A recent study by Liu et al (http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2016192a.html) developed an accurate biomarker of alcohol intake, using the levels of DNA methylation at 144 CpG sites. Such a biomarker has the potential to provide a more reliable estimate of alcohol use in future studies. As self-reported alcohol intake may be bias or otherwise unreliable, such a biomarker may serve as a valuable supplement to self-reported data, especially in epidemiological studies where careful estimation of alcohol use is needed.

We seek to validate this alcohol intake biomarker in an independent cohort, and rigorously assess its performance and modeling assumptions. Further, we'll seek to extend it's application to predictions across the life-course.