Understanding Individual Health by Looking at the Genomics of Populations
Population health is the study of the differences and similarities in the genetic makeup of populations. Understanding genetic ancestry can be a key to unlock precision medicine to better understand the cause of disease or to treat individuals with the right medicine, in the right dose. at the right time.
From 2016 when IGS's Tim O'Connor, PhD, and his team proved that major genomic databases are racially biased, filled with participants of European ancestry, our faculty has worked with diverse populations to better understand the genetic epidemiology of underrepresented populations including African- and Latin-American populations.
Population genomics involves analyzing large data sets to see what genes may have mutated, drifted, or remained constant in populations. Researchers also use Genomic-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) to learn about populations.
Human & Population Genomics Faculty
Dr. Borda combines different fields (archaeology, anthropology, and genetics) to answer the question: How have evolutionary and demographic factors shaped the present-day genetic diversity of human populations? His research incorporates several statistical genetic analyses to understand the recent dynamics of Latin American populations to begin to understand the architecture of complex characteristics and work towards eliminating disparities and understanding the diversity that makes us human.
Dr. O'Connor studies population genetics and genetic epidemiology of underrepresented populations, including African Americans and Latin Americans. The O’Connor Lab researchers work with large scale genomic data ncluding the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Project, where Dr. O’Connor co-convenes the population genetics working group tasked with generating flagship papers for the project, and the Genetics of Latin American Diversity (GLAD) Project, where he is the lead PI. The goal of the GLAD project is to collect, combine, and curate all existing samples from Latin American subjects, which will be publicly available through innovative technologies that preserver individual consent.
Kate Hoff Shutta, PhD
Dr. Shutta’s research encompasses two complementary themes: methods development for network modeling of multi-omic data and the use of these methods to explore molecular changes in pulmonary health throughout the lifecourse. The combination of genetic background and lived experiences determine trajectories of lung health and disease that are unique to each individual. Dr. Shutta’s work focuses on understanding how and why these trajectories diverge at the molecular level and how these divergences lead to differential disease risk, with the end goal of identifying effective strategies to promote healthy lung aging and reduce morbidity and mortality of age-related pulmonary disease.
Additional Faculty Working in Human Genomics:
Center for Advanced Microbiome Research & Innovation
Cancer Genomics
Microbial Systems