Institute of Biomedical Technologies

Clinical, genetic and molecular epidemiology (EpiGeM)

Principal Investigator

Itahisa Marcelino Rodríguez, PhD

Contracted Professor with a PhD; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Toxicology, Legal and Forensic Medicine and Parasitology, ULL

Victor Garcia Tagua, PhD

Assistant Professor; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Toxicology, Legal and Forensic Medicine and Parasitology, ULL

 

PhD students and researchers in training

  • Sarai Rodríguez Rodríguez (Doctoral Program in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Development and Quality of Life, ULL)
  • Amanda León Hernández (Doctoral Program in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Development and Quality of Life, ULL)
  • Patricia González Edel (Doctoral Program in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Development and Quality of Life, ULL)
  • Eva Tosco Herrera (Doctoral Program in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Development and Quality of Life, ULL)

Technical or management staff:

  • Silvia González Barbuzano (Senior Technician, CORDELIA Project, PMP22/00033)

Lines of research

The main lines of research that this research group will focus on in the coming years are: 

  • Clinical epidemiology of diabetes mellitusThis line of research focuses on studying the frequency, distribution, and determinants of diabetes mellitus in different populations, although primarily centered on the Canary Islands population. It seeks to identify risk factors associated with the onset of the disease, as well as those factors that may influence its prognosis and mortality. This includes the analysis of demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic data to better understand how to prevent and manage this chronic condition.
  • Genetics and genomics of diabetes mellitusThis research focuses on identifying and analyzing genetic variants that contribute to the risk of developing diabetes mellitus, as well as those that contribute to a worse prognosis, the occurrence of complications, and increased mortality. This line of research includes the study of specific genes, their expression, and how variations in these genes can influence susceptibility to diabetes and response to treatment. A variety of molecular genetics techniques are used to investigate the heritability of diabetes and how genetic factors interact with the environment and lifestyle.
  • Study of the microbiota in patients with diabetesThis area investigates how the composition and function of the gut microbiota can influence the development and progression of diabetes mellitus. It explores differences in the microbiota between individuals with and without diabetes, as well as the effects of dietary or therapeutic interventions on microbiota composition. The goal is to identify potential therapeutic targets and develop strategies to modify the microbiota for preventive or therapeutic purposes in diabetes. This line of research focuses on a metagenomic approach.
  • Study of antibiotic resistance in environmental samplesThis area of research focuses on analyzing the presence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. Samples of water, soil, and other environments are investigated to assess how antimicrobial contamination and horizontal gene transfer contribute to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in environmental microbial communities. This work is crucial for understanding the pathways through which resistance genes can affect humans and animals, and for developing strategies to limit their spread.

Funded projects

  • Identification of the genetic basis of Type 1 Diabetes in the Canary Islands. PI: Itahisa Marcelino. DISA Foundation (2022-2023, €25,000)
  • Analysis of pharmacogenomic variants using next-generation sequencing data (PHARMA-CAN). SUBPROJECT 1: Pharmacogenetics in the clinical setting: management, research and validation of the methodology (ProID2021010084). PI: Itahisa Marcelino. Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society, ACIISI (03/2021 – 04/2023, €68,365.15 total amount)
  • Detection of the Klotho protein using nanoantibodies obtained from Canary camelids (PIFIISC21/23). PIs: Carmen Mora Fernández and Víctor García Tagua. Canary Islands Foundation Institute of Health Research of the Canary Islands, FIISC (2022-2023, €27,000)

Publications 2023

  • Almeida González D, Rodríguez-Pérez MDC, Fuentes Ferrer M, Cuevas Fernández FJ, Marcelino Rodríguez I, Cabrera de León A. Irisin, in women and men: blood pressure, heart rate, obesity and insulin resistance. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2023 Jun;14. DOI: 10.3389/FENDO.2023.1193110
  • Bravo-Plaza I, Tagua VG, Arst HN, Alonso A, Pinar M, Monterroso B, Galindo A, Peñalva MÁ. The Uso1 globular head interacts with SNAREs to maintain viability even in the absence of the coiled-coil domain. eLife. 2023;12:e85079. DOI: 10.7554/ELIFE.85079
  • Donate-Correa J, Martín-Núñez E, Martin-Olivera A, Mora-Fernández C, Tagua VG, Ferri CM, López-Castillo Á, Delgado-Molinos A, López-Tarruella VC, Arévalo-Gómez MA, Pérez-Delgado N, González-Luis A, Navarro-González JF. Klotho inversely relates with carotid intima-media thickness in atherosclerotic patients with normal renal function (eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73m2): a proof-of-concept study. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2023;14:1146012. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1146012

Other representative publications from recent years

  • Hernandez-Beeftink T, Marcelino-Rodríguez I, Guillen-Guio B, Rodríguez-Pérez H, Lorenzo-Salazar JM, Corrales A, Díaz-de Usera A, González-Montelongo R, Domínguez D, Espinosa E, Villar J, Flowers C. Admixture mapping of sepsis in European individuals with African ancestry. Frontiers in Medicine. 2022 Mar 8:9:754440. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.754440
  • Tosco-Herrera E, Muñoz-Barrera A, Jáspez D, Rubio-Rodríguez LA, Mendoza-Alvarez A, Rodriguez-Perez H, Jou J, Iñigo-Campos A, Corrales A, Ciuffreda L, Martinez-Bugallo F, Prieto-Morin C, García-Olivares V, González-Montelongo R, Lorenzo-Salazar JM, Marcelino-Rodriguez I, Flowers C. Evaluation of a whole-exome sequencing pipeline and benchmarking of causal germline variant priorityrs. Human Mutation. 2022;43(12):2010-20. DOI: 10.1002/HUMU.24459
  • Marcelino-Rodríguez I, Elosua R, Pérez MdCR, Fernández-Bergés D, Guembe MJ, Alonso TV, Félix FJ, González DA, Ortiz-Marrón H, Rigo F, Lapetra J, Gavrila D, Segura A, Fitó M, Peñafiel J, Marrugat J, León AC. On the problem of type 2 diabetes-related mortality in the Canary Islands, Spain. The DARIOS Study. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. 2016;111:74-82. DOI: 10.1016/J.DIABRES.2015.10.024 –> Magda Heras Award for the best publication by a young researcher in a cardiovascular research journal
  • Tagua VG, Pausch M, Eckel M, Gutiérrez G, Miralles-Durán A, Sanz C, Eslava AP, Pokorny R, Corrochano LM, Batschauer A. A fungal cryptochrome with DNA repair activity reveals an early stage in cryptochrome evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(49): 15130-15135. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1514637112
  • Pinar M, Arst HN Jr, Pantazopoulou A, Tagua VG, de los Ríos V, Rodríguez-Salarichs J, Díaz JF, Peñalva MA (2015) TRAPPII regulates exocytic Golgi exit by mediating nucleotide exchange on the Ypt31 orthologue RabERAB11. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(14): 4346-51. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1419168112