Timothy D. Howard, PhD

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics (Medical Genetics); Center for Human Genomics

Email: tdhoward@wfubmc.edu

Education:

Wake Forest University, BS (Biology)

The Bowman Gray School of Medicine, MS (Medical Genetics)

The Bowman Gray School of Medicine, PhD (Molecular Genetics)

Research Interests:

Identification of disease genes for complex diseases, with a focus on cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.

Current Research:

As part of the Center for Human Genomics, my interests include the identification of genes for complex diseases, mostly for asthma and cardiovascular disease. Our labs use the latest technology and automation, combined with several different genetic approaches, for gene identification. We have recently completed a genome screen for asthma-related phenotypes in a group of 200 Dutch families ascertained through a proband with asthma. Several genomic regions were identified, and we are currently fine-mapping these regions to identify the gene or genes responsible for asthma susceptibility. We have also evaluated numerous candidate genes for asthma in this and other asthma populations, and continue to identify genes that play a role in asthma or allergy susceptibility. Other areas of interests include gene-gene and gene- environment interactions.

Recent Publications:

Lakoski SG, Li L, Langefeld CD, Liu Y, Howard TD, Brosnihan KB, Xu J, Bowden DW, Herrington DM. The association between innate immunity gene (IRAK1) and C-reactive protein in the Diabetes Heart Study. Exp Mol Pathol. 2007 Jun;82(3):280-3. Epub 2007 Feb 22.

Bray PF, Howard TD, Vittinghoff E, Sane DC, Herrington DM. Effect of genetic variations in platelet glycoproteins Ibalpha and VI on the risk for coronary heart disease events in postmenopausal women taking hormone therapy. Blood. 2007 Mar 1;109(5):1862-9. Epub 2006 Nov 14.

Shashi V, Keshavan MS, Howard TD, Berry MN, Basehore MJ, Lewandowski E, Kwapil TR. Cognitive correlates of a functional COMT polymorphism in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Clin Genet. 2006 Mar;69(3):234-8.

Dijkstra A, Howard TD, Vonk JM, Ampleford EJ, Lange LA, Bleecker ER, Meyers DA, Postma DS. Estrogen receptor 1 polymorphisms are associated with airway hyperresponsiveness and lung function decline, particularly in female subjects with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006 Mar;117(3):604-11.

Howard TD, Giles WH, Xu J, Wozniak MA, Malarcher AM, Lange LA, Macko RF, Basehore MJ, Meyers DA, Cole JW, Kittner SJ. Promoter polymorphisms in the nitric oxide synthase 3 gene are associated with ischemic stroke susceptibility in young black women. Stroke. 2005 Sep;36(9):1848-51.

Publications:
For a listing of additional publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine