Grant: Project Grant

Social epigenomics involves the study of how social experiences affect genes and our biology. For instance, living in disadvantaged circumstances, exposure to discrimination, residential segregation, violence, trauma (historical, contemporary, intergenerational), psychosocial stress, food insecurity, and health risk behaviours can affect a person's ability to be healthy, stay healthy, and have healthy children. Translating to the Community (T2C) is a university, Indigenous community and FASD clinic led social epigenetic biobank developed to investigate the way such social experiences affect genes and our biology leading to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and its associated behaviours and co-morbidities (herein called FASD). The aims of this research are to: 1) Investigate the association between social experiences and PAE and FASD; 2) Investigate the association between epigenetic changes and PAE and FASD; 3) Advance community pre-assessment of PAE and FASD and improve PAE and FASD diagnostic tools and interventions. To elucidate the social-epigenetic link, our team represented by Indigenous science, social science, clinical science and basic science developed Translating to the Community (T2C), a social epigenetic biobank that has University and Indigenous community ethical approval, and is governed with our partner Cree Nation Tribal Health Centre. The social biobank is designed to accrue data via partners/communities in Manitoba and from anywhere in the world. Its governance structure includes Indigenous families and communities, community health and social programs, and FASD clinics. The research informs the potential for social-epigenetic informed diagnostic and assessment tools, demonstrates the merit of community-assessments and shows new pathways for an early diagnosis and early clinical, health, education and cultural preventions/interventions.