Blanca E. Himes, PhD, ATSF, FAMIA

Dr. Himes’ work focused on using biomedical informatics approaches to study asthma and other complex traits. She began her research in asthma genetics and pharmacogenetics by participating in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as a lead investigator and as part of large collaborations. Although promising loci were identified via these studies, she recognized that translation of findings into insights that would have an impact on understanding disease pathophysiology was a difficult challenge that required novel research strategies. She addressed this challenge by leveraging her background in biomedical informatics to generate novel omics datasets and to integrate novel and publicly available omics datasets using creative approaches. Specifically, Dr. Himes’ lab studied asthma and response to beta-agonists and glucocorticoids, commonly used asthma drugs, by obtaining and integrating omics-level (genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, metabolomics) data corresponding to in vitro and human studies.

Her lab also used Electronic Health Records (EHR)-derived data to understand characteristics of real-life populations with asthma and COPD, incorporating social, economic, and environmental factor data obtained from secondary sources. Such data was helpful to address health disparities that were not easily characterized using traditional approaches. She previously served as the Director of the Exposure Biology Informatics Core (EBIC) of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at the University of Pennsylvania P30 EHSCC starting November 2021, and also served as PI of the Translational Research Training Program in Environmental Health Sciences T32, whose goals and infrastructure were complementary to those of the CEET.