第177场兴泉全球健康讲座

内容概要

Proteomics, the large-scale study of hundreds to thousands of proteins, has emerged as an invaluable tool in biologic discovery. Proteins perform most biological functions and serve as the therapeutic targets of many approved drugs, and therefore are well-suited translational biomarkers. Recent advances in aptamer-based platform, such as SOMAScan and Olink, have enabled multiplexing thousands of proteins within a single sample. This advance has greatly expanded our ability to comprehensively study the proteome and its implications in human health and disease. Pairing with genetic data, proteomics can help validate protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs, genetic regions associated with variations in protein levels), and subsequently aid in the identification of causal relationships through Mendelian Randomization technique. Researchers can leverage these technologies to better understand complex biological processes and identify potential avenues for medical intervention. Specifically, the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) has recently completed large-scale proteomic assays using SOMAScan technology. By incorporating CHS proteomics data and meta-analyzing with external population-based cohorts, we have identified proteomic signatures associated with important human phenotypes in community-dwelling older adults.

讲者介绍

Xiaojuan Liu, MS, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University. Her research focuses on identifying mechanisms and proteomic signatures of age-related outcomes and applying causal inference methods to mitigate bias in observational studies. She also serves as a research assistant in the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, where she conducts research using electronic health records to evaluate antihypertensive treatment, physical function, and cardiovascular disease in older population. She earned a MS in Epidemiology from Shandong University, China, and a MS in Statistics from Stanford University, USA. In 2016, she completed the Global Learning Semester at Duke Kunshan University.