# Sociocultural factors, DNA methylation and Risk of Diabetes in Hispanics/Latinos

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2023 · $682,182

## Abstract

Hispanics/Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the US, are disproportionately affected by
type 2 diabetes (T2D). Sociocultural, psychosocial, and behavioral factors [collectively called
“socioenvironmental factors” hereafter] are believed to contribute to T2D disparity in Hispanics/Latinos, but the
mechanisms through which they get under the skin are unclear. DNA methylation (DNAm), one of the most
studied epigenetic modifications, is responsive to various socioenvironmental exposures across an individual’s
life course, and aberrant DNAm has been associated with aging and age-related diseases including T2D. To
date, little is known about the genomewide DNAm patterns associated with socioenvironmental exposures [in
totality named “socioenvironmental exposome”]. The mechanisms through which socioenvironmental
exposome becomes biologically embedded into aging and risk of T2D have not been well studied in a
nationally representative sample of Hispanics/Latinos. Building on our prior work, we hypothesize that altered
DNAm evoked by socioenvironmental risk and protective factors contributes to risk for T2D in
Hispanics/Latinos. Our objectives here are to characterize the socioenvironmental exposome in relation to risk
of T2D, and identify key biological pathways through which socioenvironmental exposome affects risk of
diabetes, independent of known risk factors. To achieve this, we leverage a wealth of deep clinical phenotypes
and socioenvironmental factors collected by the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos
(HCHS/SOL) and its ancillary study - the Sociocultural Ancillary Study (SCAS). Using peripheral blood genomic
DNA collected at baseline (2008-2011) from 3,323 non-diabetic Hispanics/Latinos (aged 18-74) followed
through 2024, we will first identify unique latent constructs using a unified theoretical framework and then
conduct epigenomewide association studies (EWAS) to identify methylated genes/regions in response to each
unique socioenvironmental construct (Aim 1). Findings from Hispanics/Latinos will be replicated in non-
Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and American Indians (total N=7,184). In Aim 2, we will prospectively
determine whether socioenvironment-induced DNAm predict the onset and progression of T2D, independent of
standard clinical factors. In Aim 3, we will perform integrated genetic and epigenetic analyses to identify causal
epigenetic mediators and molecular pathways through which socioenvironmental exposome become
biologically embedded into diabetes risk in Hispanics/Latinos. Successful completion of this project will identify
modifiable genes and causal pathways through which socioenvironmental factors become biologically
embedded in Hispanic cardiometabolic health. Such results may provide novel mechanistic insights into
disease pathology, and are likely to lead to culturally tailored precision strategies for diabetes prevention and
intervention, thereby reducing diabetes disparity in thi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10735009
- **Project number:** 1R01DK137254-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Jinying Zhao
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $682,182
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10735009

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10735009, Sociocultural factors, DNA methylation and Risk of Diabetes in Hispanics/Latinos (1R01DK137254-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10735009. Licensed CC0.

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