Inga Prokopenko

Professor Inga Prokopenko is a faculty member at the University of Surrey's School of Biosciences (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences), specializing in e-One Health and leading the Statistical Multi-Omics group. Her research focuses on genetic epidemiology, multi-omics approaches, and the comorbidity between metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mental health disorders. She leads studies on genetic determinants of blood glucose regulation, obesity-related risks, and shared pathophysiological pathways between diseases.

Key research areas include:

• Genetic links between type 2 diabetes and cancers (breast, pancreatic, etc.)
• Mechanisms of GLP-1 receptor signaling in diabetes treatment
• Causal relationships between depression and diabetes using Mendelian randomization
• Role of abdominal obesity in cancer susceptibility

She supervises PhD/MSc students in biosciences and medicine programs and develops computational tools like comorbidPRS for polygenic risk score analysis. Her work integrates large-scale genomic data from cohorts like the UK Biobank and EPIC studies to uncover shared genetic mechanisms across diseases.

Recent work highlights include:

• Systematic reviews on flavan-3-ols and cardiovascular health
• Meta-analyses of trans-ethnic diabetes GWAS data
• Epigenetic studies linking blood metabolites to cancer risk

Her research bridges statistical genetics with clinical applications, emphasizing precision medicine strategies for complex diseases.