Dr. Bilinda Straight and Dr. Duy Ngo are collaborating on research examining how drought and climate change affect human health and development, particularly in Northern Kenya. Their study utilizes epigenetic data collected from maternal interviews and aims to uncover the long-term impacts of environmental stressors on children. By applying advanced statistical methods, they uncover significant findings on resilience and adaptation, while also mentoring future researchers in the field.
In an innovative collaborative effort, Dr. Bilinda Straight and Dr. Duy Ngo from Western Michigan University are investigating climate change resilience by studying the effects of environmental stressors on human adaptation. This research spans from Northern Kenya’s drought-hit regions to advanced statistical labs, aiming to understand how climate-induced challenges impact health and development.
Dr. Straight has been engaged with the Samburu people in Northern Kenya since the 1990s. During her 2009 fieldwork, she personally witnessed the devastating effects of one of the most severe droughts on record, observing the dire situation faced by local livestock and communities. This experience motivated her to further academic inquiry into the long-term impacts of drought, focusing particularly on maternal health during pregnancies affected by such environmental stressors.
In collaboration with Dr. Belinda Needham from the University of Michigan, Straight and her team secured a National Science Foundation grant to compare sibling pairs conceived during the drought with those conceived afterward. This design enables the researchers to examine how drought conditions during pregnancy may influence the children’s health outcomes through epigenetic analysis.
The team faced considerable logistical challenges in data collection due to the remote and dispersed nature of the population they studied. Despite these difficulties, Straight’s team collected comprehensive data, including demographic, climate, epigenetic, and personal interviews with mothers, to assess the psychological and emotional toll of drought during pregnancy.
Dr. Duy Ngo’s expertise in statistics was pivotal for analyzing the extensive dataset, which encompassed over 850,000 DNA regions per individual. He introduced advanced Bayesian statistical methods that enhance the understanding of multifaceted, high-dimensional data while simultaneously integrating contextual knowledge into the analyses, ensuring an accurate interpretation of findings.
The researchers have already identified significant epigenetic growth differences in siblings exposed to drought. This discovery highlights how environmental factors can affect genetic expression and stresses the importance of epigenetic analysis in researching climate change’s health impacts.
To further develop the research capacities of future statisticians, Dr. Ngo is mentoring students like Ph.D. student Xi Qiao, who has already contributed significantly to the project. Qiao’s dissertation introduced innovative statistical methodologies and yielded important findings published in notable academic journals, indicating the long-term health implications of in utero drought exposure.
As they continue to study their participants, Straight and Ngo aim to gather longitudinal data to monitor the ongoing effects of environmental stressors over time. They seek to answer crucial questions regarding resilience in terms of adaptability to future climate adversities, which can ultimately enhance our understanding of climate change resilience not only for the communities involved but globally as well.
The research collaboration between Dr. Bilinda Straight and Dr. Duy Ngo at Western Michigan University represents a significant stride in understanding the impacts of climate change on human health and development. This initiative emphasizes the critical need for advanced statistical analysis in climate change research, particularly how environmental stressors during pregnancy can lead to long-lasting effects on individuals. With a focus on mentoring future researchers, the team is dedicated to exploring resilience strategies to better prepare communities facing climate change challenges. Their ongoing work will contribute valuable insights into the broader implications of climate resilience worldwide.
Original Source: wmich.edu
