Tao Huang

Principal Investigator
huangtao@bjmu.edu.cn
Xueyuanlu 38., Haidian district, Beijing
Peking University

Personal profile

Dr. Huang joined the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatics, School of Public Health, Peking University and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Diseases of Ministry of Education (Peking University), China as a Principal Investigator in 2017. He came from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore where he was an assistant professor in epidemiology and medicine. Prior to that he was a research fellow in the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University, and the Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity, Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He received his PhD in nutrition and genomics from Zhejiang University/JM-HNRCA at Tufts University (a joint PhD program) in 2011.

He has published 121 peer reviewed papers in leading scientific journals such as BMJ, Diabetes Care, Clinical Chemistry, AJCN, Diabetes. Currently, he serves as a member of American Nutrition Society and Chinese Nutrition Society, a managing editor of editorial board for Journal of Vegetarian Nutrition, an associate editor of Asian Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Lipids in Disease and Health.

Main research directions

Nutritional Epidemiology and Nutritional Genomics

1. Epidemiology study to investigate the effects of environmental (diet, lifestyle, and biomarkers) and genetic factors, and complex interactions in the development of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular complications using data from CKB.

2. Investigation the effects of diet and lifestyle interventions on weight loss and maintenance in randomized clinical trials such as the POUNDS LOST and DIRECT trials

Genetic Epidemiology

1. Investigate the roles of genetic factors in determining anthropometric and metabolic traits by genome-wide association study

2. Mendelian Randomization Analyses using data resources from the CHARGE consortium and summary results from GWASs: Birth Gene (BIG) Study: this project investigates the causal relation between prenatal stressors such as malnutrition and later life cardiometabolic risk; Dairy Gene (DIG) Study: these projects focus on the causal relation between dairy intake and cardiometabolic risk

Representative scientific research projects

Project number: the Peking University Start-up Grant (BMU2018YJ002)

Funding: 1,500,000 RMB

Project start date: 1 January 2019

Project completion date: 31 December 2021

Agency: Peking University

My role: PI

Project number: Start-Up Grant

Funding: S$180,000

Project start date: 1 April 2016

Project completion date: 31 March 2018

Agency: National University of Singapore

Title of project: Gene-diet/lifestyle interactions and long term changes in obesity related traits.

Overall goals: The overall objective of this project is to examine the interaction of obesity related genes and diets/lifestyle factors in modulating long term changes in obesity traits.

My role: PI

Project number: MOE Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 FRC (FY2016)

Funding: S$150,000

Agency: Ministry of Education

Title of project: Genetic risk, dietary pattern and kidney function among diabetic patients

My role: PI

Project number: National Medical Research Funding

Funding: S$1,500,000

Agency: National Medical Research Council (NMRC)

Title of project: Genome wide interaction analysis of chronic diseases: The Singapore Chinese Health Study

My role: Genetic core PI

10 representative papers

1.Geng T, Smith CE, Li C, Huang T*. Childhood BMI and Adult Type 2 Diabetes, Coronary Artery Diseases, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Cardiometabolic Traits: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis. Diabetes Care. 2018 May;41(5):1089-1096. doi: 10.2337/dc17-2141. Epub 2018 Feb 26.

2.Ding M#, Huang T#, Bergholdt HK, Nordestgaard BG, Ellervik C, Qi L*; CHARGE Consortium. Dairy consumption, systolic blood pressure, and risk of hypertension: Mendelian randomization study. BMJ. 2017 Mar 16;356:j1000.

3.Huang T#, Ding M#, Bergholdt HK, Nordestgaard BG, Ellervik C, Qi L*; Mendelian Randomization of Dairy Consumption Working Group. Dairy Consumption and Body Mass Index Among Adults: Mendelian Randomization Analysis of 184802 Individuals from 25 Studies. Clin Chem. 2018 Jan;64(1):183-191.

4.Huang T, Qi Q, Zheng Y, Ley SH, Manson JE, Hu FB, Qi L*Genetic Predisposition to Central Obesity and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Two Independent Cohort Studies. Diabetes Care. 2015 Jul;38(7):1306-11. doi: 10.2337/dc14-3084. Epub 2015 Apr 7.

5.Huang T, Huang J, Qi Q, Li Y, Bray GA, Rood J, Sacks FM, Qi L*PCSK7 genotype modifies effect of a weight-loss diet on 2-year changes of insulin resistance: the POUNDS LOST trial. Diabetes Care. 2015 Mar;38(3):439-44. doi: 10.2337/dc14-0473.

6.Huang T, Zheng Y, Qi Q, Xu M, Ley SH, Li Y, Kang JH, Wiggs J, Pasquale LR, Chan AT, Rimm EB, Hunter DJ, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB, Qi L*DNA Methylation Variants at HIF3A Locus, B-Vitamin Intake, and Long-term Weight Change: Gene-Diet Interactions in Two U.S. Cohorts. Diabetes. 2015 Sep;64(9):3146-54.

7.Huang T, Qi Q, Li Y, Hu FB, Bray GA, Sacks FM, Williamson DA, Qi L*. FTO genotype, dietary protein, and change in appetite: the Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 May;99(5):1126-30. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.082164. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

8.Huang T, Ley SH, Zheng Y, Wang T, Bray GA, Sacks FM, Qi L*. Genetic susceptibility to diabetes and long-term improvement of insulin resistance and β cell function during weight loss: the Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS LOST) trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jun 8. pii: ajcn121186.

9.Huang T, Xu M, Lee A, Cho S, Qi*. Consumption of whole grains and cereal fiber and total and cause-specific mortality: prospective analysis of 367,442 individuals. BMC Med. 2015 Mar 24;13:59. doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0294-7.

10.Yu Z#, Huang T#, Zheng Y, Wang T, Heianza Y, Sun D, Campos H, Qi L*. PCSK9 variant, long-chain n-3 PUFAs, and risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction in Costa Rican Hispanics. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 May;105(5):1198-1203.