Carole Ober, PhD is Blum-Riese Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Genetics. The research goals of her laboratory are to identify genetic variants that influence methylation, gene expression, and microbial composition in tissues relevant to complex phenotypes and common diseases, in particular those related to asthma, chronic rhinosinutsitis (CRS), and fertility and parturition. This research is conducted in freshly isolated cells and tissues as well as in cell culture models of gene-environment interactions to dissect the genetic architecture of common diseases, and leverages the advantages of different sampling designs, including population based studies in in founder populations (the Hutterites of South Dakota and the Amish of northern Indiana), U.S. and European birth cohorts, and in patient populations from Chicago.