Founder and fine-scale populations

Global biobanks are increasingly powered by populations shaped by shared ancestry, founder effects, and recent demographic history. I study how this fine-scale structure influences disease risk and genomic discovery, and how to translate it responsibly into research and care. This work spans method development for multi-ancestry analysis and the ethics of how we describe and study human diversity.

Identity-by-descent and health in Los Angeles

Using the UCLA ATLAS biobank, I used identity-by-descent to identify fine-scale patient communities in the UCLA health system, including groups that are significantly understudied in genomics such as Armenian, Iranian, and Gujarati Angelenos. Linking these clusters to electronic health records, we mapped the diagnoses, specialty care, and geography of health across Los Angeles, with the goal of surfacing disparities and empowering more equitable clinical care.

Cell-free DNA biomarkers

Most cases of ALS are sporadic, and the disease is difficult to monitor without a clear molecular marker. I develop methods to read the tissue origins of cell-free DNA circulating in the blood, including CelFiE, which deconvolves cfDNA methylation to estimate its cellular sources. These approaches recover disease-relevant signals, such as elevated skeletal-muscle contributions in ALS, and point toward non-invasive biomarkers for degenerative disease.