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Charles
N. Rotimi ,
Ph.D.
Dr.
Charles Rotimi
is a biochemist
and a genetic
epidemiologist
in the National
Human Genome
Center (NHGC),
College of Medicine
at Howard University.
He received
his undergraduate
education from
the University
of Benin in
Nigeria before
immigrating
to the United
States for further
studies. Dr.
Rotimi started
his education
in the US at
the University
of Mississippi
where he obtained
a masters degree
in Health Care
Administration.
He obtained
a second masters
degree and a
doctorate in
epidemiology
from the University
of Alabama at
Birmingham School
of Public Health.
He is currently
a Professor
in the Department
of Microbiology,
Acting Director
of the NHGC
and Director
of Genetic Epidemiology,
NHGC at Howard
University in
the College
of Medicine.
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His
long-term scientific
interest is directed
at understanding the
patterns and determinants
of common complex
diseases including
diabetes, hypertension
and obesity in populations
of the African Diaspora.
Collectively, diabetes,
hypertension, obesity
and their complications
explain over 80% of
the well-documented
health disparity that
exists between African
Americans and their
White counterparts
in the US. Contemporary
populations of African
descent now live in
very different social
settings, from traditional
to fully westernized
lifestyles, with varying
degrees of genetic
admixture.
Dr. Rotimi believes
that studying these
diverse populations
may help explain phenomenon
like the monotonic
increase in hypertension
rates as one moves
from rural west Africa
(about 7%) through
the black nations
of the Caribbean (about
26%) and the US (about
34%). Taking
advantage of the huge
contrast in the distribution
of risk factors in
these contemporary
African populations,
Dr. Rotimi uses genetic
epidemiology models
to test whether high
rate of diseases like
diabetes, hypertension
and obesity among
African Americans
is the result of exposure
to higher levels of
environmental risk
factors, an increased
genetic susceptibility,
or an interaction
between adverse environments
and deleterious genes.
Dr. Rotimi is the
president of the African
Society of Human Genetics.
(Click here for C.V.)
Microsoft Office document
Georgia
M. Dunston, Ph.D.
Dr.
Dunston is founding
director of the NHGC
and director of the
molecular genetics
research program.
She is professor and
former chair, Department
of Microbiology. Dr.
Dunston is an established
investigator, nationally
and internationally
known for genetic
research on human
leukocyte antigen
(HLA) polymorphisms
in African Americans.
Her research
on human genome variation
in disease susceptibility
has been the vanguard
of current efforts
at Howard University
to build national
and international
research collaborations
focusing on the genetics
of diseases common
in African Americans
and other African
Diaspora populations.
(Click here for C.V.)
George
E. Bonney, Ph.D.
Dr.
Bonney is an internationally
recognized statistical
geneticist and the
first to be recruited
in 1998 to a position
at the NHGC. As
director of Statistical
Genetics and Bioinformatics,
Dr. Bonney has recruited
a superb team of investigators
to conduct the science
and provide the statistical
and analytical expertise
required for the management
and analyses of genome
data.
Dr. Bonney
is Principal Investigator
of an NIH grant to
develop software for
genetic epidemiology
models (G.E.Ms).
(Click here for C.V.)
Paulette
Furbert-Harris, Ph.D.
Dr.
Harris is director
of the core laboratory
for the genome center.
She is a tenured
faculty member of
the Department of
Microbiology and has
been instrumental
in establishing research
protocols for the
core laboratory at
HU. This core
laboratory supports
the AAHPC and AADM
study networks. The
AAHPC study network
is a national cooperative
of seven sites set
up to study the genetics
of prostate cancer,
and the AADM Study
Network is an international
cooperative of five
sites working together
to study the genetics
of type 2 diabetes.
The AAHPC and AADM
projects were planned
and implemented in
conjunction with investigators
and scientists at
the National Human
Genome Research Institute
(NHGRI) and NIH Office
of Research on Minority
Health. Dr.
Harris currently has
established more than
250 cell lines (lymphocytes,
eosinophils, prostate)
from allergic, asthmatic
cancer patients and
non-diseased individuals.
She will head the
biobank for the new
TgRAID Program.
Dr. Harris has accepted
to be Guest Editor
for the Cellular and
Molecular Biology
Journal.
(Click here for C.V.)
Charmaine
Royal, Ph.D.
Dr. Royal is Director
of the GenEthics Unit
and Assistant Professor
in the Department
of Pediatrics and
Child Health, Division
of Medical Genetics.
She
received
her B.S. in Microbiology,
M.S. in Genetic Counseling,
and Ph.D. in Human
Genetics from Howard
University.
She then completed
a post-doctoral fellowship
in the Bioethics and
Special Populations
Research Program of
the National Human
Genome Research Institute
at the National Institutes
of Health.
Her
areas of interest
include: research
on the ethical, legal,
social, and psychosocial
implications of human
genetics/genome research
for African Americans
and other peoples
of the African Diaspora;
establishment of genetics
education programs
for both the professional
and public sectors
of these communities;
and development of
domestic and international
polices related to
human genetics/genome
research and genetic
services. Dr.
Royal has presented
and published on the
ethical and social
dimensions of genetic
research involving
African Americans
and other people of
color, as well as
on the psychosocial
aspects of sickle
cell disease and prostate
cancer.
Dr.
Royal is a member of
several professional
organizations and serves
on a number of professional
committees.
(Click here for C.V.)
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