sparked questions and interest was expressed to use the methodology in different studies owned by the participants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Scientific Presentation of Dr Janine Felix (ERASMUS University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | "Maternal factors and epigenetics" during the 45th Annual meeting of the German Society for Neonatology and Pediatric intensive care, Leipzig (Germany), May 2019 ("named speaker"). Sharing knowledge with other scientists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.gnpi-dgpi2019.de/ |
| Description | Scientific Presentation of Dr Janine Felix (ERASMUS University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Janine Felix (ERASMUS); Early-life programming of life course health. Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung UFZ, Leipzig, Germany, Feb 2019. Guest lecture at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Seminar - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Annual Conference Asthma/Atopic eczema, Rosenheim, Germany: Diabetes prevention in the family. Seminar on options of prevention of chronic disease and information about PREcisE and first results. The seminar was also targeted to asthma trainers and nurses. The session sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.mein-allergie-portal.com/images/Kooperationen/agas_agnes/17_JT_2019_AGAS_AGNES_Internet_... |
| Description | Seminar - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Teachers training, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Diabetes-information portal; Munich, Germany: Prediction and Prevention of diabetes. Teachers were trained on a new curriculum "Health promotion - Prevention - Diet". Improvement of knowledge on diabetes and PREcise - related topics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.diabinfo.de/schule-und-bildung/lehrerfortbildungen/archiv-zum-nachlesen.html |
| Description | Short talk of Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V.-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Intergenerational metabolomics in women with GDM and their offspring - DZD Workshop, Munich, Germany, Oct 2019. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk of Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany): |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Metabolomics and long-term health in mothers with gestational diabetes and their offspring - 55th EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes) Annual Meeting Symposium, Barcelona, Spain. Sept 2019. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.easd.org/annual-meeting/easd-2019.html |
| Description | Talk of Prof. Sylvain Sebert (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Modelling and prediction of the glucopsychosocial axis - deterioration of glucose tolerance - 55th EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes) Annual Meeting Symposium, Barcelona, Spain, Sept 2019. Session that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.easd.org/annual-meeting/easd-2019.html |
| Description | Teenagers with diabetes - 2021 - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of strategies to prevent obesity and diabetes before, during and after puberty. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Webinar - Diabetes and breastfeeding - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Giving an update on breastfeeding and health benefits for mothers with diabetes and their babys, breastfeeding intitation in mothers with diabetes. Webinar for the IABLE (Institute for the Advancement of breastfeeding and lactation education). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Workshop - Prof Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin (Imperial College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Career Development two-day workshop for international PhD students (academia and industry). Prof Jarvelin was the organiser, developer, chair and facilitator including extensive review and marking of course works. In the workshop teachers also participated. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Workshop for teachers on "Health promotion - Prevention - Diet" - Dr Sandra Hummel (FORSCHERGRUPPE DIABETES e.V-Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Teachers training, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Diabetes-information portal; Munich, Germany: Prediction and Prevention of diabetes. Teachers were trained on a new curriculum "Health promotion - Prevention - Diet". Improvement of knowledge on diabetes and PREcise - related topics. (https://www.diabinfo.de/schule-und-bildung/lehrerf ortbildungen/archiv-zum-nachlesen.html) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |