Pietro Biroli - University of Zurich
Gene-by-SES interplay in health behavior: theory and empirics
Date: 02/09/2017 (Thu)
Time: 3:30pm- 5:00pm
Location: Seminar will be held on-site: Gross Hall 230E
Organizer: Dan Belsky
Meeting Schedule: Login or email the organizer to schedule a meeting.
All meetings will be held in the same location as the seminar unless otherwise noted.
8:00am - Breakfast- Seth Sanders
8:30am - Breakfast- Seth Sanders
9:00am - Breakfast- Seth Sanders
9:30am - Breakfast- Seth Sanders
10:00am - Giovanna Merli
10:30am - Dan Belsky
11:00am - Dan Belsky
11:30am - Dan Belsky
12:00pm - Lunch- Emma Zang, Tony Bardo, and Amy Thierry
12:30pm - Lunch- Emma Zang, Tony Bardo, and Amy Thierry
1:00pm - Lunch- Emma Zang, Tony Bardo, and Amy Thierry
1:30pm - Angie O'Rand
2:00pm - OPEN
2:30pm - OPEN
3:00pm - Seminar Prep
3:30pm - Seminar Presentation (3:30pm to 5:00pm)
Additional Comments: ABSTRACT: Smoking and obesity are the top-two leading causes of preventable disease and death in the US and significant sources of the substantial disparities in health between socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Using recent discoveries of genetic variants exhibiting credible and robust associations with smoking and obesity, we construct poligenic risk scores (PGS) and evaluate whether these genetic variants mediate the effects of childhood SES in determining adult risky health behaviors. We find substantial protective effect of childhood SES for those genetically at risk of smoking but not so for obesity. However, the extent of the interplay between genes and the socio-economic environment varies with the number of genetic-variants included in the PGS. We interpret these empirical results through the lenses of a canonical economic model of health formation and addiction, extended to include genetic heterogeneity.