North Carolina State University at Raleigh · BiologyPrenatal Health and Environmental Influences Lab
Cathrine Hoyo · Raleigh, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. Cathrine Hoyo's lab at North Carolina State University focuses on understanding how prenatal stress and diet influence children's health, especially regarding obesity and metabolic disorders. By studying epigenetic changes that occur due to environmental factors, such as maternal stress and dietary habits, the lab aims to identify potential interventions that can mitigate negative health outcomes. Additionally, they investigate how exposure to environmental contaminants affects liver health, particularly in southern states where rates of liver cancer are rising.
prenatal stressepigeneticsmetabolic dysfunctionenvironmental contaminantsliver cancerdietobesityimprinted geneshealth disparities
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the relationship between maternal diet and prenatal stress on the fetal epigenome.
AIM 02Examine how epigenetic changes affect childhood obesity and metabolic disorders.
AIM 03Study the impact of environmental contaminants on liver disease progression.
AIM 04Develop interventions based on dietary changes to improve health outcomes in children.
AIM 05Identify specific imprinted gene control regions associated with metabolic health risks.
Skills the Lab Values
DNA methylation analysisepigenetic profilingcohort study designcell culturedata collection and managementbioinformaticsstatistical analysisenvironmental exposure assessmentclinical research methods
Output against the department
Publications341top 15% of dept.153rd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations12ktop 31% of dept.321st of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.