Noventa Millas: Migration history, genomic ancestry, and health disparities among Cuban immigrants and Cuban-Americans in the United States

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PROJECT SUMMARY As a growing U.S. ethnic minority, Latinx populations have traditionally been studied as a monolith, with the implicit assumption that individuals migrating from different countries have similar life experiences due to common language. Additionally, it has been well documented that Indigenous, Black, and Latinx populations face more adverse health outcomes relative to non-Hispanic whites in the United States. In order to address how health outcomes vary within Latinx groups, research efforts would benefit from focusing on understanding the variability of genomic ancestry and life experiences from first and second generation immigrants from a single country of origin. The purpose of this research project is to integrate traditionally separate methodological approaches to understanding health outcomes by comprehensively investigating the social, genotypic, and epigenomic determinants of health within one such heterogeneous immigrant ethnic group. In the F99 phase of this work, I will identify genotypic and sociocultural factors that are associated with variation in adverse health outcomes among individuals of Cuban descent living in Miami, Florida. This research work will be conducted in conjunction with the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), a multi- regional study investigating health outcomes across diverse groups of Hispanics in various locales within the U.S., with over 16,000 participants registered to date, including over 2,300 individuals of Cuban descent. This project has collected demographic, sociocultural, family history, health, and genotype data to understand health disparities within a large ethnic group in the United States. Additionally, I will be collecting novel genomic and sociocultural data, including data collection via a survey and semi-structured interview, for individuals of Cuban descent living in Miami, Florida in order to determine if discrimination factors into Latinx health disparities; these critical data are not available through HCHS/SOL. In the K00 phase of this work, I will work at the intersection of the social determinants of health and genomics through training and research within the field of epigenomics. Specifically, I am interested in investigating if there are differential patterns of methylation across the genome within and among Cuban immigration waves and if these patterns are associated with differential lived experiences. If we observe differences in methylation patterns, are they related to adverse health consequences in populations that differentially experience life stressors associated with varying sociocultural experiences, including experiences of discrimination? Over the course of my career I plan to continue working with Cuban immigrants and Cuban-Americans,in exploring the mechanisms by which the social determinants of health are embodied and expressed biologically. I envision pursuing a postdoctoral position that expands my current genomic skill set into epigenomics and continues to build upon my doctoral training examining health disparities and the mechanistic factors that may impact adverse health in marginalized populations through both existing data and primary data collection.