Epigenetic biomarkers of exposure and aging
DNA methylation signatures and epigenetic clocks that capture how exposures become biologically embedded
Exposures that occur decades before disease onset are hard to study with questionnaires and exposure measurements alone. Molecular biomarkers offer a record of exposure that the body keeps. I develop and apply epigenetic biomarkers and aging clocks to measure how environmental exposures become biologically embedded and whether they accelerate aging.
Early-life arsenic and epigenetic aging
One example comes from a natural experiment in northern Chile, where municipal drinking water carried very high arsenic concentrations in 1958–1972. Decades later, adults with higher arsenic exposure at birth showed older epigenetic age, especially among those with lower socioeconomic status, whereas current exposure was associated with methylation at specific CpG sites. Early-life and current exposures leave different molecular signatures, and social conditions modify them.
Ongoing work
Ongoing projects examine DNA methylation signatures of cardiovascular biomarkers in the Women’s Health Initiative, and epigenetic aging before and after exposure to the 2020 California wildfires, the most severe season on record.
Selected references
Kwon D, …, Cardenas A. Arsenic exposure at birth, socioeconomic status, and epigenetic aging among adults in northern Chile. Environmental Research. 2026.