Overview
The incorporation of personalized medicine to all areas of human health represents a turning point for human genetics studies, a point at which the discoveries made have real implications for clinical medicine. It is important for students to gain experience in how human genetics studies are conducted and how results of those studies may be used. As a statistical geneticist and biostatistician my research interests are focused on developing and applying statistical methods to search for genes causing common human diseases. My research programs combine development and application of statistical methods for genetic studies, with a particular emphasis on understanding the joint effects of genes and environment.
These studies I work on cover diverse areas in biomedicine but are always collaborative, with the goal of bringing robust data science and statistical methods to the project. Collaborative studies include genetic and ‘omics studies of cardiovascular disease, health effects of air pollution, genetic analysis of adherence to an exercise program, genetic analysis in evaluating colon cancer risk, genetic analysis of suicide, and systems biology analysis of Gulf War Illness.
Keywords: human genetics, genetic association, gene mapping, genetic epidemiology, statistical genetics, biostatistics, cardiovascular disease, computational biology, diabetes, aging, colon cancer, colon polyps, kidney disease, Gulf War Illness, exercise behavior, suicide
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Longitudinal Patterns of Multimorbidity in Gulf War Era Veterans With and Without Gulf War Illness.
Journal Article J Aging Health · June 2025 Objectives: To examine whether severe Gulf War illness (SGWI) case status was associated with longitudinal multimorbidity patterns. Methods: Participants were users of the Veteran Health Administration Health Care System drawn from the Gulf War Era Cohort ... Full text Link to item CiteGenetically predicted lipoprotein(a) associates with coronary artery plaque severity independent of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Journal Article Eur J Prev Cardiol · January 27, 2025 AIMS: Elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, but the mechanisms of risk are debated. Studies have found inconsistent associations between Lp(a) and measurements of atherosclerosis. We aimed to as ... Full text Link to item CiteThe impact of imprecise case definitions in electronic health record research: a melanoma case-study from the Million Veteran Program.
Journal Article Arch Dermatol Res · January 24, 2025 Cases for a disease can be defined broadly using diagnostic codes, or narrowly using gold-standard confirmation that often is not available in large administrative datasets. These different definitions can have significant impacts on the results and conclu ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Duke University Program in Environmental Health
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2029The Effect of Exercise on T Cell Aging in Rheumatoid Arthritis
ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029Accelerated Aging in Gulf War Illness: Phenotypes, Epigenetic Biomarkers and Associations with Gulf War Exposures
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2023 - 2027View All Grants