Key interests

• Genetic epidemiology of obesity.
• Genetic epidemiology
• Gene-environment interactions in cardiometabolic traits

Background/biography

Alaitz obtained her MSc in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine (2008) and a PhD (2013) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. The topic of her doctoral thesis was the analysis of the genetic and environmental factors contributing to obesity and hypertension in Roma population focusing on the genetic inheritance of these diseases on extended families. After completing her PhD, Alaitz undertook a lecturer position on Human Physiology at UPV/EHU. In 2014, she obtained a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship from the Basque Country Government (Spain) and started working at the Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology (GAME) Unit. Currently, Alaitz is working as an Assistant professor in the GAME unit and her research is primarily focused in family based studies and genetic epidemiology on cardiometabolic diseases. Her research interests involve different areas including human genetics, physical anthropology, physiology, quantitative genetics and epidemiology.