The overarching goal of my research program is to better understand the interaction between DNA variation and gene regulation. I study this interaction in settings of inflammation with application to complex diseases like atherosclerosis and hypertension. My research is predominantly focused on endothelial cells, which line blood vessels and are mediators of inflammation in the vessel wall. Using next-generation sequencing technologies, and a combination of experimental and computational approaches, we study how endothelial cells achieve context-appropriate expression patterns in healthy and inflammatory settings. By leveraging the interconnected relationship between DNA sequence, epigenetics, gene expression, and disease loci from genome-wide association studies, we aim to identify and interpret complex disease mechanisms.
