My laboratory is studying the mechanisms underlying asthma and therapeutic response among racially diverse populations.
I have chosen to study Latino, African American and Filipino populations for three reasons:1) these populations are understudied and often neglected from biomedical and genetic research, 2) the mixed ancestry of these populations provides unique opportunities in epidemiologic and genetic studies of complex traits and may be useful in untangling complex gene-environment (G x E) interactions in disease susceptibility and therapeutic response, 3) I believe that the examination of G x E interactions may help to explain the striking differences in asthma prevalence, asthma severity and drug responsiveness that are seen among racial and ethnic groups.
