MISSION STATEMENT
To improve the health of all people by advancing our understanding of complex diseases and the therapies used to treat them.
WHAT WE DO
Our work combines genomics, epidemiology, and pharmacology to better understand the causes and treatments of common conditions, such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, depression, and heart failure.
We have developed and refined methods to measure medication use longitudinally in large patient populations. We have used these measures to accomplish the following: quantify patient non-adherence to medication and its effects on outcomes, better identify and measure intended and unintended consequences of particular medications, and discover novel genetic predictors of medication treatment response in multiple race-ethnic groups.
We also have particular experience in large, population-based studies. These studies contribute to discoveries that expand our knowledge of disease etiologies, including both genetic and environmental causes. One of our ongoing studies, called SAPPHIRE (Study of Asthma Phenotypes and Pharmacogenomic Interactions by Race-ethnicity), is among the largest of its kind in the United States and includes over 6000 participants with asthma. As with many of our studies, the SAPPHIRE cohort includes a broad representation of individuals who differ in age, sex, race-ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. This diversity ensures that the knowledge gained through these studies is broadly applicable to the whole population and not restricted to any one group.
WHERE WE EXCEL
Our participants – Our study participants reflect the socioeconomic and race-ethnic diversity of southeastern Michigan and the Detroit metropolitan area. This inclusiveness ensures that scientific discoveries made by our team broadly benefit all people.
Our team – Our research team comprises individuals with a depth of experience in clinical and basic science research. Therefore, we are involved in projects that vary in scope from health policy to population genetics. This scientific breadth also allows us to bring science from the “bench to bedside” in areas such as pharmacogenomics, where we are working to identify genes that influence how we respond to medication.
Our data – In many of our studies, we collect information on medication use and clinical outcomes over time. As a result, we have excellent longitudinal measures of both medication exposure and disease outcomes. These data can be used to resolve important clinical and scientific questions rapidly without the delay, expense, and risk of additional trials.