Approved Research

Identifying the association factors and causal determinants in aging and aging-related diseases.

Lay summary

Age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, cancer, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), hearing loss, dementia (Including alzheimer's disease) and parkinson's disease and multimorbidity in elder,are common contributors to serious health implications, seriously affects the daily living ability of middle-aged and elderly patients. Genetic factors could influence each individual predisposition to age-related diseases and multimorbidity. A family history that includes obesity, insulin resistance, cancer, and dementia dramatically increases the chance that an individual will develop the age-related diseases; multimorbidity. Importantly, the pandemic of age-related diseases; multimorbidity are driven by forces that include rapid urbanization, unhealthy dietary and lifestyles change, environmental pollution, and population aging. Our research group had a long-standing interest in characterizing epidemiology features and mechanistic insights of age-related diseases and multimorbidity such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sarcopenia and multimorbidity in elder. This large multidimensional database comprising both genetic and nongenetic health information is extremely useful for the identification of factors are associated with many age-related diseases and multimorbidity and long-term prognosis. More importantly, leveraging the genetic information in UKbiobank and Mendelian randomization analysis, we are able to examine the causal effect of exposure on age-related diseases and multimorbidity in observational studies.

Previous studies were mainly focused on cardiovascular disease, while the impact of genetic and non-genetic risk factors on other age-related diseases and multimorbidity has not been systematically explored. In this study, we first will explore the association of dietary factor, sleeping patten, lifestyle, environment and genetic risk factors or epigenomic modifications with age-related diseases and multimorbidity; Second, we will use genetic information as an instrumental variable to examine the causal effect of a modifiable exposure on age-related diseases and multimorbidity; Third, we will develop and validate risk scores integrating genetic and non-genetic risk factors to predict the development of age-related diseases and multimorbidity and long-term outcomes. Understanding the genetic and non-genetic risk factors that are determinant to age-related diseases and multimorbidity will be essential to formulate an effective strategy for age-related diseases and multimorbidity control at the population and individual level.

Duration: this project will take approximately three years to complete.