Faculty Profiles

Faculty members within the Center for Human Genomics come from various departments of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Most members have faculty appointments in either internal medicine, pediatrics/medical genetics, or public health/epidemiology. Because of our strong ties to these diverse departments, we are in a position to rapidly assemble remarkable research teams for innovative research projects on an ongoing basis.

Please browse the alphabetical list of faculty members below for a quick summary of our group's interests. Click on an individual member's name for more details, including a biographical sketch, research interests, and lists of publications.

Welcome from the Directors

Directors:

Eugene R. Bleecker, MD

Main research focus is the genetics of pulmonary diseases, including asthma.

Deborah A. Meyers, PhD

Main research interests include both the genetics of pulmonary diseases and prostate cancer.

Associate Director:

Donald W. Bowden, PhD

Research interests are focused on the genetics of diabetes.

Stephen Peters, M.D, PhD.

Main research interests include the genetics of pulmonary diseases, including asthma.

Jianfeng Xu, DrPH

Main research interest is the genetics of prostate cancer. Supervises most data analysis in the center.

Faculty:

Bao Li Chang, PhD

Research interests include the genetics of prostate cancer.

Annette T. Hastie, PhD

Main research interests include the genetics of pulmonary diseases, including asthma.

Gregory A. Hawkins, PhD

Main research interests include the genetics of prostate cancer. Responsible for the high throughput sequencing lab.

David M. Herrington, MD, MHS

Primary research is on the role of estrogen in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women

Timothy D. Howard, PhD

Research focused on the genetics of asthma, allergy, and vascular diseases.

Tamison Jewett, MD

One major research area is the improvment of medical genetics instruction for medical students. Clinical research interests include connective tissue disorders.

Patrick Koty, MD

Research focuses on Breast Cancer.

Wennuan Liu, PhD

Research focuses on the genetics of prostate cancer.

Matthew J. Loza, PhD

Research focuses on regulation of lymphocyte functions and signaling; Asthma, immunology and genomics; Lymphocyte function in other diseases, including lupus and heart failure.

Wendy Moore, MD

Research focuses on the pathophysiology of airways inflammation in allergy.

Barbara Nicklas, PhD

Major research areas include aging, obesity and exercise physiology. Projects integrate evaluations of genetics, behavior, and medication use.

Jill Ohar, MD

Primary area of interest is the genetics of inhalational diseases such as COPD, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Rodolfo M. Pascual, MD

Main research interests include the genetics of pulmonary diseases, including asthma.

Raymond Penn, PhD

Airway Biology, Signal Transduction, G protein-coupled receptor regulation, Asthma and inflammatory lung disease

Mark Pettenati, PhD

Research interests include cytogenetics and new applications of FISH technology.

Vandana Shashi, MD

Research focused on psychosocial aspects of Velo-cardio-facial syndrome.

Sigun (Lilly) Zheng, MD

Supervises the high throughput genotyping lab. Involved in most major projects in the center, including those focused on prostate cancer, asthma, allergy, and cardiovascular disease.