Sepideh Zarandooz

External LIFE Fellow since 2025, MPI for Human Development

I'm a PhD candidate in the Max Planck Research Group on Biosocial – Biology, Social Disparities, and Development at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany. I hold an M.Sc. in Biology and Genomics science from the University of Bielefeld. My research focuses on saliva DNA methylation as a biomarker for social determinants of health across the lifespan and generations. In particular, I am interested in investigating the degree of similarity/dissimilarity of the epigenome between individuals in family members (such as parent-offspring and siblings) living in the same environment and how these factors shape individual epigenomes, while also examining how social and environmental factors, especially within families, impact biological aging and health.
 
Dissertation project:
Exploring saliva DNA methylation as a biomarker for social determinants of health across lifespan and generations

Publications

Zarandooz, S., & Raffington, L. (in press). Applying blood-derived epigenetic algorithms to saliva: Cross-tissue similarity of DNA methylation indices of aging, physiology, and cognition. Clinical Epigenetics.