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Early conditions, delayed adult effects and morbidity, disability and mortality in modern human populations

Project description

A closer look at adult health, disability and mortality toll

Advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms will shed light on pathways linking early exposures and delayed adult health. In turn, this will transform our understanding of human illnesses and bridge population health, epigenetics, and developmental and evolutionary biology. In this context, the EU-funded ECHO project will propose new formal demographic models of health, disability and mortality. It will empirically test predictions within the new field of Developmental Origins of Adult Health and Disease (DOHaD) with population data. The project will also test a microsimulation model to verify DOHaD predictions about obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Finally, it will study the adult health, disability and mortality toll implicated by relations between early conditions, obesity and T2D.

Objective

This project aims to reformulate and generalize standard theories of human health and mortality. It proposes new formal models and a systematic agenda to empirically test hypotheses that link developmental biology, epigenetics and adult human illness, disability and mortality. We seek to break new ground developing innovative formal models for illnesses and mortality, testing new hypotheses about the evolution of human health and, to the extent permitted by findings, reformulating standard theories to make them applicable to a less restrictive segment of populations than they are now. Over the past two decades there has been massive growth of research on the nature of delayed adult effects of conditions experienced in early life. This field of research is known as the Developmental Origins of Adult Health and Disease (DOHaD). Increasing evidence suggests that the mechanisms that are implicated are epigenetic and constitute an evolved adaptation selected over thousands of years to improve fitness in changing landscapes. The emergence of DOHaD is as close as we will ever come to a paradigmatic shift in the study of human health, disability and mortality. The most tantalizing possibility is that advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms will shed light on pathways linking early exposures and delayed adult health thus fundamentally transforming our understanding of human illnesses and, in one fell swoop, bridge population health, epigenetics, and developmental and evolutionary biology. The overarching goal of this project is to contribute to this nascent area of study by (a) proposing new formal demographic models of health, disability and mortality; (b) empirically testing DOHaD predictions with population data; (c) testing a microsimulation model to verify DOHaD predictions about two conditions, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, and (d) assessing the adult health, disability and mortality toll implicated by relations between early conditions, obesity and T2D.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2017-ADG

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Host institution

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 852 655,00
Address
CALLE SERRANO 117
28006 MADRID
Spain

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Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 852 655,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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