title: Latino populations: a unique opportunity for the study of race, genetics, and social environment in epidemiological research.
abstract: Latinos are the largest minority population in the United States. Although usually classified as a single ethnic group by researchers, Latinos are heterogeneous from cultural, socioeconomic, and genetic perspectives. From a cultural and social perspective, Latinos represent a wide variety of national origins and ethnic and cultural groups, with a full spectrum of social class. From a genetic perspective, Latinos are descended from indigenous American, European, and African populations. We review the historical events that led to the formation of contemporary Latino populations and use results from recent genetic and clinical studies to illustrate the unique opportunity Latino groups offer for studying the interaction between racial, genetic, and environmental contributions to disease occurrence and drug response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0833, USA. esteban@sfgh.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Esteban
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: González Burchard
authors.forename: Luisa N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Borrell
authors.forename: Shweta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choudhry
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naqvi
authors.forename: Hui-Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Jose R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Santana
authors.forename: Rocio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chapela
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Cintron
authors.forename: Jose F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Arena
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kittles
authors.forename: Eliseo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Perez-Stable
authors.forename: Elad
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ziv
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Risch
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D010375:Pedigree; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012931:Social Environment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology