Genes, Environment and Precision Health

Mission statement: Research focuses on the interactions between the environment, the genome, and the epigenome in influencing disease susceptibility, and the manipulation of these mechanisms to improve lifelong health. Specific interests include the effects and underlying mechanisms of environmental exposures in early life and in adulthood, gene by environment interactions, epigenetic biomarkers that predict different sensitivities and disease outcomes, and environmental carcinogenesis.

Main goal: To promote the exchange of ideas and the sharing of expertise on experimental designs, technologies, and concepts to understand the interactions between the environment, the genome, and the epigenome.

Group Leaders

Gaddameedhi, Shobhan
Associate Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Email  |  Bio

Dr. Gaddameedhi is an Associate Professor in the Biological Sciences department. CHHE led the recruitment of Dr. Gaddameedhi to NCSU as an EHS Cluster hire (Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program) in 2020, after he rose to Associate Professor with tenure at Washington State University. His scientific interests are the mechanisms by which the circadian clock regulates environmental health outcomes through ‘gene-environment’ interactions, and the mechanisms by which circadian disruption and climate change influences genomic instability and carcinogenesis, including melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. He is a recipient of an NIEHS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, DOD/CDMRP Career Development Award , NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award, an Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Education Award, and many others. Dr. Gaddameedhi has served on numerous study sections and is currently serving on the Editorial Boards of Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, Chronobiology International, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, and Toxicology Reports.

Cowley, Michael A.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Email  |  Lab website

Dr. Cowley is an Associate Professor in the Biological Sciences department and was recruited into the Environmental Health Sciences Cluster under the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program in 2014. He was the recipient of an NIEHS K22 (ES027510) Career Development Award which enabled the generation of key preliminary data leading to his successful application for an NIEHS R01 (ES031596) that is currently active. His research focuses on the role of epigenetics and imprinted genes in programming life-long health in response to the developmental environment and applies tools and techniques in molecular genetics, epigenetics, and developmental biology to understand how environmental stressors interact with the genome to modulate disease susceptibility. In recognition of his contributions to the field and to the CHHE community, Dr. Cowley was awarded the Center Member of the Year award in 2020. In 2024, he served on the organizing committee for the 2024 CHHE Annual Symposium, entitled Perinatal Environmental Exposures and Later Life Disease: Biological Targets and Mechanisms, and has been co-leading the Environmental Epigenetics and Genetics RIG since 2020.