Andrew DeWan, PhD, MPH

Andrew Dewan is a genetic epidemiologist with a focus on extending and applying analytical methods to identify genetic susceptibility variants for complex traits. A key theme throughout his work is applying a strategy of delineating narrowly defined phenotypes and stratification by ancestry to reduce heterogeneity and increase statistical power. To better elucidate the genetic architecture of complex traits, his research extends analytical methods to identify genetic interactions as well as pleiotropy. He has applied these genetic mapping methods across a number of diverse phenotypes including asthma, obesity, leukemia, pediatric lung cancer, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and bacterial bloodstream infections. He has been the Principal Investigator of external grants to fund his research (5 NIH grants, including three R01s). He is the Director of the Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric and Environmental Epidemiology (CPPEE) which brings together diverse faculty with interests in the health of women and children through epidemiologic research investigating the impact of environmental, genetic and clinical factors on pregnancy, birth and childhood. He recently served a three-year term as a member of the Program Committee for the American Society of Human Genetics, the primary scientific organization for human geneticists worldwide. He has been able to incorporate my research interests through to my educational activities, teaching the course Genetic Concepts in Public Health, guest lecturing on genetic epidemiology and teaching at international courses for linkage and association analyses.