Keith Keene, Ph.D. 

Email address: kkeene@wfubmc.edu

Education:

Wake Forest University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Ph.D., 2007

BS (Biology), 2003, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Research Interests:

It is estimated that 13% of African Americans have diabetes, and an African American individual is twice as likely to have diabetes as compared to a Caucasian American of the same age.  The goal of my research is to identify the gene(s) contributing to the 6q linkage peak that has been identified in African American families that have type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).  The positional cloning method will be used to evaluate and determine potential candidate genes in this region.  We believe we have identified a novel diabetes gene in this region, Estrogen Receptor alpha (ESR1), which would represent one of the first diabetes genes positionally identified using data from an African American population.  We aim to further explore single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotypes that show association with T2DM in ESR1, as well as analyze SNPs in additional candidate genes, in order to determine if there is any association in those genes as well.  Association findings will then be analyzed through functional assays to determine if the associated SNPs/haplotypes serve a biological function.  Understanding the function of polymorphisms in ESR1, or any other candidate genes located under the 6q linkage peak, will provide critical information that will aid in understanding the pathophysiology of T2DM and how these variations contribute to the disease across different populations.

Honors/Awards:

  2006          Wake Forest University Alumni Travel Award

2006          Participated in the 1^st Annual NIH National Graduate Student Research Festival

2005          Awarded National Research Service Award (NRSA): Chromosome 6q and Diabetes In African Americans

2005          Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB MARC) Travel Award

Publications:

Manuscripts

Sale MM, Hsu FC, Palmer ND, Gordon CJ, Keene KL, Borgerink HM, Sharma AJ, Bergman RN, Taylor KD, Saad MF, Norris JM. The uncoupling protein 1 gene, UCP1, is expressed in mammalian islet cells and associated with acute insulin response to glucose in African American families from the IRAS Family Study. Submitted to Diabetologia.

   Gallagher CJ*, Keene KL*, Langefeld CD, Mychaleckyj JC, Hirschhorn JN, Gordon CJ, Freedman BI, Rich SS, Bowden DW, Sale MM. Association of the Estrogen Receptor Alpha gene with type 2 diabetes in African American and Caucasian American populations. Accepted by Diabetes (12/18/06). *Co-first authors.

Conference Abstracts

Keene KL, Mychaleckyj JC, Gordon CJ, Freedman BI, Bowden DW, Sale MM. The Impact of Admixture on Genetic Association Studies of Type 2 Diabetes in an African American Population. International Diabetes Federation 19^th World Diabetes Congress, Cape Town, South Africa, 2006, [P165].

Sale MM, Leak TS, Keene KL, Langefeld CD, Lu L, Mychaleckyj JC, Freedman BI, Bowden DW. Investigation of an Early-Onset of Type 2 Diabetes Locus in an African American Population. International Diabetes Federation 19^th World Diabetes Congress, Cape Town, South Africa, 2006, [P174].

Keene KL, Gallagher CJ, Mychaleckyj JC, Langefeld CD, Hirschhorn JN, Henderson BE, Gordon CJ, Freedman BI, Rich SS, Bowden DW, Sale MM.  Association of the Estrogen Receptor Alpha Gene with Type 2 Diabetes in African American and European American Populations.  American Diabetes Association 66^th Scientific Sessions, Washington DC, 2006, [1103-P].

Leak TS, Mychaleckyj JC, Keene KL, Gordon, CJ, Hicks PA, Freedman BI, Bowden DW, Sale MM.  A Dense SNP Map of Human Chromosome 6q24-27 To Localize a Type 2 Diabetes Gene in an African American Population.  American Diabetes Association 66^th Scientific Sessions, Washington DC, 2006, [1109-P].

Sale MM, Hsu FC, Palmer ND, Gordon CJ, Keene KL, Borgerink HM, Sharma AJ, Bergman RN, Taylor KD, Saad MF, Norris JM.  The Uncoupling Protein 1 Gene Is Expressed in Human Islets and Associated with Acute Insulin Response in African American Families from the IRAS Family Study.  American Diabetes Association 66^th Scientific Sessions, Washington DC, 2006, [1122-P]

Keene KL, Gallagher CJ, Mychaleckyj JC, Gordon CJ, Langefeld CD, Freedman BI, Bowden DW, Sale MM. Admixture-adjusted association between the estrogen receptor alpha gene and type 2 diabetes in an African American population. American Society of Human Genetics 55^th Annual meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2005, Abstract #1767 (p.327).

Grant Support: