Brandon Pierce, PhD
Associate Professor
Departments of Public Health Sciences & Human Genetics
University of Chicago

Department of Genetics

Genetic and environmental determinants of DNA methylation in diverse human tissue types

Hosted by:  Dr. Nancy Saccone
In-person only:  Connor Auditorium (FLTC)

Talk abstract: Tissue-specific characterization of variability in DNA methylation (DNAm) is needed to understand its role in gene regulation and its relevance to complex traits. We generated array-based DNAm profiles for ~1000 human samples from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, representing 9 tissue types.  This talk will highlight (1) the contribution of inherited genetic variation and tobacco exposure to variability in DNAm and gene expression in these tissues and (2) the relevance of these effects to our understanding of genetic mechanisms underlying human traits and disease susceptibility.