Alison Motsinger-Reif, Ph.D.

My lab members and I develop and extend methods that detect gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. These methods include Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction and Grammatical Evolution Neural Networks. We also work on methods for dose-response curve modeling using evolutionary algorithms and methods for variable selection and dimensionality reduction in genome-wide association studies. We work on performing association mapping to detect genes that are associated with differential response to pharmaceutical agent exposure. We study clinical trials and in cell line models of response. We also collaborate with several investigators to understand complex human diseases, compare disease etiology across species, and perform gene mapping for a range of common, complex diseases.

As chief of the NIEHS Biostatistics & Computational Biology Branch, I oversee a dynamic and diverse staff that is involved in biostatistical and computational methods development, software development, study design, and collaborative real data applications.

Motsinger-Reif obtained her Ph.D. in Human Genetics and a MS in Applied Statistics from Vanderbilt University. She was faculty member at North Carolina State University from 2007 to 2018. In December 2018, she joined NIEHS as chief of the Biostatistics & Computational Biology Branch.