This Research Topic was realized in collaboration with Research Associate Marusya Lieveld.
Studying the genetic and environmental basis for both communicable and non-communicable diseases has the potential to improve our understanding of these diseases in different populations and to help in the development of novel interventions. Genomic medicine is becoming more feasible with the decreasing costs of DNA genotyping and sequencing. However, the implementation of genomic medicine requires knowledge of the genetic basis of diseases and reference data for the populations under study. Genomic data for human populations in public databases is heavily biased towards Eurasian population groups as they are the most studied groups to date. Some populations, such as those of African descent or indigenous populations have, until recently, not been extensively studied and thus their data are currently under-represented in public repositories. The paucity of data from these understudied populations in public databases limits our knowledge of population-specific genetic variation that influence susceptibility to or protection from human disorders. Understanding local environmental factors are also important as these will impact susceptibility to or protection from multi-factorial diseases.

In this Research Topic we are seeking high quality Original Research papers describing novel insights into genetic and environmental factors that impact disease risk, expression, prognosis and treatment in understudied populations in human genomics research. These include African, Latin American, Indian and other indigenous populations. The specific themes of interest in this special issue include:
- Population genetic studies
- Genome wide association studies
- Epigenetics
- Pharmacogenomics
- Environmental risk factors for diseases
- Gene-environment interactions in diseases
- Microbiome studies related to diseases

The manuscripts should be Original Research articles.

Keywords: Genetics, Disease, Population Genetics, Indigenous populations, GWAS

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.