Epigenetic changes modify the way genetic information is expressed without directly changing the genetic code stored in DNA. Although some epigenetic changes are part of normal development and aging, environmental health scientists are concerned that environmental factors may cause epigenetic changes that lead to health problems or disease.
Epigenetic changes likely play an important role in development and are thought to be involved in a wide range of diseases and disorders, including autoimmune and neurodevelopmental disorders, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
What NIEHS is Doing
Scientists funded through NIEHS research programs work to better understand the link between environmental exposures and epigenetic regulation of gene expression, and how these interactions may affect human health and disease. NIEHS-funded researchers use state-of-the-art technologies to analyze epigenetic changes caused by exposure to heavy metals, air pollution, tobacco smoke, endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A, pesticides, phthalates, and other contaminants. They use animals, cell cultures, human tissue samples, and population-based studies to pinpoint how epigenetic changes might lead to harmful health effects, which are potentially passed to future generations.
NIEHS-funded environmental epigenetics research may profoundly alter the way we understand, diagnose, and treat disease. It could enhance our understanding of how environmental factors influence epigenetic processes and their subsequent involvement in human health and disease.
Currently Funded Programs:
- The Population-Based Model Organism Research for G x E Exploration in Complex Disease Outcomes program investigates the interplay between environment, genetics, and epigenetics to better understand host susceptibility to environmental exposures relevant to human health and disease.
- The Toxicant Exposures and Responses by Genomic and Epigenomic Regulators of Transcription (TaRGET) Program aims to increase our understanding of how exposures affect and interact with functional and regulatory processes that lead to certain patterns of epigenetic changes.
- The Transgenerational Inheritance in Mammals After Environmental Exposure (TIME) program supported research on the potential effects of environmental exposures on future generations.
- The Roadmap Epigenomics Program, a trans-NIH program funded by the NIH Common Fund and administered by NIEHS and other NIH Institutes and Centers, investigated epigenetic changes across genomes and correlated the presence or absence of specific changes with the development of disease.
For additional information on what NIEHS epigenetics grantees are doing, visit our Who We Fund webpage.
Learn more about the environmental health topic of epigenetics in the Health and Education section.
Program Contacts
Program Lead for TaRGET, Animal, Basic, and Mechanistic Research
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Fred Tyson, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator -
Tel 984-287-3334
Fax 919-564-5064
tyson2@niehs.nih.gov -
P.O. Box 12233Mail Drop K3-15Durham, N.C. 27709
Program Lead for Gene-Environment Interactions Research
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Kimberly McAllister, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator -
Tel 984-287-3287
Fax 919-316-4606
mcallis2@niehs.nih.gov -
P.O. Box 12233Mail Drop K3-12Durham, N.C. 27709
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