Kupsco Lab on Environmental Epigenetics and Children's Health

Childhood Cardiometabolic Risk

diagram showing increase cardiometabolic risk as children age

Figure Reference: Made by A. Kupsco with Biorender

Elevated adiposity, dyslipidemia, pre-diabetes, and altered adipokines in childhood may be predictive of future cardiovascular disease and diabetes, two of the leading causes of death worldwide. Our work seeks to understand the determinants of cardiometabolic risk in childhood, focusing on the prenatal period, which is particularly susceptible to environmental exposures. Furthermore, we collaborate with longitudinal birth cohort studies to calculate trajectories of cardiometabolic risk factors, such as fat mass and BMI, using latent class growth modeling. These trajectories are more predictive of future risk in comparison to single outcomes and are easily interpretable for child health. We have shown that prenatal exposures to metals and phthalates may be related to increased cardiometabolic risk in childhood.

Sample Publications

Kupsco A, Sjödin A, Cowell W, Jones R, Oberfield S, Wang S, Hoepner LA, Gallagher D, Baccarelli AA, Goldsmith J, Rundle AG, Herbstman JB. Prenatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and BMI Z-scores from 5 to 14 years. Environ Health. 2022 Sep 8;21(1):82. PMCID: PMC9454187

Kupsco A; Wu H; Calafat AM; Kioumourtzoglou M-A; Cantoral A; Tamayo-Ortiz M; Pantic I; Pizano-Zarate, ML; Oken E; Braun J; Deierlein A; Wright RO; Téllez- Rojo MM; Baccarelli AA; Just AC. Prenatal Maternal Phthalate Exposures and Trajectories of Childhood Adiposity from Four to Twelve Years. Environ Res. Sept 2021 PMID: 34563522