HYBRID SEMINAR:
In-person: BSRB, ABC seminar rooms
zoom: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m4qKwGr-Rb6vJjnVLZWByw

Francesca Luca, Ph.D.
Professor, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Wayne State University

Abstract: Asthma is an immunological disorder with genetic and environmental components. In the last ten years we have been studying genetic and environmental factors that contribute to asthma severity in children living in the metropolitan Detroit area, as part of the NHLBI funded project: Asthma in the Lives of Families Today (ALOFT). We have performed bulk and single cell RNA-sequency in this cohort and uncovered psychosocial and genetic factors associated with asthma. I will present our findings on the dynamic genetic regulation of gene expression in response to immunomodulators and during pubertal development. I will also discuss the importance of considering environmental and developmental contexts when using molecular data to study the genetic risk of asthma and other complex traits.

Keywords: Gene expression, gene-environment interactions, eQTL, asthma, single cell genomics