Jocelyn M. Biagini Myers, PhD
is a molecular epidemiologist whose long-term goal is to develop a research career with a focus on reducing pediatric allergic disease. Her current research seeks to identify genetic and environmental causes of asthma, with a focus secondhand smoke exposure. She is also interested in interventions for reduction and prevention of smoke exposure and providing an evidence base for policy on smoking bans around children.
513-803-1110
jocelyn.biagini.myers@cchmc.org
Jocelyn M. Biagini Myers, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Molecular epidemiology; secondhand smoke exposures and biomarkers; genetic and environmental causes of asthma and allergic disease
Biography
Dr. Biagini Myers is a molecular epidemiologist who began her training with a Master’s degree in Epidemiology 2004 and subsequent Doctorate in Molecular Epidemiology at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in 2008. She was also a fellow in the Molecular Epidemiology in Children’s Environmental Health training program at UC from 2001-2004. During her time at UC, she was an integral part of building a new birth cohort of children at high risk for developing allergic disease and her research interests in secondhand smoke exposures and allergic disease pathogenesis were established. Her dissertation work evaluated genetic variation in nicotine metabolism-related genes and their effects on hair cotinine levels and wheezing in young children. Following her successful dissertation defense in 2008, she began a postdoctoral fellowship at CCHMC. From 2008-2011, she collaborated on a project focused on characterizing epithelial genes in allergic diseases and delineating the mechanisms by which they contribute to the allergic response. She also assisted collaborators in developing a custom SNP-chip for studying genes related to asthma and atopic dermatitis. In addition, she was successful in receiving funding in 2009 with a PI at UC to evaluate the contributions of genetic variation in nicotine metabolism and oxidative stress-related genes in pediatric asthma development. Dr. Biagini Myers’ long-term goal is to develop her research career as a molecular epidemiologist focused on reducing and preventing secondhand smoke-related pediatric asthma and allergic disease. She is also interested in intervention-based research for early-life prevention and reduction of smoke exposures in children and providing further evidence to promote public policies for smoking bans around children.
Education and Training
BS: Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, 2001. MS: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 2004. PhD: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 2008. Postdoctroal Fellowship: Division of Asthma Research, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2008-2011.
Publications
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Ryan PH, LeMasters G, Biagini J, Bernstein D, Grinshpun SA, Shukla R, Wilson K, Villareal M, Burkle J, Lockey J. Is it traffic type, volume or distance? Wheezing in infants living near truck and bus traffic. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005 Aug:116(2):279-284. Biagini JM, LeMasters GK, Ryan PH, Levin L, Reponen T, Bernstein DI, Villareal M, Khyrana Hershey GK, Burkle J, Lockey J. Environmental risk factors of rhinitis in early infancy.Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2006 Jun:17(4):278-284. Karla M, Biagini J, Bernstein D, Stanforth S, Burkle J, Cohen A, LeMasters G. Effect of asthma on the risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in atopic women. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2006 Aug:97(2):231-235. LeMasters GK, Wilson K, Levin L, Biagini J, Ryan P, Lockey JE, Stanforth S, Maier S, Yang J, Burkle J, Villareal M, Khurana Hershey GK, Bernstein DI. High prevalence of aeroallergen sensitization among infants of atopic parents. J Pediatr. 2006 Oct:149(4):505-511. Shroer KT, Biagini Myers JM, Ryan PH, LeMasters GK, Bernstein DI, Villareal M, Lockey J, Reponen T, Grinshpun S, Khyrana Hershey GK. Associations between multiple environmental exposures and glutathonine s-transferase P1 on persistent wheezing in a birth cohort. J Pediatr. 2009 Mar:154(3):401-408. Biagini Myers JM, Wang N, LeMasters G, Bernstein DI, Epstein T, Lindsey M, Ericksen M, Chakraborty R, Ryan P, Villareal M, Burkle J, Lockey J, Reponen T, Khurana Hershey GK. Genetic and environmental risk factors for childhood eczema development and allergic sensitization in the CCAAPS cohort.J Inves Dermatol. 2010 Feb:130(2):430-437. Biagini Myers JM, Khurana Hershey GK. Eczema in early life: lessons learned from birth cohort studies.J Pediatr. 2010 Nov:157(7):704-714. Cortina S, Drotar D, Ericksen M, Lindsey M, Patterson TL, Biagini Myers JM, Butsch Kovacic M, Khurana Hershey GK. Genomic biomarkers of health-related quality of life in pediatric asthma. J Pediatr. 2010 Feb:159(1):21-26. Baye TM, Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Martin LJ, Lindsey M, Patterson TL, He H, Ericksen MB, Gupta J, Tsoras AM, Lindsley A, Rothenberg ME, Wills-Karp N, Eissa T, Borish L, Khurana Hershey GK. Differences in candidate gene association between european ancestry and african american asthmatic children. PLoS One. 2011 Feb:6(2):e16522. Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Wang N, Martin LJ, Lindsey M, Ericksen MB, He H, Patterson TL, Baye TM, Torgerson D, Roth LA, Gupta J, Sivaprasad U, Gibson AM, Tsoras AM, Hu D, Eg C, Chapela R, Rodriguez-Santana JR, Rodriguez-Cintron W, Avila PC, Beckman K, Seibold MA, Gignoux C, Musaad SM, Chen W, Gonzalez Burchard E, Khurana Hershey GK. Identification of KIF3A as a novel candidate gene for childhood asthma using RNA expression and population allelic frequencies differences. PLoS One. 2011:6(8):e23714.
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Melinda S. Butsch Kovacic, MPH, PhD
is an epidemiologist who has clinical, translational and community-based participatory research projects. Her research group studies the genetic/epigenetic, environmental and socioeconomic basis of chronic diseases such as cancer, asthma and obesity, with specific interest in understanding how environmental exposures modify risk in vulnerable families. Her research is highly interdisciplinary with collaborators across the academic health center and in the community.
513-803-0130
melinda.butsch.kovacic@cchmc.org
Melinda S. Butsch Kovacic, MPH, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Clinical and molecular epidemiology; gene-environment interactions; biomarkers; community-based participatory research
Biography
One of Dr. Butsch Kovacic’s long-term goals is to improve the understanding of how the environment modifies chronic disease risk in genetically and/or economically vulnerable children. To this end, she is the PI of an ongoing study that is evaluating associations between environmental exposures and biomarkers of oxidative stress and whether or not these biomarkers will better predict risk of severe/uncontrolled childhood asthma compared to parental report of exposure alone (previous NIEHS R21 and CCTST KL2). As part of this study, her team is evaluating diesel exhaust particle and second hand tobacco smoke exposures, as well as obesity levels, markers of inflammation and antioxidant status, genetic and socioeconomic factors, and DNA methylation patterns. As her preliminary data revealed strong associations between her outcomes and socioeconomic factors, over the last year, she has partnered with Cincinnati’s CoreChange, a grassroots advocacy group, and Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses (SHNH; http://7hillsnh.org/), a full service social service agency and community center in the West End of Cincinnati, to expand her research into the community using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. To this end, she has implemented a community-based research registry and begun needs assessments using a child-centered PhotoVoice approach and adult focus groups. A peer family health COACH (Coaching On Achieving Community Health) program will begin soon. To inform these community-based studies, she is collaborating on a project seeking to develop unique multimedia educational materials targeting low-income and low-literacy caregivers with asthmatic children. In addition to these studies, she is also the PI of an ongoing longitudinal epidemiological study seeking to evaluate environmental and sexual exposure to human papillomavirus (HPV) in families with children diagnosed with Fanconi anemia (current NHLBI R01). Individuals with Fanconi anemia are genetically vulnerable to squamous head and neck cancers previously shown to be positively associated with HPV. Her team is testing for oral HPV DNA, HPV serological markers as well as markers of immune response. As part of this study, Dr. Butsch Kovacic regularly interacts with a community of families associated with the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, a strong parent led advocacy group focused on the improving the lives of children with Fanconi anemia, to design, optimize and disseminate the findings from her study.
Education and Training
MPH: Quantitative Methods, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 2003.
PhD: Biochemistry, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2002.
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Epidemiology/Public Health, Cancer Prevention Fellowship, Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, Division of of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 2002-2006.
Publications
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Martin LJ, Gupta J, Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Patterson TL, Ericksen MB, He H, Gibson AM, Baye TM, Heeman AM, Sha S, Eissa T, Khurana Hershey GK. Variants in the autophagy-related 5 gene (ATG5) are associated with asthma. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e33454. Hoskins EE, Morreale RJ, Werner SP, Higginbotham JM, Brown DR, Laimins LA, Lambert PF, Gillison ML, Nuovo GJ, Wikenheiser-Brokamp KA, Witte DP, Kim MO, Davies SM, Mehta PA, Butsch Kovacic M*, Wells SI* (*Co-corresponding authors). The Fanconi Anemia Pathway Limits Human Papillomavirus Replication. J Virol. 2012 Aug;86(15):8131-8. Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Martin LJ, Lindsey M, Patterson TL, Sauter S, Ericksen MB, Ryan PH, Assa’ad A, Lierl M, Fischer T, Kercsmar C, McDowell K, Lucky AW, Sheth, AP, Hershey AD, Ruddy RM, Rothenberg M, Khurana Hershey GK. The Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository (GCPCR): A Novel Framework for Asthma and Allergy Research. Pediatr Allergy Immunol Pulmonol. 2012 Jun;25(2):104-113. Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Patterson TL, Lindsey M, Ericksen MB, He H, Gupta J, Sivaprasad U, Gibson AM, Tsoras AM, Chen W, Musaad S, Baye TM, Khurana Hershey GK. Identification of KIF3A as a Novel Candidate Gene for Childhood Asthma Using RNA Expression and Population Allelic Frequencies Differences. PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23714. Myers KC, Bleesing JJ, Davies SM, Zhang X, Martin LJ, Mueller R, Harris RE, Filipovich AH, Butsch Kovacic M, Wells SI, Mehta PA. Impaired Immune Function in Children with Fanconi Anemia. British Journal of Hematology. 2011 Jul;154(2):234-40. Cortina S, Drotar D, Ericksen M, Lindsey M, Patterson TL, Biagini Myers JM, Butsch Kovacic M, Khurana Hershey GK. Genetic Biomarkers of Health-Related Quality of Life in Pediatric Asthma. Journal of Pediatrics. 2011 Jul;159(1):21-26.e1. Baye TM, Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Martin LJ, Lindsey M, Patterson TL, He H, Ericksen MB, Gupta J, Tsoras AM, Lindsley A, Rothenburg M, Wills-Karp M, Eissa T, Borrish L, Khurana Hershey GK. A comprehensive association of common genetic variation in candidate genes reveals IL-4 variants as genetic biomarkers of asthma in Caucasian and African American children. PLoS One. 2011 Feb 28;6(2):e16522. Reszka, KJ, Sallans L, Brown K, McGraw DW, Butsch Kovacic M, Britigan BE. Airway peroxidases catalyze nitration of the β2-agonist salbutamol and decrease its pharmacological activity. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2011;336:1–10. Butsch Kovacic M, Katki H, Kreimer A, Sherman ME. Epidemiologic Analysis of Histologic Cervical Inflammation: Relationship to Human Papillomavirus Infections. Human Pathology. 2008;39: 1088-1095. Gravitt P, Butsch Kovacic M (co-first authors), Castle PE, Herrero R, Schiffman M, Concepción Bratti M, Hildesheim A, Morales J, Alfaro M, Sherman ME, Wacholder Rodriguez AC, Burk RD. Viral Load of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 is Uniquely Associated with Cervical Disease. Inter. Journal of Cancer. 2007;121(12):2787-93.
Grants
Fanconi Anemia as a Model for Susceptibility to Human Papillomavirus Infection. Principal Investigator. NIH/NHLBI. 07/01/2011-06/30/2016. Serology as a Biomarker for Immune Response to Vaccination and Exposure in Fanconi Anemia. Co-Investigator. Fanconi Anemia Research Fund. 07/01/2012-06/30/2013. COACHing to Improve the Health of Youth Living in the Urban Core. Principal Investigator. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center/CoreChange. 07/01/2012-06/30/2013. Epithelial Genes in Allergic Inflammation. Co- Investigator. NIH/NIAID Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Center. 07/01/2011-06/30/2016. Asthma Intervention. Co- Investigator. The John A Schroth Family Charitable Trust Foundation. 1/01/2012-12/31/2012. Epigenetic influences of diesel exhaust particles in asthmatic children and their unaffected siblings. Co-Investigator. University of Cincinnati Center for Environmental Genetics. 4/01/2012-3/30/2012.
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Weiguo Chen, MD, PhD
is seeking to understand the biological role of interleukin-13 receptor alpha2 in the development of allergic asthma as well as to assess the role of the asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)/dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) pathway in allergic asthma. He is also participating in collaborative research with the Divisions of Immunobiology and Pulmonary Biology at Cincinnati Children’s.
513-636-4752
weiguo.chen@cchmc.org
Weiguo Chen, MD, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Asthma; allergy and immunology
Education and Training
MD: Shanghai Medical University, China, 1985.
MS: Biochemistry, Shanghai Medical University, China, 1990.
PhD: Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Cincinnati, OH, 2000.
Postdoctoral: University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 2000-2001; Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2001-2008.
Publications
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Sivaprasad U, Warrier MR, Gibson AM, Chen W, Tabata Y, Bass SA, Rothenberg ME, Khurana Hershey GK. IL-13Rα2 has a protective role in a mouse model of cutaneous inflammation. J Immunol. 2010 Dec 1;185(11):6802-8. Epub 2010 Oct 22. Chen W, Sivaprasad U, Tabata Y, Gibson AM, Stier MT, Finkelman FD, Hershey GK. IL-13R alpha 2 membrane and soluble isoforms differ in humans and mice. J Immunol. 2009 Dec 15;183(12):7870-6. Chen W, Tabata Y, Gibson AM, Daines MO, Warrier MR, Wills-Karp M, Khurana Hershey GK. Matrix metalloproteinase-8 contributes to solubilization of interleukin-13 receptor alpha-2 in vivo. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2008;122(3):625-632. Chen W, Khurana Hershey GK. Signal transducer and activator of transcription signals in allergic disease. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2007;119(3):529-541. Daines MO, Chen W, Tabata Y, Walker BA, Gibson AM, Masino JA, Warrier MR, Daines CL, Wenzel SE, Hershey GK. Allergen-dependent solubilization of IL-13 receptor alpha2 reveals a novel mechanism to regulate allergy. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2007;119(2):375-83. Tabata Y, Chen W, Warrier MR, Gibson AM, Daines MO, Hershey GK. Allergy-driven alternative splicing of IL-13 receptor alpha2 yields distinct membrane and soluble forms. Journal of Immunology. 2006;177(11):7905-7912. Daines MO, Tabata Y, Walker BA, Chen W, Warrier MR, Basu S, Hershey GK. Level of expression of interleukin-13 receptor alpha 2 impacts receptor distribution and IL-13 signaling. Journal of Immunology. 2006;176(12):7495-7501. Ponthier JL, Schluepen C, Chen W, Lersch RA, Gee SL, Hou VC, Lo AJ, Short SA, Chasis JA, Winkelmann JC, Conboy JC. Fox-2 splicing factor binds to a conserved intron motif to promote inclusion of protein 4.1R alternative exon 16. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2006;281:12468-12474.
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Lili Ding, PhD
is a biostatistician with research interest in Bayesian modeling and inference, and its applications in various fields of biomedical research, including statistical genetics, population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, multivariate survival analysis, and multilevel latent variable modeling. Dr. Ding mentors junior faculty, fellows and students in DBE and several other divisions within the hospital.
513-803-0931
lili.ding@cchmc.org
Lili Ding, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Biostatistics, Bayesian statistics, statistical genetics, population PK/PD study design and modeling
Biography
Dr. Ding has been actively involved in collaborative research with faculty members from Adolescent Medicine, Asthma Research, Human Genetics, and Pharmacology on the design, plan, statistical analysis and report of medical research studies. She is a statistician with a keen interest in the development and application of statistical methods in biomedical research. She has published multiple research papers on statistical genetics; design of pediatric population pharmacokinetic studies; and on cancer prevention behaviors and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents. She has participated in several NIH sponsored grants and serves as Principle Investigator in a CCTST method grant. Dr. Ding is Review Editor for the Journal of Frontiers in Genetics and Reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Research.
Education and Training
PhD: University of Cincinnati, OH, 2010.
MS: University of Cincinnati, OH, 2006.
BS: Changchun University of Science and Technology, Jilin, China, 1999
Publications
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Mullins TLK, Zimet GD, Rosenthal SL, Morrow C, Ding LL, Shew, M, Kahn, JA. Adolescent Perceptions of Risk and Need for Safer Sexual Behaviors After First Human Papillomavirus Vaccination. [Article]. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 166(1), 82-88. 2012. Baye TM, He H, Ding L, Kurowski BG, Zhang X, Martin LJ. Population structure analysis using rare and common functional variants. BMC Proc, 5 Suppl 9, S8. doi: 10.1186/1753-6561-5-s9-s8. 2011. Ding L, Baye TM, He H, Zhang X, Kurowski BG, Martin LJ. Detection of associations with rare and common SNPs for quantitative traits: a nonparametric Bayes-based approach. BMC Proc, 5 Suppl 9, S10. doi: 10.1186/1753-6561-5-s9-s10. 2011. Ding L, Wiener H, Abebe T, Altaye M, Go RC, Kercsmar C, Baye TM. Comparison of measures of marker informativeness for ancestry and admixture mapping. BMC genomics, 12, 622. 2011. He H, Zhang X, Ding L, Baye TM, Kurowski BG, Martin LJ. Effect of population stratification analysis on false-positive rates for common and rare variants. BMC Proc, 5 Suppl 9, S116. doi: 10.1186/1753-6561-5-s9-s116.2011. Kahn JA, Huang B, Ding LL, Geller A, Frazier AL. Impact of Maternal Communication About Skin, Cervical, and Lung Cancer Prevention on Adolescent Prevention Behaviors. [Article]. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49(1), 93-96. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.11.247. 2011. Sherwin C, Ding L, Kaplan J, Vinks A. Optimal design for a single dose pharmacokinetic study of Pioglitazone in septic pediatric patients. Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, 38(4), 433-447. 2011. Zhang X, He H, Ding L, Baye TM, Kurowski BG, Martin LJ. Family- and population-based designs identify different rare causal variants. BMC Proc, 5 Suppl 9, S36. doi: 10.1186/1753-6561-5-s9-s36. 2011. Kahn JA, Ding LL, Huang B, Zimet GD, Rosenthal SL, Frazier AL. Mothers' Intention for Their Daughters and Themselves to Receive the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A National Study of Nurses. [Article; Proceedings Paper]. Pediatrics, 123(6), 1439-1445. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-1536. 2009. Pattullo L, Griffeth S, Ding LL, Mortensen J, Reed J, Kahn J, Huppert J. Stepwise Diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis Infection in Adolescent Women. [Article]. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 47(1), 59-63. doi: 10.1128/jcm.01656-08. 2009.
Grants
Bayesian Semi-Parametric Joint Modeling of Item Response and Clinical Outcomes. Principal Investigator. Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training. 2012-2013. Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Hemorrhagic Stroke. Statistician. National Institutes of Health. 2008-2013. # R01NS36695. Behavioral and Virologic Impact of HPV Immunization. Statistician. National Institutes of Health. 2008-2012. #1R01AI070755-01. Development of an Asthma Research Core Center. Statistician. National Institutes of Health. 2009-2012. #P30HL101333-01.
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Hong Ji, PhD
is a molecular biologist and epigeneticist who has a long-term interest in epigenetic basis of development and disease. Dr. Ji’s current research interests include: (a) studying epigenetic responses of epithelial cells to environmental exposure and how this relates to the pathogenesis of allergic disorders and (b) epigenetic plasticity of cells involved in allergic immune responses is a second focus.
513-803-5055
hong.ji@cchmc.org
Hong Ji, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Epigenetic plasticity of development and disease; asthma epigenetics; genome-wide and locus specific DNA methylation analysis; epigenetic regulation of gene expression
Biography
During her postdoc training, Hong Ji, PhD, applied microarray approaches to study DNA methylation in a genome-wide scale and its role in regulating gene expression. Dr. Ji identified the methylome maps of hematopoietic progenitor cells and demonstrated the dynamic methylation changes during myeloid and lymphoid commitment in hematopoiesis, evocative of Waddington’s illustration of epigenetic landscape in development. The methylome maps she generated successfully assessed the lineage memory of induced programmed stem cells (iPS) derived from blood cells, which provides a valuable cool to evaluate to what extent iPS cells are reprogrammed compared to ES cells. In collaboration with biostatisticians, Dr. Ji provided a novel web platform with which the methylation status of any genomic locus of interest can be easily queried to generate output methylation plots, greatly facilitates the general accessibility of these datasets and identification of novel regulators of hematopoiesis. Her findings also explained the therapeutic specificity of DNA demethylating drug treatment of myelodysplasia, in which malignant cells arrested in early development may be induced to differentiate by DNA demethylation.
Education and Training
BS: University of Science and Technology of China, China, 2002.
PhD: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2007.
Fellowship: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MD, 2008-2011.
Publications
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Ji H, Ehrlich LIR, Seita J, Murakami P, Doi A, Lindau P, Lee H, Aryee MJ, Irizarry RA, Kim K, Rossi DJ, Inlay MA, Serwold T, Karsunky H, Ho L, Daley GQ, Weissman IL and Feinberg AP. A comprehensive methylome map of lineage commitment from hematopoietic progenitors. Nature. 2010 Sep;467(7313):338-342.
Kim K, Doi A, Wen B, Ng K, Zhao R, Cahan P, Kim J, Aryee M J, Ji H., Ehrlich LIR, Yabuuchi A, Takeuchi A, Cunniff KC, Hongguang H, Mckinney-Freeman S, Naveiras O, Yoon T, Irizarry RA, Hanna J, Jaenisch R, Weissleder R, Orkin S, Weissman I L, Feinberg AP and Daley GQ. Epigenetic memory in induced pluripotent stem cells. Nature. 2010 Sep;467:285-290.
Irizarry RA, Ladd-Acosta C, Wen B, Wu Z, Montano C, Onyango P, Cui H, Gabo K, Rongione M, Webster M, Ji H, Potash JB, Sabunciyan S and Feinberg AP. The human colon cancer methylome shows similar hypo- and hypermethylation at conserved tissue-specific CpG island shores. Nat Genet. 2009 Feb;41(2):178-86.
Ji H, Adkins CJ, Cartwright BR and Friedman KL. Yeast Est2p affects telomere length by influencing association of Rap1p with telomeric chromatin. Mol Cell Biol. 2008 Apr;28(7):2380-90.
Ji H, Platts MH, Dharamasi L and Friedman KL. Regulation of Telomere Length by an N-terminal Region of the Yeast Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase. Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Oct;25(20):9103-14.
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Tesfaye B. Mersha, PhD
is the Principal Investigator of a federally funded mentored research science award (K01). The goals of his research are to develop and evaluate an efficient approach to localize asthma liability genes in diverse African American populations in collaboration with members of the Department of Environmental Health at the University of Cincinnati, and to identify genes and regulatory networks that impact onset and severity of eczema.
513-803-2766
tesfaye.mersha@cchmc.org
Tesfaye B. Mersha, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Clinical InterestsAllergy and allergy related disorders Research InterestsQuantitative and statistical genetics and genomics; genetic linkage, association and admixture analysis; expression analysis; network and pathway analysis; gene ontology and functional commonalities analysis Visit the Mersha Lab.
Biography
Tesfaye B. Mersha, PhD, is a quantitative geneticist. His background includes an early exposure to the many facets of biology and statistics and interested in cross-line disciplines to understand and solve complex genetic problems. During his post-doctoral fellowship program in statistical and human genetics, Dr. Mersha worked on statistical genetics methodologies and applied genetical data analysis to localize disease genes. Particularly, he focused on genetic analyses of metabolic and mental disorders using linkage, association and admixture mapping approach. He developed genome-wide ancestry informative markers (AIMs) panel by mining databases including HapMap, Affymetrix and Illumina. The AIM markers are useful in ancestry inference, admixture mapping and structured association testing. He used over 4 million HapMap SNP data and developed approaches of chromosomal based finer population genetic structure characterization, localization of private SNPs and associated genes and pathways that could have pharmacogenomics implication.
In addition, Dr. Mersha is working on gene regulatory networks, gene ontology enrichment analysis and molecular profiling using various biologic and bioinformatic methodology for prioritizing asthma candidate genes. Dr. Mersha’s overall research interest and goal includes the use of population genomics, quantitative genetics, statistical genetics as well as proteomics and biological profiling and pathway methods to understand and dissect common complex diseases.
Education and Training
PhD: University of Goettingen, Germany, 2004.
MS: Alemaya University, Ethiopia, 1996.
BS: Alemaya University, Ethiopia, 1992.
Publications
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Baye TM. Inter-chromosomal variation in the pattern of human population genetic structure. Human Genomics. 2011;5(4):220–240. Baye TM, Butsch Kovacic M, Biagini Myers JM, Martin LJ, Lindsey M, Patterson TL, He H, Ericksen MB, Gupta J, Tsoras AM, Lindsley A, Rothenberg ME, Wills-Karp M, Eissa NT, Borish L, Khurana Hershey GK. Differences in Candidate Gene Association between European Ancestry and African American Asthmatic Children. PLoS One. 2011 Feb 28;6(2):e16522. Baye TM, Abebe T, Wilke RA. Genotype-environment interactions and their translational implications. Personalized Medicine. 2011;8:59-70.
Baye TM, Wilke RA. Mapping genes that predict treatment outcome in admixed populations. Pharmacogenomics J. 2010 Dec;10(6):465-77. Baye TM, Wilke RA. Mapping genes that predict treatment outcome in admixed populations. Pharmacogenomics J. 2010 Dec;10(6):465-77. Baye TM, Martin LJ, Khurana Hershey GK. Application of genetic/genomic approaches to allergic disorders. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Sep;126(3):425-36; quiz 437-8. Gawrieh S, Baye TM, Carless M, Wallace J, Komorowski R, Kleiner DE, Andris D, Makladi B, Cole R, Charlton M, Curran J, Dyer TD, Charlesworth J, Wilke R, Blangero J, Kissebah AH, Olivier M. Hepatic gene networks in morbidly obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.Obes Surg. 2010 Dec;20(12):1698-709. Zhang Y, Smith EM, Baye TM, Eckert JV, Abraham LJ, Moses EK, Kissebah AH, Martin LJ, Olivier M. Serotonin (5-HT) receptor 5A sequence variants affect human plasma triglyceride levels.Physiol Genomics. 2010 Jul 7;42(2):168-76. Baye TM, Wilke RA, Olivier M. Genomic and geographic distribution of private SNPs and pathways in human populations.Per Med. 2009 Nov 1;6(6):623-641. Smith EM, Zhang Y, Baye TM, Gawrieh S, Cole R, Blangero J, Carless MA, Curran JE, Dyer TD, Abraham LJ, Moses EK, Kissebah AH, Martin LJ, Olivier M. INSIG1 influences obesity-related hypertriglyceridemia in humans.J Lipid Res. 2010 Apr;51(4):701-8.
Grants
Admixture Mapping in African American Asthmatic Children. Principal Investigator. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Jul 2010 - May 2015. #1K01HL103165.
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Umasundari Sivaprasad, PhD
is attempting to elucidate the function of serpins in asthma, assess a potential role of statins in asthma and to understand the influence of IL-13Ralpha2 in eczema. She has ongoing collaborations with investigators at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Divisions of Pulmonary Biology, Immunobiology, and Pathology at Cincinnati Children’s.
513-636-1629
siv9ni@cchmc.org
Umasundari Sivaprasad, PhD
Academic Information
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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Specialties
Education and Training
BS: St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India, 1993.
MS: The University of Mumbai, India, 1995.
PhD: The Ohio State University, 2003.
Postdoctoral Research Associate: University of Virginia, 2003-2007.
Publications
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Sivaprasad, U., Canfield, J. M., Brooks, C. L. Mechanism of Ordered Lactogen Receptor Binding by Human Prolactin. Biochemistry. 43(43):13755-65. 2004. Senga, T.S.*, Sivaprasad, U.*, Zhu, W.*, Park, J.H., Arias, E., Walter, J.C., Dutta, A., PCNA is a cofactor for Cdt1 degradation by CUL4/DDB1-mediated N-terminal ubiquitination. J. Biol Chem. 281(10): 6246-52. * Co-first authors. 2005. Sivaprasad, U., Abbas, T., Dutta, A., Differential efficacy of 3-hydroxy 3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors on the cell cycle of prostate cancer cells. Mol. Cancer Ther. 5(9):2310-16. 2006. Abbas, T., Sivaprasad, U., Terai, K., Amador, V., Pagano M., Dutta, A., PCNA-dependent regulation of p21 ubiquitylation and degradation via the CRL4Cdt2 ubiquitin ligase complex. Genes and Dev. 22(18):2496-2506. PMCID: PMC2546691. 2008. Chen, W., Sivaprasad, U., Tabata, Y., Gibson, A.M., Stier, M.T., Finkelman, F.D., Hershey, G.K., IL-13R alpha 2 membrane and soluble isoforms differ in humans and mice. J Immunol. 183(12): 7870-76. PMCID: PMC2822278. 2009. Sivaprasad, U., Warrier, M.R., Gibson, A.M., Chen, W., Tabata, Y., Bass, S.A., Rothenberg, M.E., Khurana Hershey, G.K., IL-13 Receptor Alpha2 has a protective role in a mouse model of cutaneous inflammation. J Immunol. 185(11):6802-8. 2010. Sivaprasad, U., Askew, D.J., Ericksen, M.B., Gibson, A.M., Stier, M.S., Brandt, E., Bass, S.A., Daines, M.O., Chakir, J., Stringer, K.F., Wert, S.E., Whitsett, J.A., Le Cras, T.D., Wills-Karp, M., Silverman, G.A., Khurana Hershey, G.K., A non-redundant role for mouse Serpinb3a in the induction of mucus production in asthma. J Allergy Clin. Immunol. 127(1):254-261.e6. PMCID: PMC3058372. 2010. Butsch Kovacic, M., Biagini Myers, JM., Patterson, TL, Lindsey, M., Ericksen, MB, He, H., Gupta, J., Sivaprasad, U., Gibson, AM., Tsoras, AM, Chen, W., Musaad, S., Baye, TM, Khurana Hershey, G.K. Identification of KIF3A as a Novel Candidate Gene for Childhood Asthma Using RNA Expression and Population Allelic Frequencies Differences. PLoS One 6(8):e23714 PMCID: PMC3166061. 2011. Wills-Karp, M., Rani, R., Dienger, K., Lewkowich, I., Fox, J.G., Perkins, C., Lewis, L., Finkelman, F.D., Smith, D.E., Bryce, P.J., Kurt-Jones, E.A., Wang, T.C., Sivaprasad, U., Hershey, G.K., Herbert, D.R. Trefoil factor 2 rapidly induces interleukin 33 to promote type 2 immunity during allergic asthma and hookworm infection. J. Exp. Med. 209(3):607-22. PMCID: PMC3302229. 2012. Chen, W., Sivaprasad, U., Gibson, A.M., Ericksen M.B., Cunningham C.M., Bass, S.A., Kinker, K.G., Finkelman, F.D., Wills-Karp, M., Khurana Hershey, G.K. IL-13 Receptor Alpha 2 Contributes to Development of Experimental Allergic Asthma. J Allergy Clin. Immunol In Press. 2013.
Grants
Role of IL-13 Receptors in Atopic Dermatitis. Co-Investigator. National Institutes of Health. July 2007 - June 2012. #R01 AR054490-01.
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