Dr Gunn-Helen Moen was awarded her PhD on the "Genetic and environmental etiology of glucose metabolism and cardiometabolic traits during pregnancy and in later life" in 2019 from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo. After finishing her PhD, she was awarded a Mobility/Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship from the Research Council of Norway and as part of that fellowship she spent two years as a visiting academic at the University of Queensland. She is currently an ARC DECRA fellow at IMB. Her research focus is on using Mendelian randomization to investigate the possible causal effects of maternal environmental exposures during pregnancy on offspring outcomes.
Journal Article: Epigenome-wide association study of DNA methylation in maternal blood leukocytes with BMI in pregnancy and gestational weight gain
Opsahl, J. O., Fragoso-Bargas, N., Lee, Y., Carlsen, E. Ø., Lekanova, N., Qvigstad, E., Sletner, L., Jenum, A. K., Lee-Ødegård, S., Prasad, R. B., Birkeland, K. I., Moen, G-H. and Sommer, C. (2024). Epigenome-wide association study of DNA methylation in maternal blood leukocytes with BMI in pregnancy and gestational weight gain. International Journal of Obesity. doi: 10.1038/s41366-024-01458-x
D’Urso, Shannon, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Hannigan, Laurie J., Corfield, Elizabeth C., Ask, Helga, Johannson, Stefan, Njølstad, Pål Rasmus, Beaumont, Robin N., Freathy, Rachel M., Evans, David M. and Havdahl, Alexandra (2023). Intrauterine growth and offspring neurodevelopmental traits: a Mendelian randomization analysis of the Norwegian mother, father and child cohort study (MoBa). JAMA Psychiatry, 81 (2), 144. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.3872
Journal Article: Genome-wide association study of placental weight identifies distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth
Beaumont, Robin N., Flatley, Christopher, Vaudel, Marc, Wu, Xiaoping, Chen, Jing, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Skotte, Line, Helgeland, Øyvind, Solé-Navais, Pol, Banasik, Karina, Albiñana, Clara, Ronkainen, Justiina, Fadista, João, Stinson, Sara Elizabeth, Trajanoska, Katerina, Wang, Carol A., Westergaard, David, Srinivasan, Sundararajan, Sánchez-Soriano, Carlos, Bilbao, Jose Ramon, Allard, Catherine, Groleau, Marika, Kuulasmaa, Teemu, Leirer, Daniel J., White, Frédérique, Jacques, Pierre-Étienne, Cheng, Haoxiang, Hao, Ke, Andreassen, Ole A. ... The Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium (2023). Genome-wide association study of placental weight identifies distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth. Nature Genetics, 55 (11), 1807-1819. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01520-w
Testing Effects of Environmental Exposures on Subsequent Human Generations
(2022–2026) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
Understanding the genetic epidemiology of women's reproductive health
Doctor Philosophy
Using Genetics to Investigate Maternal Pregnancy Exposures and the Fetal Origins of Mental Health Outcomes
Doctor Philosophy
Testing effect of environmental exposures on subsequent human generations
Depending on the applicant’s level of experience, they will help develop and/or apply statistical genetics approaches to investigate the possible existence of transgenerational effects on human phenotypes, using cohorts such as the Norwegian HUNT cohort (which has a large number of parent-offspring pairs) and UK Biobank. A PhD is about learning new skills and learning how to do research. Our ideal candidate will have knowledge or keen interest in learning genetics, epidemiology, statistics, unix and shell scripting, and statistical software such as R. You will work closely with an experienced researcher on the project. There will also be possibility for a research stay in Norway during this PhD. The advertised projects are fundamentally quantitative and computer-based, and so evidence of aptitude in these areas is essential. The candidate should also have the ability to design, plan, and execute experiments and be proficient in English, both written and oral.
Opsahl, J. O., Fragoso-Bargas, N., Lee, Y., Carlsen, E. Ø., Lekanova, N., Qvigstad, E., Sletner, L., Jenum, A. K., Lee-Ødegård, S., Prasad, R. B., Birkeland, K. I., Moen, G-H. and Sommer, C. (2024). Epigenome-wide association study of DNA methylation in maternal blood leukocytes with BMI in pregnancy and gestational weight gain. International Journal of Obesity. doi: 10.1038/s41366-024-01458-x
D’Urso, Shannon, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Hannigan, Laurie J., Corfield, Elizabeth C., Ask, Helga, Johannson, Stefan, Njølstad, Pål Rasmus, Beaumont, Robin N., Freathy, Rachel M., Evans, David M. and Havdahl, Alexandra (2023). Intrauterine growth and offspring neurodevelopmental traits: a Mendelian randomization analysis of the Norwegian mother, father and child cohort study (MoBa). JAMA Psychiatry, 81 (2), 144. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.3872
Beaumont, Robin N., Flatley, Christopher, Vaudel, Marc, Wu, Xiaoping, Chen, Jing, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Skotte, Line, Helgeland, Oyvind, Sole-Navais, Pol, Banasik, Karina, Albinana, Clara, Ronkainen, Justiina, Fadista, Joao, Stinson, Sara Elizabeth, Trajanoska, Katerina, Wang, Carol A., Westergaard, David, Srinivasan, Sundararajan, Sanchez-Soriano, Carlos, Bilbao, Jose Ramon, Allard, Catherine, Groleau, Marika, Kuulasmaa, Teemu, Leirer, Daniel J., White, Frederique, Jacques, Pierre-etienne, Cheng, Haoxiang, Hao, Ke, Andreassen, Ole A. ... Njolstad, Pal R. (2023). Genome-wide association study of placental weight identifies distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth. Nature Genetics. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01520
Beaumont, Robin N., Flatley, Christopher, Vaudel, Marc, Wu, Xiaoping, Chen, Jing, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Skotte, Line, Helgeland, Øyvind, Solé-Navais, Pol, Banasik, Karina, Albiñana, Clara, Ronkainen, Justiina, Fadista, João, Stinson, Sara Elizabeth, Trajanoska, Katerina, Wang, Carol A., Westergaard, David, Srinivasan, Sundararajan, Sánchez-Soriano, Carlos, Bilbao, Jose Ramon, Allard, Catherine, Groleau, Marika, Kuulasmaa, Teemu, Leirer, Daniel J., White, Frédérique, Jacques, Pierre-Étienne, Cheng, Haoxiang, Hao, Ke, Andreassen, Ole A. ... The Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium (2023). Genome-wide association study of placental weight identifies distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth. Nature Genetics, 55 (11), 1807-1819. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01520-w
Author Correction: Genetic effects on the timing of parturition and links to fetal birth weight
Solé-Navais, Pol, Flatley, Christopher, Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur, Vaudel, Marc, Juodakis, Julius, Chen, Jing, Laisk, Triin, LaBella, Abigail L., Westergaard, David, Bacelis, Jonas, Brumpton, Ben, Skotte, Line, Borges, Maria C., Helgeland, Øyvind, Mahajan, Anubha, Wielscher, Matthias, Lin, Frederick, Briggs, Catherine, Wang, Carol A., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Beaumont, Robin N., Bradfield, Jonathan P., Abraham, Abin, Thorleifsson, Gudmar, Gabrielsen, Maiken E., Ostrowski, Sisse R., Modzelewska, Dominika, Nohr, Ellen A., Hypponen, Elina ... Danish Blood Donor Study Genomic Consortium (2023). Author Correction: Genetic effects on the timing of parturition and links to fetal birth weight. Nature Genetics, 55 (7), 1250-1250. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01412-z
Insulin and body mass index decrease serum soluble leptin receptor levels in humans
Sommer, Christine, Vangberg, Kjersti G., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Evans, David M., Lee-Ødegård, Sindre, Blom-Høgestøl, Ingvild K., Sletner, Line, Jenum, Anne K., Drevon, Christian A., Gulseth, Hanne L. and Birkeland, Kåre I. (2023). Insulin and body mass index decrease serum soluble leptin receptor levels in humans. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 108 (5), 1110-1119. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgac699
Genetic effects on the timing of parturition and links to fetal birth weight
Solé-Navais, Pol, Flatley, Christopher, Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur, Vaudel, Marc, Juodakis, Julius, Chen, Jing, Laisk, Triin, LaBella, Abigail L., Westergaard, David, Bacelis, Jonas, Brumpton, Ben, Skotte, Line, Borges, Maria C., Helgeland, Øyvind, Mahajan, Anubha, Wielscher, Matthias, Lin, Frederick, Briggs, Catherine, Wang, Carol A., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Beaumont, Robin N., Bradfield, Jonathan P., Abraham, Abin, Thorleifsson, Gudmar, Gabrielsen, Maiken E., Ostrowski, Sisse R., Modzelewska, Dominika, Nohr, Ellen A., Hypponen, Elina ... Danish Blood Donor Study Genomic Consortium (2023). Genetic effects on the timing of parturition and links to fetal birth weight. Nature Genetics, 55 (4), 1-9. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01343-9
Epigenome-wide association study of serum folate in maternal peripheral blood leukocytes
Fragoso-Bargas, Nicolas, Page, Christian M., Joubert, Bonnie R., London, Stephanie J., Lee-Ødegård, Sindre, Opsahl, Julia O., Sletner, Line, Jenum, Anne K., Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Prasad, Rashmi B., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Birkeland, Kåre I. and Sommer, Christine (2023). Epigenome-wide association study of serum folate in maternal peripheral blood leukocytes. Epigenomics, 15 (1), 39-52. doi: 10.2217/epi-2022-0427
Fragoso-Bargas, Nicolas, Elliott, Hannah R., Lee-Ødegård, Sindre, Opsahl, Julia O., Sletner, Line, Jenum, Anne Karen, Drevon, Christian A., Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Birkeland, Kåre I., Prasad, Rashmi B. and Sommer, Christine (2022). Cross-ancestry DNA methylation marks of insulin resistance in pregnancy: an integrative epigenome wide association study. Diabetes, 72 (3), 415-426. doi: 10.2337/db22-0504
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Nivard, Michel, Bhatta, Laxmi, Warrington, Nicole M., Willer, Cristen, Åsvold, Bjørn Olav, Brumpton, Ben and Evans, David M. (2022). Using genomic structural equation modeling to partition the genetic covariance between birthweight and cardiometabolic risk factors into maternal and offspring components in the Norwegian HUNT study. Behavior Genetics, 53 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s10519-022-10116-9
D’Urso, Shannon, Arumugam, Pooja, Weider, Therese, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Bond, Tom A., Kemp, John P., Warrington, Nicole M., Evans, David M., O’Mara, Tracy A. and Moen, Gunn-Helen (2022). Mendelian randomization analysis of factors related to ovulation and reproductive function and endometrial cancer risk. BMC Medicine, 20 (1) 419, 1-17. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02585-w
Hwang, Liang-Dar, Moen, Gunn-Helen and Evans, David M. (2022). Using adopted individuals to partition indirect maternal genetic effects into prenatal and postnatal effects on offspring phenotypes. eLife, 11 e73671, 1-27. doi: 10.7554/elife.73671
Brito Nunes, Caroline, Huang, Peiyuan, Wang, Geng, Lundberg, Mischa, D’Urso, Shannon, Wootton, Robyn E., Borges, Maria Carolina, Lawlor, Deborah A., Warrington, Nicole M., Evans, David M., Hwang, Liang-Dar and Moen, Gunn-Helen (2022). Mendelian randomization study of maternal coffee consumption and its influence on birthweight, stillbirth, miscarriage, gestational age and pre-term birth. International Journal of Epidemiology, 52 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyac121
Pervjakova, Natalia, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Borges, Maria-Carolina, Ferreira, Teresa, Cook, James P., Allard, Catherine, Beaumont, Robin N., Canouil, Mickael, Hatem, Gad, Heiskala, Anni, Joensuu, Anni, Karhunen, Ville, Kwak, Soo Heon, Lin, Frederick T. J., Liu, Jun, Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl, Tam, Claudia H., Tam, Wing Hung, Thorleifsson, Gudmar, Andrew, Toby, Auvinen, Juha, Bhowmik, Bishwajit, Bonnefond, Amelie, Delahaye, Fabien, Demirkan, Ayse, Froguel, Philippe, Haller-Kikkatalo, Kadri, Hardardottir, Hildur, Hummel, Sandra ... Magi, Reedik (2022). Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of gestational diabetes mellitus highlights genetic links with type 2 diabetes. Human Molecular Genetics, 31 (19) ddac050, 3377-3391. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddac050
Wang, Geng, Bhatta, Laxmi, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Kemp, John P., Bond, Tom A., Åsvold, Bjørn Olav, Brumpton, Ben, Evans, David M. and Warrington, Nicole M. (2022). Investigating a potential causal relationship between maternal blood pressure during pregnancy and future offspring cardiometabolic health. Hypertension, 79 (1), 170-177. doi: 10.1161/hypertensionaha.121.17701
Fragoso-Bargas, Nicolas, Opsahl, Julia O., Kiryushchenko, Nadezhda, Böttcher, Yvonne, Lee-Ødegård, Sindre, Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Richardsen, Kåre Rønn, Waage, Christin W., Sletner, Line, Jenum, Anne Karen, Prasad, Rashmi B., Groop, Leif C., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Birkeland, Kåre I. and Sommer, Christine (2021). Cohort profile: Epigenetics in Pregnancy (EPIPREG) – Population-based sample of European and South Asian pregnant women with epigenome-wide DNA methylation (850k) in peripheral blood leukocytes. PLoS ONE, 16 (8 August) e0256158, 1-15. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256158
Opsahl, Julia O., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Bottcher, Yvonne, Birkeland, Kare and Sommer, Christine (2021). Epigenetic signatures associated with maternal body mass index or gestational weight gain: a systematic review. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 12 (3) PII S2040174420000811, 373-383. doi: 10.1017/s2040174420000811
Investigating the causal effect of maternal vitamin B12 and folate levels on offspring birthweight
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Beaumont, Robin N., Grarup, Niels, Sommer, Christine, Shields, Beverley M., Lawlor, Deborah A., Freathy, Rachel M., Evans, David M. and Warrington, Nicole M. (2020). Investigating the causal effect of maternal vitamin B12 and folate levels on offspring birthweight. International Journal of Epidemiology, 50 (1), 179-189. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa256
D'Urso, Shannon, Wang, Geng, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Warrington, Nicole M. and Evans, David M. (2020). A cautionary note on using Mendelian randomization to examine the Barker hypothesis and Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 12 (5), 1-6. doi: 10.1017/S2040174420001105
Lee, Yunsung, Haftorn, Kristine L., Denault, William R. P., Nustad, Haakon E., Page, Christian M., Lyle, Robert, Lee-Ødegård, Sindre, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Prasad, Rashmi B., Groop, Leif C., Sletner, Line, Sommer, Christine, Magnus, Maria C., Gjessing, Håkon K., Harris, Jennifer R., Magnus, Per, Håberg, Siri E., Jugessur, Astanand and Bohlin, Jon (2020). Blood-based epigenetic estimators of chronological age in human adults using DNA methylation data from the Illumina MethylationEPIC array. BMC Genomics, 21 (1) 747, 1-13. doi: 10.1186/s12864-020-07168-8
Hwang, Liang-Dar, Tubbs, Justin D., Luong, Justin, Lundberg, Mischa, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Wang, Geng, Warrington, Nicole M., Sham, Pak C., Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel and Evans, David M. (2020). Estimating indirect parental genetic effects on offspring phenotypes using virtual parental genotypes derived from sibling and half sibling pairs. PLoS Genetics, 16 (10) e1009154, e1009154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009154
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Brumpton, Ben, Willer, Cristen, Åsvold, Bjørn Olav, Birkeland, Kåre I., Wang, Geng, Neale, Michael C., Freathy, Rachel M., Smith, George Davey, Lawlor, Deborah A., Kirkpatrick, Robert M., Warrington, Nicole M. and Evans, David M. (2020). Mendelian randomization study of maternal influences on birthweight and future cardiometabolic risk in the HUNT cohort. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 5404, 5404. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19257-z
Arora, G. P., Akerlund, M., Brons, C., Moen, G-H, Wasenius, N. S., Sommer, C., Jenum, A. K., Almgren, P., Thaman, R. G., Orho-Melander, M., Eriksson, J., Qvigstad, E., Birkeland, K., Berntorp, K., Vaag, A. A., Groop, L. and Prasad, R. B. (2019). Phenotypic and genotypic differences between Indian and Scandinavian women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Journal of Internal Medicine, 286 (2) joim.12903, 192-206. doi: 10.1111/joim.12903
Warrington, Nicole M., Beaumont, Robin N., Horikoshi, Momoko, Day, Felix R., Helgeland, Øyvind, Laurin, Charles, Bacelis, Jonas, Peng, Shouneng, Hao, Ke, Feenstra, Bjarke, Wood, Andrew R., Mahajan, Anubha, Tyrrell, Jessica, Robertson, Neil R., Rayner, N. William, Qiao, Zhen, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Vaudel, Marc, Marsit, Carmen J., Chen, Jia, Nodzenski, Michael, Schnurr, Theresia M., Zafarmand, Mohammad H., Bradfield, Jonathan P., Grarup, Niels, Kooijman, Marjolein N., Li-Gao, Ruifang, Geller, Frank, Paternoster, Lavinia ... Freathy, Rachel M. (2019). Maternal and fetal genetic effects on birth weight and their relevance to cardio-metabolic risk factors. Nature Genetics, 51 (5), 804-814. doi: 10.1038/s41588-019-0403-1
Evans, David M., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Lawlor, Debbie A. and Warrington, Nicole M. (2019). Elucidating the role of maternal environmental exposures on offspring health and disease using two-sample Mendelian randomization. International Journal of Epidemiology, 48 (3), 861-875. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyz019
Calculating Power to Detect Maternal and Offspring Genetic Effects in Genetic Association Studies
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hemani, Gibran, Warrington, Nicole M. and Evans, David M. (2019). Calculating Power to Detect Maternal and Offspring Genetic Effects in Genetic Association Studies. Behavior Genetics, 49 (3), 327-339. doi: 10.1007/s10519-018-9944-9
Moen, Gunn-Helen, LeBlanc, Marissa, Sommer, Christine, Prasad, Rashmi B., Lekva, Tove, Normann, Kjersti R., Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Groop, Leif, Birkeland, Kåre I., Evans, David M. and Frøslie, Kathrine F. (2018). Genetic determinants of glucose levels in pregnancy: genetic risk scores analysis and GWAS in the Norwegian STORK cohort. European Journal of Endocrinology, 179 (6), 363-372. doi: 10.1530/EJE-18-0478
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Qvigstad, Elisabeth, Birkeland, Kåre I., Evans, David M. and Sommer, Christine (2018). Are serum concentrations of vitamin B-12 causally related to cardiometabolic risk factors and disease? A Mendelian randomization study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 108 (2), 398-404. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy101
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Moen, Aurora, Schistad, Elina I. and Gjerstad, Johannes (2017). Local up-regulation of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) following disc herniation is involved in the inflammatory response underlying acute lumbar radicular pain. Cytokine, 97, 181-186. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2017.06.005
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Sommer, Christine, Prasad, Rashmi B., Sletner, Line, Groop, Leif, Qvigstad, Elisabeth and Birkeland, Kåre I. (2017). Mechanisms in endocrinology - Epigenetic modifications and gestational diabetes: a systematic review of published literature. European Journal of Endocrinology, 176 (5), R247-R267. doi: 10.1530/eje-16-1017
Heavy physical work: cardiovascular load in male construction workers
Lunde, Lars-Kristian, Koch, Markus, Veiersted, Kaj Bo, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Waersted, Morten and Knardahl, Stein (2016). Heavy physical work: cardiovascular load in male construction workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13 (4) 356, 356. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13040356
Wang, Geng, Bhatta, Laxmi, Moen, Gunn-Helen, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Kemp, John P., Bond, Tom A., Asvold, Bjorn Olav, Brumpton, Ben, Evans, David M. and Warrington, Nicole M. (2021). Investigating a Potential Causal Relationship Between Maternal Blood Pressure During Pregnancy and Future Offspring Cardiometabolic Health. NEW YORK: SPRINGER.
Moen, Gunn-Helen, Evans, David and D’Urso, Shannon (2023). GWAS summary statistics of phenotypes generated for the journal article "Mendelian randomization analysis of factors related to ovulation and reproductive function and endometrial cancer risk" published in 2022.. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/3381ffb
Testing Effects of Environmental Exposures on Subsequent Human Generations
(2022–2026) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
Understanding the genetic epidemiology of women's reproductive health
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Using Genetics to Investigate Maternal Pregnancy Exposures and the Fetal Origins of Mental Health Outcomes
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.
Testing effect of environmental exposures on subsequent human generations
Depending on the applicant’s level of experience, they will help develop and/or apply statistical genetics approaches to investigate the possible existence of transgenerational effects on human phenotypes, using cohorts such as the Norwegian HUNT cohort (which has a large number of parent-offspring pairs) and UK Biobank. A PhD is about learning new skills and learning how to do research. Our ideal candidate will have knowledge or keen interest in learning genetics, epidemiology, statistics, unix and shell scripting, and statistical software such as R. You will work closely with an experienced researcher on the project. There will also be possibility for a research stay in Norway during this PhD. The advertised projects are fundamentally quantitative and computer-based, and so evidence of aptitude in these areas is essential. The candidate should also have the ability to design, plan, and execute experiments and be proficient in English, both written and oral.