Lipoprotein subfractions help discriminate cardiometabolic disease risk. Genetic loci validated as associating with lipoprotein measures do not account for a large proportion of the individual variation in lipoprotein measures. Dr. Donna K. Arnett, professor and chair in the department of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, hypothesized that DNA methylation levels across the genome contribute to inter-individual variation in lipoprotein measures.