Cayo Santiago: Hurricane Maria Response Project

My proposed dissertation work will explore the transcriptional and epigenetic signature of trauma in the non-human primate model rhesus macaques: including immune function, overall physiology and stress response, and measures of biological aging. This is part of a large collaboration across NYU, ASU, UPenn, University of Exeter, The Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC), and many others. I hope to explore the regulatory effects of Hurricane Maria both within and across tissues, using integrated DNA methylation and gene expression data, from individuals collected pre- and post- hurricane. 
Advisor: Dr. James Higham 
Credit: ROBERT HARDING

Phylogenetic analysis of Mandrillus and Cercocebus

For my second-year Master's project at NYU I am using whole exome data from a number of species within the genus Cercocebus and Mandrillus. I will perform phylogenetic analyses to explore more detailed evolutionary relationships in these closely related primate groups, including potential introgression.               In Progress. 
Advisor: Dr. Todd Disotell and Dr. Christina Bergey

Research Framework 

Questions

How do environmental effects persist
Gene regulatory variation in natural populations
Signatures of aging and health in a non-human primate model
  1. How do environmental effects modify an organism's physiology to illicit downstream effects?
  2. What are the most sensitive periods, and how does the intensity of the stressor effect outcomes? 
  3. How does individual variation (genetic and/or social) impact how an organism responds to environmental stress? 
  4. How long do these effects persist? (may vary depending on the measure, i.e. gene expression versus epigenetic modification)
  1.  What is the baseline level of gene expression and epigenetic variation across individuals in a population?
  2. What factors explain that inter-individual variation (i.e. genetic (variants in coding or regulatory regions), demographic (sex, age), or environmental (social status)?
  3. How does this variation contribute to differences in individual response to additional environmental stimuli, such as a natural disaster? 
  4. Does genotype interact with other environmental factors to mediate these regulatory responses?
  1. What biological pathways display altered gene expression levels (up- or down-regulated) following a traumatic event?
  2. Are these regulatory changes in immune, HPA-axis function, or age-associated pathways? Do these fall under one of the domains of aging? 
  3. Do individuals exposed to the trauma display accelerated biological ages? 
  4. Are these health outcomes mediated by demographic and social factors?
  5. Are they tissue-specific? If so, which tissues appear most sensitive to natural disaster-induced health and age-related outcomes?