Christine Skibola

skibolaChristine Skibola, PhD, formerly Leader of Core C: Genomics and Analytical Chemistry, has left University of California Berkeley to accept the position of:

    Professor, Department of Epidemiology
    Caldwell Marks Endowed Chair in Molecular Epidemiology
    Comprehensive Cancer Center
    University of Alabama at Birmingham

 

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Research Interests

The main focus of Dr. Skibola’s research is to identify how genetic variation and environmental exposures contribute to the development of human B-cell lymphomas and leukemias, and to determine the mechanisms involved.

Specific lines of investigation in our group include:

1) Conducting genome-wide association studies in human populations to identify common gene variants that influence risk of leukemia and lymphoma.  Validated susceptibility loci are further investigated through high-throughput targeted sequencing and functional bioassays;

2) Performing functional studies to determine how genetic variation in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region influences lymphomagenesis and its progression.  These studies are a follow-up to findings from two GWAS performed by our group that identified major risk factors for follicular lymphoma in the MHC region (Skibola et al., Nature Genetics, 2009; Conde et al., Nature Genetics, in press); and

3)  Utilizing new and improved approaches to identify lymphomagens by assessing the relationship between chemical body burden with disease risk in human populations.

Recent Publications