Jessica Dennis, PhD
The last decade has seen an unprecedented explosion of data. In medicine, data are increasingly being generated and linked across electronic health records, administrative databases, and biobanked samples. These resources hold tremendous promise for improving human health and achieving precision medicine, which will only be realized by thoughtful study designs and innovative analyses.
Dr. Dennis’ laboratory uses novel computational methods grounded in genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics to capitalize on today’s big data resources. They aim to understand how genetic and epigenetic differences between people contribute to variation in disease susceptibility, response to treatment, and recovery. A primary goal of their research is to reduce the suffering associated with psychiatric disorders, many of which are prevalent throughout the human life course. They conduct studies in large population datasets, with a major interest in electronic health records and biobanks, and they work at the intersection of genetics, epidemiology, statistics, bioinformatics, and computer science.
Email: Jessica.Dennis@bcchr.ca