Seminar: Health Disparities in the Genomic Era: What are we Learning?

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208 Light Hall
Wednesday 1/13/2010, Noon

Charles Rotimi

Health Disparities in the Genomic Era: What are we Learning?

Charles Rotimi, PhD, a genetic epidemiologist and a biochemist, is a senior investigator in the Inherited Disease Branch of the NHGRI intramural program. He is the Director of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health (CRGGH). The mission of this new trans-NIH center is to advance research into the role of culture, lifestyle, genetics and genomics in disease etiology and health disparities. Dr. Rotimi develops genetic epidemiology models and conducts population genetics research that explores the patterns and determinants of common complex diseases in human populations with particular emphasis on populations of the African Diaspora. As a senior investigator and director of the CRGGH, Dr. Rotimi leads a team of researchers across multiple disciplines (Medicine, genetics/genomics, epidemiology, statistics and informatics) to understand the complex interactions between inherited characteristics and environmental factors in disease susceptibility, variable drug response and health disparities. For example, his team is engaged in the first genome-wide scan of an African American cohort, with the goal of identifying genes associated with obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Dr. Rotimi's lab continues to contribute to the global understanding of human genetic variation and its implication for differential disease distribution, variable drug response and human migration history. He is the current president of the African Society of Human Genetics (www.afshg.org).