简介
I seek to overcome the one-size-fits-all approach to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke research; and thus how we think of each risk factor as a single measure at one point in time, with similar underpinnings across all populations. I lead my team in transdisciplinary science to identify molecular signatures of CVD risk, which addresses the knowledge gap across molecular, public health, and clinical understandings of CVD. CVD and its concomitant diseases continue to increase, with significant health care costs, particularly in minority populations that are most burdened by disease, yet still underrepresented in biomedical research. To date, attempts to uncover the molecular determinants (through OMICs including: genomics, transcriptomics, methylomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) of CVD risk have been challenging because comprehensive data was, until very recently, unavailable and cost-prohibitive in the context of single studies. However, the field is rapidly changing and comprehensive data in populations most burdened by disease are on the horizon. As a Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the CVD Genetic Epidemiology Computational Laboratory, and an internationally-recognized expert in CVD epidemiology, I offer a variety of perspectives, including genetics, metabolomics, epigenetics, and environmental contexts. I have a track record of leadership and a diverse portfolio of NIH- and AHA-funded research, with over 350 peer-reviewed publications. Over the past sixteen years as a faculty member, I have developed a strong research program in the molecular epidemiology of CVD, leading a collaborative assembly of CVD faculty members, post- and pre-doctoral students, and staff members, with collective expertise in both family- and population-based research. My proposed study will build on decades-long collaborations to accelerate the discovery, functional interrogation, and clinical application of genomic research for CVD risk factors.
I have a strong track record in the area of multidisciplinary CVD research. Early in my career, my landmark research program centered around a U01, the PAGE study [3U01HG007416-04, https://pagestudy.org], which continues to broadly investigate the genomics of disease susceptibility in ancestrally diverse populations across a range of complex traits. This was followed by work to assemble large Hispanic and African-American consortia (R01DK089256, R01DK101855, R01HL142302) with the goal to uncover the genetic underpinnings of both adiposity and dyslipidemia, and with international collaborations to study the development of CVD across the life-course in Bolivia and Chile (15GRNT25880008, R56AG024119). I am also Co-Investigator on a UNC-funded (UNC Creativity Hub) transdisciplinary project, working with UNC physicians to develop molecularly-informed precision medicine solutions to obesity. My research projects share an integrated multidisciplinary perspective, involving diverse teams of genetic epidemiologists, molecular geneticists, clinicians, anthropologists, population geneticists, and sociologists. I have partnerships with some of the top researchers in the world and I am actively engaged with some of the most valued NIH supported cohort studies and consortia. The success and productivity of my projects demonstrate my leadership and the collaborative nature of my research networks and teams.
