Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. Now, with the help of a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Associate Professor Melanie Carless, Ph.D., is using the field of epigenetics to study this nagging problem. Dr. Carless will look at the way DNA, RNA, and proteins are affected by both the environment and genetic makeup to impact the risk of obesity.

Two Texas Biomed researchers are collaborating with Dr. Carless. Associate Professor Tiziano Barberi, Ph.D., is lending his expertise in the development of pluripotent stem cells. Associate Professor Shelley Cole, Ph.D., is helping with the date from the cohort of 900 Texas Hispanic children used in the study.