Complex traits in diverse populations
We leverage human genetic diversity to gain a better understanding of the architecture of complex traits, using a mixture of epidemiological and population genetic methods. We have worked extensively on questions regarding human population structure, admixture, and other components of ancestry critical to modern human genetic research, as well as examined their impact on quantitative traits and disease.
Field work in southern Africa
For the past twelve years, we have worked on population genetics of indigenous Southern African communities. This includes regular visits with communities and community leaders and representatives, and extensive collaborations with other researchers at UC Davis and Stellenbosch University. Recently, we have extended this to look at complex traits and infectious disease susceptibility.
Founder population studies
The complexity of human history has yielded numerous demographic events giving rise to a number of known and unknown founder populations. We employ methods derived from identity-by-descent detection (IBD) to identify and characterize founder populations, including those represented in large health systems and biobanks.
methods development
We maintain an interest in developing new statistical methods for population genetics and epidemiology as well as extending existing methods to diverse and admixed populations. These range from novel detection of population structure to new genotype association testing methods and alternative mapping strategies.