The exposome affects genetic factors and the risk of developing lifestyle diseases.
Lifestyle and living environments are changing. The exposome is defined as the totality of all human environmental exposures, lifestyle and social factors throughout life. Environmental exposures include air and noise pollution, while lifestyle factors include diet, physical activity and smoking, as well as the psychological and social environments. Genetic factors that are altered as a result of the exposome affect the risk of developing lifestyle diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. LongITools, a part of the European Exposome Network, is a European research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. https://longitools.org/
Objectives
The aim of LongITools is to study the interactions between the environment, lifestyle and health in determining the risks of developing lifestyle diseases throughout a person’s life.
UiO’s role in LongITools
The Longitools project is a collaboration among 15 universities and research institutes representing medicine, health sciences, nutrition, food science, economics, social sciences, behavioural sciences and data sciences, as well as three small to medium-sized enterprises as partners. The partners have contributed with data from prospective birth cohort studies and longitudinal studies in adults, register-based cohorts, randomized controlled trials and biobanks. Our team at UiO is a part of work packages (WPs) that aim to study the role of air and noise pollution and the built environment in cardiometabolic health trajectories of chidlren, adults and the elderly. More specifically, UiO will lead the RNA expression analysis, and be involved in WP4 and WP6 to study environmental determinants of DNA methylation and RNA expression in childhood and in adults. UIO will also participate in research activities in the fields of cardiometabolic diseases, nutrition and toxicology.
Financing
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
LongITools partners
- University of Oulu, Finland (Project Coordinator)
- Ab.Acus, Italy
- Academic Medical Center, Netherlands
- Beta Technology Ltd, United Kingdom
- Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
- CyNexo, Italy
- Erasmus Medical Center, Netherlands
- Imperial College London, United Kingdom
- National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France
- University College London, United Kingdom
- University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands
- University of Barcelona; Spain
- University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- University of Eastern Finland, Finland
- University of Oslo, Norway
- University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
- University of Surrey, United Kingdom
- University of Utrecht, Netherlands