In recognition of National DNA Month, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is pleased to present "A Community Epigenetics Perspective: Can Health Outcomes Be Shaped Through Gene Expression?" This virtual discussion brings together five researchers to explore the role epigenetic research plays in helping to decrease health inequities.

Highlighted will be the genetic modifications or changes that we accumulate during our life, including environmental aspects like the food we eat or chemicals we are exposed to, and even through traumas we experience. These shifts, referred to as epigenetics, can travel all the way to how our DNA is packaged, impacting gene expression and generations to come.

Featured speakers include:

• Shirley Hill, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh

• Alika Maunokea, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute for Biogenetics Research Jon A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa

• Xiaoban Wang, MD, ScD, MPH, Zanvyl Krieger Professor in Children’s Health Director, Center on the Early Life Origins of Disease at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Additional information about the event and how to register is available here.