PhD
Professor, Genetics
Director of Graduate Studies, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cancer Genetics
Area of Interest
I run a statistical genetics laboratory interested the relationship between genes and complex disease. I have a particular focus on the use of genetically diverse experimental model organism populations, but also, where suitable intersections arise, develop and apply methods and to refine genetic inference in human populations. Specific foci include: simultaneous modeling of the multiple heritable components of a complex phenotype (eg, additive, dominance, parent-of-origin, epistasis, sex-specific effects); characterizing model uncertainty in multiple quantitative trait loci (QTL) genome-wide association in both human and model organism populations; modeling and mapping genetic effects on phenotypic variability; modeling and mapping genetic effects on gene by treatment effects (GxT), including GxE; the design of mouse resource populations for medical research; and general statistical methods for analyzing data from inbred, outbred and recombinant inbred multiparental genetic reference populations (MPPs). In particular, my laboratory has made advances in the design and analysis of experiments on the mouse Collaborative Cross (CC), the Heterogeneous Stock (HS) mice and rats, the mouse Diversity Outbred (DO) population, among others.
Awards and Honors
- Award for Excellence in Basic Science Mentoring, UNC School of Medicine Office of Graduate Education, 2023
- Maximizing Investigator Research Award (NIGMS Outstanding Investigator Grant), 2017
- IBM Junior Faculty Development Award, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2012
- Adjunct Assistant Professorship in Dept of Biostatistics, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2010
- Career Development Fellowship in Statistical Genetics, Medical Research Council, UK. Funding for salary, equipment and travel for 3 years, 2008
- Access to Research Infrastructures Fellowship, European Commission. Funding for salary and travel for 1 month research at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. 2005
