Dr. Allred is a molecular geneticist interested in understanding the genetic architecture of complex diseases and underlying risk factors in minority populations. Her research focuses broadly on metabolic disease, with ongoing studies in diabetes, obesity, liver disease, nephropathy, cognition, and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Hsu’s research focuses on the design and analysis of omics studies, particularly in genetic risk prediction, gene-gene interactions, genetic association studies, epigenetics and metabolomics analysis, and high dimensional data analysis. Her focus areas include: (1) developing estimation models for measures of insulin resistance from metabolomics data using machine learning techniques, (2) identifying DNA methylation sites/methylation risk scores and genetic markers/polygenic risk scores influencing susceptibility for recurrent stroke and identifying key social and structural determinants of health that mediate stroke and stroke recurrence risk, and (3) generating a comprehensive map of the molecular responses to acute exercise and exercise training. She collaborates with investigators on observational studies and clinical trials in areas such as aging, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.
Dr. Linder is the senior advisor for the Childhood Diabetes Research program. Dr. Linder administers a portfolio of research grants related to several areas, including clinical research focused on 1) type 2 diabetes in youth; and 2) metabolic imprinting. She is the project scientist for the DISCOVERY study, which will recruit and follow a large cohort of youth at risk for type 2 diabetes to better understand the underlying pathophysiology of youth-onset T2D and predict those who are at highest risk. She also is the Project Scientist for the GO MOMs study (Glycemic Observation and Metabolic Outcomes in Mothers and Offspring), which aims to develop better diagnostic approaches for gestational diabetes. Her responsibilities also include scientific oversight of the DiCAYA study, led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and co-funded by NIDDK. This multi-center epidemiological study identifies cases of diabetes in youth and young adults to determine incidence and prevalence of diabetes in these populations. In addition to her work at the DEM, she also supports the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic at the NIH.
Dr. Ng is an Associate Professor in the Division of Genetic Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Ng's laboratory focuses on research of the genetic architecture of complex traits in African Americans, particularly type 2 diabetes, the complications of diabetes (e.g., diabetic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease), and contributors to diabetes (e.g., obesity, insulin resistance, and insulin secretion). Her laboratory applies genomic and other -omics approaches including linkage, genome-wide association, next-generation sequencing, and integration with metabolomics to examine family- and population-based data to identify and fine map disease loci. Her laboratory also studies the impact of gene-gene, gene-environment interactions and polygenic risk scores in disease susceptibility. Dr. Ng collaborates extensively both nationally and internationally, and she actively participates in GWAS consortia of cardiometabolic traits in African Americans and trans-ancestry populations including up to a million individuals.
Dr. Rotter is a pioneer in the field of medical genetics, genetic epidemiology, and personalized medicine. He has engaged in the study of the genetic epidemiology of chronic common diseases for over 4 decades, with an emphasis on cardiovascular/metabolic diseases, gastrointestinal/autoimmune disorders, ocular disorders, and pharmacogenetic studies. His studies have included family based, case control, cohort, and pharmacogenetic designs; have included different ethnic groups (Caucasian, Hispanics, African-Americans, Chinese, Ashkenazi Jews, and Armenians); and have ranged from linkage, candidate gene, genome-wide association (GWA) and post-GWA studies, and now whole exome and whole genome sequencing studies, and multi-omics studies (methylomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics). The ultimate goal of this work is to identify the optimal therapy and prevention for cardiometabolic and ocular disorders as a function of an individual’s genetic predisposition. Thus, this is the basis for precision/personalized medicine, especially in minority populations.
Dr. Wood’s research focuses on analyzing complex biological data such as genome, epigenome, transcriptome, metabolome, and proteome to explore how environmental and behavioral factors influence chronic diseases.
She is particularly interested in cognitive development and decline, including Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias, as well as type 2 diabetes. Dr. Wood’s overarching aim is to advance Precision Medicine by improving disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies. Dr. Wood’s research focuses on analyzing complex biological data such as genome, epigenome, transcriptome, metabolome, and proteome to explore how environmental and behavioral factors influence chronic diseases. She is particularly interested in cognitive development and decline, including Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias, as well as type 2 diabetes. Dr. Wood’s overarching aim is to advance Precision Medicine by improving disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies.
Dr. Bancks is trained in epidemiological methods and his research focus is on the epidemiology and prevention of type 2 diabetes. His work seeks to help disentangle heterogeneity in risk, response to lifestyle and therapeutic interventions, and advance equity in diabetes care and prevention.
Dr. Kechris focuses on the development and application of statistical methods for analyzing high-dimensional molecular data sets in the form of omics profiles. She has several focus areas: (1) analyzing transcription factor binding and miRNA data to study the regulation of transcription and post-transcriptional processing, (2) examining the genetic and epigenetic factors controlling gene expression, (3) exploring the metabolome, and (4) integrating multi-omics data in a network framework. Dr. Kechris collaborates with investigators studying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the COPDGene genetic epidemiology study, substance use disorders using animal models, and early life determinants of diabetes and obesity in children.
Dr. Manning is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Member at the Broad Institute, and an Assistant Investigator at Clinical Translational Epidemiology Unit at Mass General Brigham. Dr. Manning is a statistical geneticist with an established focus on insulin resistance traits and a recent focus on integrative analyses of genetic, molecular and phenotype data. Her research group develops methods for genetic-environment interaction studies and studies the molecular and mechanistic basis of insulin resistance, obesity and diabetes with the overarching goal to understand the relationship between genes, environment, and disease.
Dr. Perng is a nutritional and lifecourse epidemiologist who leverages ‘omics as a tool to refine exposure assessment, identify functional biomarkers and mechanisms, and capture heterogeneity in metabolic disease outcomes. Dr. Perng conducts her research in domestic and international cohorts, and in consortia including ECHO, DISCOVERY, and COMETS.
Dr. Udlers's research focuses on using genetics to characterize subtypes and disease mechanisms in type 2 diabetes. She is interested in the impact of both common and rare genetic variation, and in the integration of clinical data from electronic health records. Trained as a genetic epidemiologist during her MD-PhD, she completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Endocrinology. She is the Director of the MGH Diabetes Genetics Clinic, where she sees patients with monogenic diabetes as well as other atypical forms of diabetes.
Dr. Yang is a Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Medicine and Epidemiology, and serves as a Vice Chair in the Department in Biomedical Informatics. Her research integrates multiple omics methods and disease models to improve early detection, identify biomarkers, and develop personalized therapies for complex diseases, with a primary focus on lung disease such as asthma and interstitial lung disease. Continuously funded by the NIH for >15 years, Dr. Yang has published over 180 manuscripts. Dr. Yang has also worked on other complex diseases, including metabolic disorders in collaboration with the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity & Diabetes (LEAD) Center and T1D in collaboration with the Barbara Davis Center. She is a member of the PACE and TOPMed consortia. She is looking forward to the challenge of applying her expertise to heterogeneity of type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Gamazon is a tenured faculty member in the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. His research explores DNA sequence, single-cell, and multi-omics data to understand disease mechanisms, therapeutic targets, molecular evolution, and genome function. He studies how genetic variation influences gene regulation across tissues and cell types, using large-scale biobank data and computational methods to identify disease-related genes, novel biomarkers, and a systems view of the disease phenome. His interdisciplinary lab specializes in computational genomics and molecular biology and has trained scholars, including a Barry Goldwater Scholar and a Fulbright Scholar. He co-chaired the GWAS Working Group of the GTEx Consortium, has served on NIH study sections, and received the NIH Genomic Innovator Award in 2019.
Dr. Lange is a Professor of Biomedical Informatics in the School of Medicine, and Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is a genetic epidemiologist whose research focuses on the identification and characterization of genetic and omic factors associated with complex traits related to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and pulmonary disease. Specific interests include cross-study collaborations and genetics and omics studies in admixed populations. In addition to DEFINE-T2D, Dr. Lange collaborates in a number of genomic-focused consortia, which currently include the Polygenic Risk Methods in Diverse Populations (PRIMED) Consortium, the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program, the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, the Population Architecture Using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Consortium. She is an investigator for the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), the Reasons for Geographic Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Dr. Lange also works with the Colorado Biobank (>75K participants) as a member of the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine.
Dr. Mercader is a group leader at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. His research focuses on the discovery of genetic variation associated with type 2 diabetes and related traits, their functional characterization, and the translation of genetic findings to the clinic. As a scientist at the Broad Institute, he has played leadership roles in the analysis of large-scale genetic datasets for the discovery of novel T2D-related genetic variants, through genome-wide association studies and whole-exome association studies, with a focus on diverse populations. He has contributed to characterization of the molecular mechanisms behind several genetic associations by integrating genetic data from functional genomics datasets and analysis of regulatory variation in pancreatic islets. His current research focuses on disentangling the molecular and physiological mechanisms leading to an increased genetic risk for T2D, either through specific large effect genetic variants or through studying individuals at the tails of polygenic scores.
Dr. Qi has a broad background in molecular epidemiology studies with specific training and expertise in genetics, biomarkers and nutrition. Dr. Qi’s current research focuses on multi omics, including metabolomics, genomics and transcriptomics, as well as the gut microbiome, in relation to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in both general populations and under-studied populations (e.g., US Hispanics, HIV-infected populations).
Dr. Utzschneider is a board-certified endocrinologist at the VA Puget Sound, the Director of the VA Diabetes Care Program, and a University of Washington Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition. Dr. Utzschneider earned her M.D. from Harvard and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Washington. Dr. Utzschneider is passionate about involving patients in their own care and self-management, particularly those with diabetes. In addition to her clinical work, she is a clinical researcher focusing on the pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Her research primarily investigates the role of beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity in the development and progression of type 2 diabetes. She also leads several studies examining whether medications can slow or prevent the macro- and microvascular complications associated with the disease.
Dr. Zaghloul’s primary interest is in understanding the genetic underpinnings of type 2 diabetes and related metabolic disorders. Her portfolios include projects in genetics and genomics of T2D which seek to identify genes and pathways contributing to T2D and its complications, including efforts to better define heterogeneity of T2D using genomic and other approaches. She is also responsible for projects related to functional genomic modeling of T2D and metabolic disorders in model organisms, including mammalian and non-mammalian systems. Her portfolio also includes projects investigating mechanistic links between exocrine and endocrine pancreas in the context of diabetes. Dr. Zaghloul also serves as the Co-Chair and Program Officer for the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® program for Common Metabolic Diseases (AMP CMD).
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.jpg?sfvrsn=f2b928b4_0 "Nicholette Danielle Allred (1)")
-(2).jpg?sfvrsn=bdad28b4_0 "Fang-Chi Hsu (3) (2)")
-(1).jpg?sfvrsn=f9a728b4_0 "Maggie Ng, PhD (1) (1)")
-(1).jpg?sfvrsn=d6b928b4_0 "Jerome I Rotter, MD (3) (1)")
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.jpg?sfvrsn=2eb828b4_0 "Michael Patrick Bancks (1)")
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.jpg?sfvrsn=6fa728b4_0 "Udler M (2)")
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-(1).jpg?sfvrsn=efba28b4_0 "Qibin Qi (1) (1)")
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-(1).jpg?sfvrsn=31b828b4_0 "Norann Zaghloul (2) (1)")