Genetic effects on liver gene regulation and metabolic traits | Professor Karen L Mohlke

Karen Mohlke is a human geneticist from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where she is currently Professor, Oliver Smithies Investigator, and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Genetics. Karen's research focuses on genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, and genetic variation in related quantitative traits. She uses genome-wide association studies and fine-mapping to identify susceptibility signals for metabolic diseases and related traits. To identify the genes and variants responsible for these associations, she analyzes transcriptome and epigenome data from hundreds of individuals and identifies disease-related molecular quantitative trait loci. She uses molecular and cellular assays to determine the functional role of genes and consequences of genetic variants on disease processes.