Associate Professor, Genetic Medicine
Research Description
The Ng lab is interested in research related to the genetics of type 2 diabetes, the complications of diabetes (e.g. diabetic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease), and contributors to diabetes (e.g. obesity, insulin resistance and insulin secretion) in African Americans and other populations. We apply a wide range of genomics (genome-wide association, exome sequencing, polygenic risk scores) approaches and integrate with metabolomics to dissect the genetic architecture of diabetes and related phenotypes. We lead the MEDIA consortium, a GWAS meta-analysis study of type 2 diabetes in African Americans. We collaborate extensively with national and international consortia including AAGILE, AMP-T2D, CHARGE, DIAMANTE, T2D-GENES, TOPMed and MVP for genomic studies of various cardiometabolic phenotypes.
Dr. Ng's laboratory focuses on research of the genetic architecture of complex traits in African Americans, particularly type 2 diabetes, the complications of diabetes (e.g., diabetic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease), and contributors to diabetes (e.g., obesity, insulin resistance, and insulin secretion). Her laboratory applies genomic and other -omics approaches including linkage, genome-wide association, next-generation sequencing, and integration with metabolomics to examine family- and population-based data to identify and fine map disease loci. Her laboratory also studies the impact of gene-gene, gene-environment interactions and polygenic risk scores in disease susceptibility. Dr. Ng collaborates extensively both nationally and internationally, and she actively participates in GWAS consortia of cardiometabolic traits in African Americans and trans-ancestry populations including up to a million individuals.