Original Theoretical Contributions to the Genetics of Poverty-Related Disease Clustering in Nigerian Urban Slums: A Sociogenomic Framework

The concentration of infectious, nutritional, and non-communicable diseases in urban slums reflects complex interactions between social determinants of health and genetic susceptibility. Sociogenomic approaches that integrate genetic variation, social exposome data, and geospatial disease burden hold promise for understanding disease clustering in low-resource urban settings. No theoretical sociogenomic framework has been proposed for poverty-related disease clustering in Nigerian urban contexts. This dissertation develops an original sociogenomic theoretical framework for poverty-related disease clustering, tested empirically in high-density urban communities in Lagos (Makoko), Kano (Kofar Mata), and Port Harcourt (Rumuolumeni). A mixed-methods design combined household survey data from 1,200 residents, GPS-mapped disease prevalence of malaria, tuberculosis, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, social exposure index construction, and genome-wide data from 600 consenting participants. Mendelian randomisation and structural equation modelling were applied to disentangle genetic from social pathways to disease clustering. Spatial genomic analysis using geographically weighted regression identified geospatial heterogeneity in genetic risk score-disease associations across slum micro-communities. The theoretical framework synthesises genotype-social environment interaction theory, syndemics theory, and neighbourhood effects models into a unified sociogenomic explanation for disease clustering. This original contribution advances both theoretical genetics and urban health policy in Nigeria. Keywords: sociogenomic, urban slums, disease clustering, Nigeria, social determinants