Metabolomic signatures of hypertension, diabetes and cardiometabolic multimorbidity in rural and urban Malawi
Project: Metabolomic signatures of hypertension, diabetes and cardiometabolic multimorbidity in rural and urban Malawi: stratification, inequalities and prediction of incident disease
Supervisors
Prof Pasquale Maffia, School of Infection and Immunity, University of Glasgow
Dr Owen Nkoka, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow
Prof Mia Crampin, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow
Dr Pierpaolo Pellicori, School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow
Summary
Hypertension and diabetes are rising rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, frequently co-occur, and are often diagnosed late. Yet almost all evidence on the molecular biology of cardiometabolic disease and nearly all metabolomic risk tools come from high-income, European-ancestry populations. This PhD will use one of the few population-based metabolomic resources in Africa: Nightingale NMR metabolomic profiles (~250 measures of lipoproteins, fatty acids, amino acids, glycolysis and inflammation markers) linked to detailed clinical, lifestyle and socioeconomic data in the Healthy Lives Malawi Long-Term Conditions cohort, and Generation Malawi birth cohort, spanning rural Karonga and urban Lilongwe. The student will (1) characterise the metabolomic profiles of hypertension, diabetes and cardiometabolic multimorbidity; (2) test whether these profiles differ by sex, socioeconomic position and rural–urban residence; (3) assess whether metabolomic markers improve risk classification beyond routine clinical measures; and (4) in a prospective sub-study embedded within routine HDSS data collection, examine whether baseline metabolomic profiles predict progression from prehypertension or prediabetes to disease. The student will be trained in omics epidemiology, statistics and machine learning, prediction modelling and global health field research. The project will generate evidence to support earlier, more equitable targeting of cardiometabolic prevention in African settings and globally.
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