Lifecourse Gene-Environment Interaction

• In Event: 3-005 - Genomics and Development Across the Life Course

Abstract

This symposium will highlight integrative science that combines psychosocial, environmental, and genetic data to understand developmental and health trajectories across the life course using publically-available large, population-based, representative datasets. In this presentation, Dr. Harris will discuss the important role that gene-environment interactions may play in lifecourse human development focusing on the design and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, or Add Health. Add Health is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative cohort of 20,000 adolescents in 1995 followed for 25 years into adulthood and for whom social, psychological, behavioral, environmental, biological, and genetic data have been collected over time. With its extensive longitudinal, multilevel, environmental data and genome-wide data, Add Health provides one of the richest datasets to explore how the environments of young people may operate to suppress or amplify genetic effects on health and behavior. Illustrative findings will also be presented.

Author

• Kathleen Harris, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author