Ourcenteris interested in genetic dissection of human complex diseases using the state-of-the-art multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches of genomic technologies, and statistical and bioinformatical methods. The complex disease we are focusing on is osteoporosis, which is a prevalent, debilitating disorder characterized by bone fragility and an increased risk of low-trauma fractures. The approaches we are using involve genome-wide association analyses, genome-wide transcriptome analyses, proteome-wide protein expression profiling and in vivo and in vitro functional analyses of specific genes of interest.

Using the same genomic strategies, we are extending our research to other human complex diseases, including obesity, sarcopenia and periodontitis, and other human complex traits, including age at menarche/menopause and behavior traits, e.g., smoking, drinking and exercise. We are also extending our research of complex diseases from genome to epigenome, e.g., we are performing epigenome-wide profiling of osteoporosis at micro-RNA, DNA phosphorylation and histone modification levels. In particular, we are interested in developing novel statistical methods and bioinformatics tools for analyzing and managing large, complex datasets in genomic and epigenomic research.