This study identifies genetic, intrinsic, and environmental factors influencing innate immune cytokine responses in four-year-old children, finding strong genetic and inflammatory biomarker associations.

bioRxiv · May 5, 2026 · PreprintImmunology

Prenatal Environmental Determinants of Aromatase Brain-Promoter Methylation in Cord Blood: Chemical, Airborne, Pharmacological, and Nutritional Factors

Samuel Tanner, Katherine D. Drummond, Sarah M Thomson, Kristina Vacy, Christos Symeonides, Boris Novakovic, Toby Mansell, Martin O’Hely, Richard Saffery, Mimi L.K. Tang, Peter David Sly, Peter Vuillermin, the BIS Investigator Group, Wah Chin Boon, Chol‐Hee Jung, , Anne‐Louise Ponsonby

The paper examines prenatal environmental factors affecting CYP19A1 promoter methylation in cord blood using WQS regression, finding associations with bisphenols, sunlight, mould, phthalates, folate, and air pollution.

Current Zoology · Jan 1, 2026Peer-reviewedGenomics

Prenatal DEHP plastic chemical exposure increases the likelihood of child autism and ADHD symptoms through epigenetic programming

Samuel Tanner, Alex Eisner, Boris Novakovic, Lada Holland, Toby Mansell, Gillian England-Mason, Sarah M. Merrill, Deborah Dewey, Martin O’Hely, Christos Symeonides, Richard Saffery, Jochen F. Mueller, Mimi L.K. Tang, Peter David Sly, Peter Vuillermin, , Anne‐Louise Ponsonby

This study shows prenatal DEHP exposure increases ASD and ADHD symptoms through DNA methylation changes in children.

bioRxiv · Mar 3, 2025 · PreprintNeuroscience

Genome-wide analyses of vocabulary size in infancy and toddlerhood: associations with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and cognition-related traits

Ellen Verhoef, Andrea G. Allegrini, Philip R. Jansen, Katherine Lange, Carol A. Wang, Angela Tamsin Morgan, Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia, Christos Symeonides, Ole A. Andreassen, Meike Bartels, Dorret Irene Boomsma, Philip S. Dale, Erik Ehli, Dietmar Fernandez-Orth, Mònica Guxens, , Beate St. Pourcain

This study identifies genetic links between early vocabulary development and ADHD and cognition traits using genome-wide analyses.

Biological Psychiatry · Dec 7, 2023Peer-reviewedGenomics

Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy induces specific DNA methylation changes in blood

Rebecca Shepherd, Ingrid Bretherton, Ken C. Pang, Toby Mansell, Anna Czajko, Bowon Kim, Amanda Vlahos, Jeffrey D. Zajac, Richard Saffery, Ada S. Cheung, Boris Novakovic

This study identifies DNA methylation changes in blood of transgender individuals undergoing gender affirming hormone therapy, showing most changes are progressive and not related to early-established sex-specific patterns.

Clinical Epigenetics · Feb 17, 2022Peer-reviewedGenetic & Genomic Medicine