Ike Okosun
Professor Population Health Sciences- Education
Post Doctoral Fellow, 1998, Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine , Preventative Medicine & Epidemiology
Ph.D., 1996, The University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Epidemiology
M.P.H., 1987, The University of Oklahoma, College of Public Health, Biostatistics & Epidemiology
M.S, 1984, Alabama A&M University, School of Arts and Sciences, Microbiology
B.S., 1978, North Dakota State University, College of Science and Mathematics, Bacteriology
- Specializations
Epidemiology
- Biography
Professor
Dr. Ike Okosun is a Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Population Health Sciences. His research focuses on investigating the epidemiology of metabolic syndrome, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia in populations of African origin."We are entering a new epoch of understanding on how the genome interacts with the environment to produce diseases," Dr. Okosun says. "There is now emerging evidence that epigenetic factors play important role in regulating and maintaining factors of metabolic syndrome, and strong evidence for a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors that influence the risk of metabolic syndrome in each individual."
His current research involves investigating epigenetic markers underlying increased risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes in populations of West-African ancestry. His aim is to disentangle the scientific puzzle of these diseases by exploring the role and relative contribution of (1) environmental changes due to migration and (2) the effect of migration on epigenetic modification via patterns of DNA methylation. The premise of his research is that environmental changes following migration alters DNA methylation levels creating epigenetic signature and subsequent increase in high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Okosun is a member of many scientific organizations and editorial boards. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health, The Obesity Society, and a member of the Board of the The American College of Epidemiology (ACE).
- Publications
Okosun IS, Boltri JM, Lyn R, Davis-Smith M. Continuous metabolic syndrome risk score, body mass index percentile, and leisure time physical activity in american children. Journal of Clinical Hypertension. 2010;12:636-44(Refereed)
Seale JP, Shellenberger S, Sanchez N, Vogel RL, Villalobos E, Girton FS, Seale DM,Okosun IS. Characteristics of Problem Drinking in an Urban South American Indigenous Population.Subst Use Misuse. 2010 Apr 13.(Refereed)
Seale JP, Shellenberger S, Velasquez MM, Boltri JM, Okosun IS, Guyinn M, Vinson D, Cornelius M, Johnson JA. Impact of vital signs screening & clinician prompting on alcohol and tobacco screening and intervention rates: a pre-post intervention comparison. BMC Fam Pract. 2010;11:18. (Refereed)
Okosun IS, Boltri JM, Davis-Smith M, Ndirangu M. Premetabolic syndrome and clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors in White, Black and Mexican American adults. Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews 2009, 3:143-148. (Refereed)
Egwuogu H, Shendell DG, Okosun IS, Goodfellow L. The effect of urinary cadmium on cardiovascular fitness as measured by VO(2) max in white, black and Mexican Americans. Environ Res. 2009 109:292-300.(Refereed)