Dr. Craig A. Cooney
Craig A. Cooney, PhD is an Investigator at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and Co-chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Mprize, along with Andrzej Bartke, with over 35 years of experience in epigenetics research.
Craig is a renowned epigenetics expert who studies the roles of DNA methylation and epigenetics in the health, cancer development, and lifespan of mammals, and has pioneered research into how dietary methyl supplementation affects offspring phenotype and longevity.
Craig studies how epigenetics can be changed by drugs and by specific nutrients found in foods and nutritional supplements, and how these changes strongly affect normal cell differentiation and cancer development. His interests include childhood and adult cancers that help us understand epigenetic changes that occur with and without an aging component.
He studies the effects on adult animals and on offspring when their mothers take specific supplements during pregnancy. He also studies certain molecular effects of nutrients, including effects on DNA methylation, gene expression, and metabolite levels. Craig is particularly interested in treatments and genes that will help maintain or optimize DNA methylation to maximize longevity and prevent age-related disease. Read Epigenetics—DNA-based mirror of our environment?
In 2006, Craig announced his entry into the Methuselah Mouse Prize (Mprize) competition, a scientific research prize aimed at encouraging scientists to find ways to reverse the aging process. His landmark research on the agouti mouse model demonstrated how maternal dietary methyl supplementation shifts offspring phenotype toward the healthier pseudoagouti phenotype, which is lean, nondiabetic, and longer-lived, in contrast to the yellow phenotype, which is obese, diabetic, cancer-prone, and shorter-lived.
This work established a high correlation between DNA methylation of the agouti alleles and coat color, health outcomes, and longevity. Read University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Biochemist Dr. Craig Cooney Signs Up For The Mprize and Maternal epigenetics and methyl supplements affect agouti gene expression in Avy/a mice.
In 2006, Craig authored a commentary in PNAS examining how grandmaternal diet affects germ-line epigenetic modifications that are inherited by subsequent generations, demonstrating that maternal dietary supplementation during specific gestational windows produces transgenerational effects on offspring phenotype.
Craig’s research has demonstrated that nutritional requirements adequate for growth and reproduction may not be optimal for long-term health and longevity, emphasizing the study of supplementation rather than just deficiency to determine optimal nutritional balance for offspring health. Read Germ cells carry the epigenetic benefits of grandmother’s diet and Maternal methyl supplements in mice affect epigenetic variation and DNA methylation of offspring.
His collaborative research includes extensive work on environmental toxicology and epigenetic alterations, particularly examining how trichloroethylene exposure affects DNA methylation, glutathione redox homeostasis, and neurotrophin expression in the hippocampus. Read Trichloroethylene-induced alterations in DNA methylation were enriched in polycomb protein binding sites.
Craig contributed to the book chapter on Toxicology, Epigenetics, and Autoimmunity in the Wiley publication Toxicology and Epigenetics, examining how environmental chemicals affect epigenetic mechanisms and the development of autoimmune disease. His early technical work demonstrated the utility of specific restriction enzymes for DNA methylation analysis. Read The restriction enzyme EheI (GGC/GCC) is sensitive to CpG methylation.
Craig is the coauthor of Methyl Magic: Maximum Health Through Methylation, published in 1999, which presents guidelines for regulating methyl metabolism through diet and nutritional supplements to improve health and longevity. The book was reviewed by Life Extension Magazine and recognized for making complex biochemistry accessible to the general public.
His other key publications include Methylation Profiling of Archived Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Promising Prognostic System, Maternal epigenetics and methyl supplements affect agouti gene expression in Avy/a mice, Identification of genes contributing to the obese yellow Avy phenotype: caloric restriction, genotype, diet x genotype interactions, Mitochondrial regulation of Cancer Associated Nuclear DNA Methylation, and Dietary Selenium and Arsenic Affect DNA Methylation.
Craig earned his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Davis in 1989. He has been an Investigator at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Department of Research and Development in Little Rock, Arkansas, since 2003, where he continues his research on DNA methylation, epigenetics, and longevity.
Watch Craig Cooney, Mprize competitor.
Visit his LinkedIn profile and follow him on Facebook and X.