About Our Research

Schematic overview of adipose tissue cell-types using single nucleus RNA-sequencin.
Single nucleus RNA-sequencing identifies adipose tissue cell-types, shown as clusters that are colored by cell-type. 

The Pajukanta research group is using integrative genomics approaches on multilayer genomics data, including single cell omics data, to identify cell-type-specific mechanisms underlying obesity and related cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), dyslipidemia, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). 

We are especially interested in:

  1. Genomic studies of the admixed Mexican population that has been underrepresented in genomic studies despite their high predisposition to obesity, T2D, dyslipidemias, and NAFLD
  2. Development of computational methods for complex traits
  3. Uilizing single cell and bulk level RNA- sequencing and ATAC sequencing approaches to study gene-environment interactions contributing to cardiovascular and metabolic traits