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Traumas Epigenetic Impact on Mental Disorders

In this week’s episode of Everything Epigenetics, I am joined by Dr. Janitza Montalvo-Ortiz, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, who shares her journey into the world of epigenetics and psychiatry. 

Dr. Montalvo-Ortiz explains the pivotal role of epigenetics in understanding the genetic and environmental factors contributing to psychiatric disorders and emphasizes the importance of trauma exposure in shaping mental health outcomes.

Our discussion covers her research into the epigenetic mechanisms behind psychiatric conditions, particularly in underserved populations like Latin Americans and military veterans.  She highlights the need for multi-omic approaches to fully unravel the complex interplay between genes, epigenetics, and the environment. Dr. Montalvo-Ortiz also discusses the development of epigenetic clocks like GrimAge, which assesses mortality risk and incorporates factors like DNA methylation changes due to smoking.

Furthermore, Dr. Montalvo-Ortiz shares insights from her studies on how lifestyle and psychosocial factors can influence aging at the cellular level, and dives into the specific epigenomic differences in individuals with nicotine dependence.

She concludes with her research on the epigenetic signatures of PTSD in US military veterans, spotlighting the potential for targeted treatments.

Join us as we explore these transformative insights, which not only deepen our understanding of mental health disorders but also open doors to innovative treatment strategies.

In this podcast you’ll learn about:

– What epigenetics means to Janitza
– Janitza’s journey
– Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms associated with psychiatry disorders
– How we can use epigenetics as a tool to learn more about psychiatric disorders
– Using multi-omics datasets (genomics, methylomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) to better understand the underlying mechanisms and identify predictors or biomarkers for these disorders
– Why it’s important to look at underserved populations and how we can extend these findings to the general population
– Psychosocial factors associated with GrimAge in Male US Military Veterans
– Epigenomic differences between smoking and nicotine dependence in a veterans
– Epigenetics in posttraumatic stress disorder in U.S. military veterans
– Current challenges in epigenetics
– What’s next for Janitza

About this Guest

Dr. Janitza Montalvo-Ortiz
Janitza’s research interests include the study of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms associated with psychiatric disorders. She investigates how trauma-related events increase the vulnerability to develop mental disorders later in life.

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