Research Interests
Keywords: genetic epidemiology, human genetics, genome-wide association studies, precision medicine, multi-omics, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, hemostasis, inflammation, hematological traits
In my research program, I use human genomics and multi-omics to understand inherited and environmental risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and related quantitative traits. I work to link genetic variants to function through integration with multi-omics data, including transcriptomic, methylation, proteomic, and metabolomic measures. This work has important implications for disease risk prediction and improved understanding of disease biology. A focus on understudied populations is a central theme of my research; human genetics and molecular epidemiology research is dramatically unrepresentative of global populations, with for example >90% of genome-wide association study participants of European descent. As complex trait genetics moves into the clinic, increasing representativeness is essential to ensure that all populations benefit from the promise of precision medicine.
I play a leadership role in collaborative efforts in human genetics, for example serving as a Genetics Working Group co-chair for the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), one of the largest population-based studies of African American adults, and as a co-convener of the Multi-Omics working group for the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program.
Publications
Laura Raffield in Genetics News

April 20, 2025
Department of Genetics Publications for March 2nd – 29th, 2025
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 30 papers during March 2nd - 29th 2025.

April 8, 2025
Dr. Yun Li and Team Publish New Model (endoPRS) in AJHG
Yun Li, PhD (Professor, Genetics) together with first author Elena Kharitonova (PhD Student, Biostatistics) have published a new paper in the American Journal of Human Genetics (AJHG) titled “EndoPRS: Incorporating endophenotype information to improve polygenic risk scores for clinical endpoints – a study in asthma”.

April 4, 2025
Dr. Yun Li and Collaborators Publish Review in AJHG
Yun Li, PhD (Professor, Genetics and Biostatistics) is a co-corresponding author together with Quan Sun (Biostatistics doctoral candidate) on a new review paper published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, titled “Opportunities and challenges of local ancestry in genetic association analysis”.

March 20, 2025
Laura Raffield Awarded New Subcontract from UTSW Medical Center
Dr. Laura Raffield (Assistant Professor, Genetics) has received a new subcontract from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

March 3, 2025
Department of Genetics Publications for February 2nd – March 1st, 2025
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 18 papers during February 2nd - March 1st 2025.

February 6, 2025
Department of Genetics Publications for January 19th – February 1st, 2025
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 17 papers during January 19th - February 1st 2025.

January 20, 2025
Department of Genetics Publications for January 5th – 18th, 2025
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 18 papers during January 5th - 18th, 2025.

January 6, 2025
Department of Genetics Publications for December 22nd, 2024 – January 4th, 2025
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 11 papers during December 22nd, 2024 - January 4th, 2025.

December 16, 2024
Department of Genetics Publications for November 24th – December 7th, 2024
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 17 papers during November 24th - December 7th, 2024.

December 3, 2024
Department of Genetics Publications for November 10th – 23rd, 2024
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 19 papers during November 10th - 23rd, 2024.