Approved Research

Genetic association between maternal reproductive factor exposures during pregnancy and offspring developmental outcomes

Lay summary

Increasing shared risk and protective factors have been identified for offspring development in recent years, which raise severe global health concerns. In recent years, more and more prospectively collected data is available in the UK biobank, which provides an effective way for us to explore the internal connection between exposures and diseases of interest. This study will investigate different kinds of maternal exposure in the data provided by the UK biobank to quantify the risk of possible adverse outcomes of offspring development using the combined data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. The identification of these preventable factors presents opportunities to reduce the burden associated with offspring developmental defects at a population level. What's more, the genetic data, biochemistry markers, and the use of medications will also be analyzed to further identify risk and protective factors, which can help us identify vulnerable populations and initiate prevention in advance. The project is expected to last 36 months.