He Li
 | E-mail: he-li@ouhsc.edu |
CITY/STATE/COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Changchun, People's Republic of China
EDUCATION:
Jilin University, P.R. China
BS Biotechnology (2007)
Jilin University, P.R. China
MS Molecular Biology & Biochemistry (2010)
YEAR OF GRADUATE PROGRAM:
2
MENTOR:
Kathy L. Moser, PhD
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a common autoimmune disorder characterized by lymphocytic infiltration into exocrine glands. Etiology of SS involves environmental and genetic factors; however, large-scale genetic studies have not yet been conducted in SS and the genetic basis for SS is largely unexplored. The genetic variation associated with SS will not be known until the results from comprehensive, genome-wide studies are available. We hypothesize that SS is influenced by multiple susceptibility loci containing variants that influence both gene expression levels and/or function. We propose to conduct an unbiased, multi-stage GWA study to identify genetic variation contributing to SS. In addition, alignment with our gene expression profiles and results from ongoing genetic studies in SS, SLE and other related autoimmune diseases will be used to guide selection of high-priority candidates for detailed study in SS.