Dr. Gagandeep Kaur Walia is a biological anthropologist by training and her research interests include genetic and epigenetic epidemiology of cardiometabolic traits and environmental health. She is specifically interested in utilizing genetic information in examining causal inferences (Mendelian Randomization). She has been awarded the prestigious Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance early career fellowship and is working in the area of Mendelian Randomization to examine causal relationships between various cardiometabolic traits by utilizing genetic variants as the instruments. The causal evidences help in formulating public health interventions and clinical management of the high risk patients and address the growing burden of cardiometabolic disorders in India. Her research also focuses on interaction of genetic and epigenetic variants with modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors to understand the etiology of non- communicable diseases, specifically cardiometabolic and respiratory disorders. She also works in the area of environmental health, specifically air pollution epidemiology, to examine health effects of air pollution exposure across the lifespan. She is also interested in examining the mediatory role of epigenetic mechanisms in the effect of the air pollution exposure on cardiometabolic traits. She has a PhD from Punjabi University Patiala, India.
