Yann Klimentidis, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. 

His research focuses mainly on the use of genetic information to learn about body composition, health-related behavior, and cardio-metabolic, and neurodegenerative traits/diseases. The broad goals of his research are to: 1) understand mechanisms of disease, 2) identify risk factors for disease, 3) understand health disparities, and 4) improve prediction of disease risk. Approaches include genome-wide association studies, Mendelian randomization, gene-by-environment interactions, and genetic ancestry studies.

Dr. Klimentidis uses data from the UK Biobank, NHANES, All of Us, Framingham Heart Study, and from other local, national, and global studies. Current projects focus on the genetic basis of lipid and glycemic traits, physical activity behavior, and lipedema, as well as examining the putative causal links among these traits and with cardio-metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

Selected Publications

Ramadan FA, Arani A, Jafri A, Thompson T, Bland VL, Renquist B, Raichlen DA, Alexander GE,  Klimentidis YC (2024) Mendelian randomization of blood metabolites suggests circulating glutamine protects against late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 98(3):1069-1078.

Sbarra DA, Ramadan FA, Choi KW, Treur JL, Levey DF, Wootton RE, Stein MB, Gelernter J, Klimentidis YC (2023). Loneliness and depression: bidirectional mendelian randomization analyses using data from three large genome-wide association studies. Molecular Psychiatry. 28(11):4594-4601.

Raichlen DA, Aslan DH, Sayre MK, Bharadwaj PK, Ally M, Maltagliati S, Lai MHC, Wilcox RR, Klimentidis YC, Alexander GE (2023) Sedentary Behavior and Incident Dementia Among Older Adults. JAMA. 330(10):934-940.

Bland VL, Bea JW, Going SB, Yaghootkar H, Arora A, Ramadan F o, Funk JL, Chen Z, Klimentidis YC (2023) Metabolically favorable adiposity and bone mineral density: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Obesity. 31(1):267-278.

Klimentidis YC, Chen Z, Gonzalez-Garay ML, Grigoriadis D, Sackey E, Pittman A, Ostergaard P, Herbst KL (2023) Genome-wide association study of a lipedema phenotype among women in the UK Biobank identifies multiple genetic risk factors. European Journal of Human Genetics. 31(3): 338-344. 

Ramadan FA, Bea JW, Garcia DO, Ellingson KD, Canales RA, Raichlen DA, Klimentidis YC (2022) Association of sedentary and physical activity behaviours with body composition: a genome-wide association and Mendelian randomisation study. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 8:e00129.

Klimentidis YC, Newell M, van der Zee MD, Bland VL, May-Wilson S, Arani G o, Menni C, Mangino M, Arora A, Raichlen DA, Alexander GE, Wilson JF, Boomsma DI, Hottenga JJ, de Geus EJC, Pirastu N (2022) Genome-wide Association Study of Liking for Several Types of Physical Activity in the UK Biobank and Two Replication Cohorts. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 54(8):1252-1260.

Julian TH, Glascow N, Barry ADF, Moll T, Harvey C, Klimentidis YC, Newell M, Zhang S, Snyder MP, Cooper-Knock J, Shaw PJ (2021) Physical exercise is a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Convergent evidence from Mendelian randomisation, transcriptomics and risk genotypes. EBioMedicine. 68:103397.

Karnes JH, Arora A, Feng J, Steiner HE, Sulieman L, Boerwinkle E, Clark C, Cicek M, Cohn E, Gebo K, Loperena-Cortes R, Ohno-Machado L, Mayo K, Mockrin S, Ramirez A, Schully S, Klimentidis YC (2021) Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in obesity and body fat distribution: An All of Us Research Program demonstration project. PLoS One. 16(8):e0255583

Klimentidis YC, Arora A, Newell N o, Zhou J, Ordovas JM, Renquist BJ, Wood AC (2020) Phenotypic and Genetic Characterization of Lower LDL Cholesterol and Increased Type 2 Diabetes Risk in the UK Biobank. Diabetes. 69(10):2194-2205.

Choi KW, Chen CY, Stein MB, Klimentidis YC, Wang MJ, Koenen KC, Smoller JW, Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (2019). Testing Causal Bidirectional Influences between Physical Activity and Depression using Mendelian Randomization. JAMA Psychiatry. 76(4):399-408.

Klimentidis YC, Raichlen DA, Bea J, Garcia DO, Wineinger NE, Mandarino LJ, Alexander GE, Chen Z, Going SB (2018) Genome-wide association study of habitual physical activity in over 377,000 UK Biobank participants identifies multiple variants including CADM2 and APOE. International Journal of Obesity. 42: 1161–1176.

Education and Training

1998                  B.A. Biology, Texas A&M University

2002                  M.S. Anthropology, University of New Mexico

2008                  Ph.D. Anthropology, University of New Mexico

2009 - 2012       Postdoctoral Training, Statistical Genetics, Dept. of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham                       

2012 - 2014      Arizona Clinical & Translational Research Graduate Certificate Program