Successes

Core Faculty

Yi-Ju Li, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, and the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Duke University Medical Center. She is also a faculty member for the Biostatistics Core in the Duke Translational Medicine Institute (DTMI) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University. Dr. Li is a statistical geneticist, initially trained in population genetics and molecular evolution, who has built her research career in human genetics. Her primary research interest is in statistical method development and its applications for mapping quantitative trait loci. Dr. Li is a key investigator in genetic studies of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD) disease, and eye disorders (myopia and Fuchs dystrophy). Her research has led to the reports of the first genomic screen for AAO and the first AAO gene (Glutathione-S-transferase Omega 1 or GSTO1) for AD and PD. Dr. Li and her group have developed a number of statistical methods for genetic data analysis, including the Genetic Association Tests based on Ranks (GATOR) for quantitative traits with and without censoring, a series of family-based association methods for X-linked genes, and methods for allelic and genotypic association tests for quantitative traits. Dr. Li leads a team effort to establish cutting-edge computational tools and train staff for genetic data analysis.

Software developed by Dr. Li's group:

• GATOR
• EMK

PhD, 1996, Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Selected Publications

Li Y-J, Hauser MA, Scott WK, Martin ER, Booze MW, Qin XJ, Walter JW, Nance MA, Hubble JP, Koller WC, Pahwa R, Stern MB, Hiner BC, Jankovic J, Goetz CG, Small GW, Mastaglia F, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Vance JM. Apolipoprotein E controls the risk and age at onset of Parkinson Disease. Neurology 62(11):2005-2009, 2004.

Li Y-J, Oliveira SA, Xu P, Martin ER, Stenger JE, Hulette C, Scherzer CR, Hauser MA, Scott WK, Small GW, Nance MA, Watts RL, Hubble JP, Koller WC, Pahwa R, Stern MB, Hiner BC, Jankovic J, Goetz CG, Mastaglia F, Middleton LT, Roses AD, Saunders AM, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Schmechel DE, Gullans SR, Haines JL, Gilbert JR, Vance JM, Pericak-Vance MA. Glutathione S-Transferase modifies age-at-onset of Alzheimer Disease. Human Molecular Genetics 12(24):1-9, 2003.

Li Y-J, Scott WK, Hedges DJ, Zhang F, Caskell C, Nance MA, Watts RL, Hubble JP, Koller WC, Pahwa R, Stern MB, Hiner BC, Jankovic J, Allen Jr FA,  Goets CG, Mastaglia F, Stajich JM, Gibson RA,  Middletown LT, Saunders AM, Scott BL, Small GW, Nicodemus KK, Reed AD, Schmechel DE,  Welsh-Bohmer KA, Conneally PM, Roses AD, Gilbert JR, Vance JM, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA. Age-at-Onset in two common neurodegenerative diseases is genetically controlled. American Journal of Human Genetics 70:985-993, 2002.

Li Y-J, Zhang L, Speer M, Martin ER. "Evaluation of current methods of testing differential gene expression and beyond." Methods of Microarray Data Analysis II. Simon M. Lin and Kimberly F. Johnson (ed), Kluwer Academic Publishers (2002) pp: 185-194.

Contact at:
Yi-Ju Li
Center for Human Genetics
DUMC Box 2468
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 1-919-684-0604
Fax: 1-919-684-0921
E-mail: li000038@chg.duhs.duke.edu

// top //