Research
My research interest lies in Nutritional Genomics, a new interdisciplinary field bridging Nutritional Sciences and Human Genomics. I am interested in identifying genetic variants that historically helped human populations adapted to local diets and currently underlie individual differences in nutrient metabolism and metabolic disease risks. In the long run, I hope to develop statistical methods that integrate genomic information to personalized our dietary recommendation (Personalized Nutrition). Current research topics in my lab include:
1) Genetic adaptation to diet during human evolution (Population Genomics)
2) Evolution of metabolic genes (Comparative Genomics)
3) Genetic basis of metabolic diseases (Quantitative Genomics; Medical Genetics)
4) Molecular mechanism of genetic variants (Molecular Genetics)
5) Gene-diet interaction in metabolic diseases (Quantitative Genomics; Genetic Epidemiology)
Selected Publications
Francis M, Li C, Sun Y, Zhou J, Li X, Brenna JT, Ye K^. Genome-wide association study of fish oil supplementation on lipid traits in 81,246 individuals reveals new gene-diet interaction loci. PLOS Genetics. (2021)
Zhou J, Sun Y, Huang W, Ye K^. Altered blood cell traits underlie a major genetic locus of severe COVID-19. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. (2021)
Zhou J, Liu C, Sun Y, Huang W, Ye K^. Cognitive disorders associated with hospitalization of COVID-19: Results from an observational cohort study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2020)
Zhou J, Liu C, Francis M, Sun Y, Ryu MS, Grider A, Ye K^. The Causal Effects of Blood Iron and Copper on Lipid Metabolism Diseases: Evidence from Phenome-wide Mendelian Randomization Study. Nutrients. (2020)
Ye K, Gao F, Wang D, Bar-Yosef O, Keinan A. Dietary adaptation of FADS genes in Europe varied across time and geography. Nature Ecology and Evolution (2017)
Kothapalli KSD*, Ye K*, Gadgil MS, et al. Positive selection on a regulatory insertion–deletion polymorphism in FADS2 influences apparent endogenous synthesis of arachidonic acid. Molecular Biology and Evolution (2016).
Ye K*, Cao C*, Lin X, O'Brien KO, Gu Z. Natural selection on HFE in Asian populations contributes to enhanced non-heme iron absorption. BMC Genetics (2015).
Ye K^, Lu J, Ma F, Keinan A, Gu Z^. Extensive pathogenicity of mitochondrial heteroplasmy in healthy human individuals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014).
Ye K^, Lu J, Raj SM, Gu Z^. Human expression QTLs are enriched in signals of environmental adaptation. Genome Biology and Evolution (2013).
Ye K & Gu Z. Recent advances in understanding the role of nutrition in human genome evolution. Advances in Nutrition (2011).
