Education
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PhD, Molecular Anthropology, University of Leipzig/ Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2009
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MS, Biology, University of Oxford, 2002
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BS, Biochemistry, Louisiana State University, 2001
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BA, Anthropology, Louisiana State University, 2001
Research Interests
Dr. Hughes is Assistant Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, where he directs the Genomics and Molecular Epidemiology (GenoME) Laboratory. He is an internationally trained researcher in population and evolutionary genetics with more than two decades of experience across the United States, Europe, and Asia. His research program applies genetic epidemiology and causal inference methods, particularly Mendelian randomization, to investigate the molecular pathways through which adiposity influences health and disease. He has a strong focus on integrating genomics with metabolomics, proteomics, and microbiome profiling to identify biomarkers and intermediate traits that are causally related to cardiometabolic disease, cancer, and related outcomes.
Dr. Hughes has contributed to numerous large-scale international collaborations, including the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the Flemish Gut Flora Project (FGFP), the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity (NEO) cohort, the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT), and By-Band-Sleeve bariatric surgery trial. His work has been published in leading journals including Nature, Nature Microbiology, Nature Medicine, Diabetologia, and Scientific Reports.
He is also co-developer of metaboprep, an open-source R package that provides a standardized framework for pre-analysis quality control of metabolomics and proteomics data. In addition to his research, Dr. Hughes has extensive experience in teaching and capacity building, having delivered workshops and short courses on R programming, genome-wide association studies, and Mendelian randomization across the United States, Europe, and Africa. He is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics and the International Genetic Epidemiology Society. His work increasingly emphasizes the inclusion of underrepresented populations in genomic and molecular epidemiology to advance precision public health.
Department: Genomics and Molecular Epidemiology (GenoME) Laboratory
Selected Publications
- Hamilton FW, Hughes DA, Spiller W, Tilling K , Davey Smith D. Non-linear mendelian randomization: detection of biases using negative controls with a focus on BMI, vitamin D and ldl cholesterol. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2024, 1-15.
- Hughes DA, Li-Gao R, Bull CJ, de Mutsert R, Rosendaal FR, Mook-Kanamori DO, Willems van Dijk K, Timpson NJ. The association between body mass index and metabolite response to a liquid mixed meal challenge: a Mendelian randomization study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024, 119 (5), 1354-1370.
- Karjalainen MK, et al. Genome-wide characterization of circulating metabolic biomarkers reveals substantial pleiotropy and novel disease pathways. Nature 2024, 628 (8006), 130-138
- Corbin LJ, Hughes DA, Bull CJ, Vincent EE, Smith ML, McConnachie A, Messow C-M, Welsh P, Taylor R, Lean MEJ, Sattar N & Timpson NJ. The metabolomic signature of weight loss and remission in the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT). 25 Oct 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Diabetologia. 67, 1, p. 74-87 14 p.
- Constantinescu AE, Mitchell RE, Zheng J, Bull CJ, Timpson NJ, Amulic B, Vincent EE, Hughes DA. A framework for research into continental ancestry groups of the UK Biobank. Hum Genomics. 2022 Jan 29;16(1):3
- Hughes DA, Taylor K, McBride N, Lee MA, Mason D, Lawlor DA, Timpson NJ, Corbin LJ. metaboprep: an R package for pre-analysis data description and processing. Bioinformatics. 2022 Feb 4;38(7):1980–7.
