I am interested in molecular factors associated with cardiometabolic health, ranging from classical genetics to epigenetics. Currently I am part of Stefan Johansson´s group https://www4.uib.no/finn-ansatte/Stefan.Johansson. 

My research is currently structured around three ongoing research lines:

1. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of complex traits, which represent my main focus and are closely linked to my current position at the Mohn Research Center for Diabetes Precision Medicine. For this end we use the extremely well characterized MoBa (Den norske mor, far og barn-undersøkelsen) cohort (https://www.fhi.no/op/studier/moba).
2. Epigenome-Wide Association Studies (EWAS), primarily developed during my PhD at Oslo University Hospital (Oslo Universitetssykehus), and which continue to evolve through ongoing collaborations. For these analyses we use the EPIPREG cohort (10.1371/journal.pone.0256158)
3. Candidate gene studies in underrepresented populations, with a particular focus on individuals of Mayan ancestry,  conducted in collaboration with the Regional Research Center Dr. Hideyo Noguchi at the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY) in Mexico 

Research line focused on Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of complex traits

Fragoso Bargas, N., Lupu, A. E., Karimi, R., Sundfjord, J., Havdahl, A., Andreassen, O. A., ... & johansson, S. (2025). Early-Life Genetic Determinants of Height and their Time-Dependent Links to Type 2 Diabetes. medRxiv, 2025-11.

Kentistou, K. A., Sundfjord, J., Karimi, R., Kaisinger, L. R., Hofmeister, R. J., Lupu, A. E., ... & Johansson, S. (2025). The role of common and rare genetic variation on adiposity across childhood. medRxiv, 2025-05.

Brito Nunes, C., Rukins, V., Cisse, A. H., White, F., Genetics of Diabetes in Pregnancy (GenDiP) Consortium, Hivert, M. F., ... & Moen, G. H. (2025). Multi-ancestry, trans-generational GWAS meta-analysis of gestational diabetes and glycaemic traits during pregnancy reveals limited evidence of pregnancy-specific genetic effects. medRxiv, 2025-08.

Research line focused on Candidate gene studies in underrepresented populations

Fragoso-Bargas, N., Toloza-Couoh, L. N., Quintal-Ortiz, I., Valencia-Pacheco, G., & Valadez-Gonzalez, N. (2025). Exploring the Association of FTO rs9939609 with Type 2 Diabetes, Fasting Glucose and HbA1c in a Southeastern Mexican Region of Predominant Mayan Genetic Background. Biomolecules, 15(11), 1492.

Fragoso-Bargas, N., González, N. V., Ruíz-García, L., Vera-Gamboa, L., Martínez-Aguilar, V. M., Nakazawa-Ueji, Y. E., & Valencia-Pacheco, G. (2024). Asociación del polimorfismo rs1800795 de la Interleucina-6 con la Diabetes tipo 2 y características clínicas relacionadas. Revista Médica de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 18(1), 28-37.

Research line focused on Epigenome-Wide Association Studies (EWAS)

Fragoso-Bargas, N., Mcbride, N.S., Lee-Ødegård, S. et al. Epigenome-wide association study of objectively measured physical activity in peripheral blood leukocytes. BMC Genomics 26, 62 (2025). 

Linares-Pineda, T. M., Fragoso-Bargas, N., Picón, M. J., Molina-Vega, M., Jenum, A. K., Sletner, L., ... & Sommer, C. (2024). DNA methylation risk score for type 2 diabetes is associated with gestational diabetes. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 23(1), 68.

Opsahl, J. O., Fragoso-Bargas, N., Lee, Y., Carlsen, E. Ø., Lekanova, N., Qvigstad, E., ... & Sommer, C. (2024). Epigenome-wide association study of DNA methylation in maternal blood leukocytes with BMI in pregnancy and gestational weight gain. International Journal of Obesity, 48(4), 584-593.

Linares-Pineda, T., Peña-Montero, N., Fragoso-Bargas, N., Gutiérrez-Repiso, C., Lima-Rubio, F., Suarez-Arana, M., ... & Morcillo, S. (2023). Epigenetic marks associated with gestational diabetes mellitus across two time points during pregnancy. Clinical Epigenetics, 15(1), 110.

Fragoso-Bargas, N., Page, C. M., Joubert, B. R., London, S. J., Lee-Ødegård, S., Opsahl, J. O., ... & Sommer, C. (2023). Epigenome-wide association study of serum folate in maternal peripheral blood leukocytes. Epigenomics, 15(1), 39-52.

Fragoso-Bargas, N., Elliott, H. R., Lee-Ødegård, S., Opsahl, J. O., Sletner, L., Jenum, A. K., ... & Sommer, C. (2023). Cross-ancestry DNA methylation marks of insulin resistance in pregnancy: an integrative epigenome-wide association study. Diabetes, 72(3), 415-426.

Fragoso-Bargas, N., Opsahl, J. O., Kiryushchenko, N., Böttcher, Y., Lee-Ødegård, S., Qvigstad, E., ... & Sommer, C. (2021). Cohort profile: Epigenetics in Pregnancy (EPIPREG)–population-based sample of European and South Asian pregnant women with epigenome-wide DNA methylation (850k) in peripheral blood leukocytes. PLoS One, 16(8), e0256158.

Pescador-Tapia, A., Silva-Martínez, G. A., Fragoso-Bargas, N., Rodríguez-Ríos, D., Esteller, M., Moran, S., ... & Lund, G. (2021). Distinct associations of BMI and fatty acids with DNA methylation in fasting and postprandial states in men. Frontiers in genetics, 12, 665769.

Other projects

del Pilar Valencia-Morales, M., Sanchez-Flores, A., Colín-Castelán, D., Alvarado-Caudillo, Y., Fragoso-Bargas, N., López-González, G., ... & Zaina, S. (2021). Somatic Genetic Mosaicism in the Apolipoprotein E-null Mouse Aorta. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 121(11), 1541-1553.