Learning objectives:
1. Discuss the conceptual distinction and clinical utility of self-reported race/ethnicity and genetic ancestry in childhood asthma.
2. Discuss the role of genetic ancestry and socio-environmental exposures in childhood asthma.
3. Discuss ancestry-specific polygenic risk scores, precision medicine and childhood asthma disparities.
Short bio:
Dr. Mersha is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Asthma Research and leads the Population Genetics, Ancestry, and Bioinformatics (pGAB) Laboratory (https://research.cchmc.org/mershalab/Home.php).
Dr. Mersha’s research combines quantitative, ancestry and statistical genomics to unravel genetic and non-genetic contributions to complex diseases and racial disparities in human populations, particularly asthma and asthma-related allergic disorders. Much of his research is at the interface of genetic ancestry, statistics, bioinformatics, and functional genomics, and he is interested in cross-line disciplines to unravel the interplay between genome and envirome underlying asthma risk. His long-term research goal is to understand and dissect how biologic predisposition and environmental exposures interact to shape racial disparities in complex disorders.