The Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, headed by Dr. Rotimi, is an initiative that brings together researchers from different parts of the NIH to better understand how genetic and environmental factors come together to result in complex diseases, across the world’s populations.

Dr. Rotimi is originally from Nigeria, and earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Benin. He came to the United States in the early 1980s to continue his education, first earning an M.S. in Health Care Administration from the University of Mississippi, then both a Master’s of Public Health and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was a professor at Howard University (and a director of the National Human Genome Center there) until 2008, when he joined the NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).

Research has consistently shown that there are not genetically distinct “races”. This does not mean that we’re all genetically identical though: sequencing of DNA from people around the world shows non-random patterns of genetic history — people from one area will tend to have one particular combination of genetic variants, while people from another area will tend to have a different combination of variants. These geographic and genetic changes are associated with different susceptibilities to disease and different health risks, meaning that the better we can explain these connections, the better we can personalize medical efforts. At the same time, it is important that researchers engage in continuous two-way dialogue with people who contribute their DNA for research about what these findings about genetic history and ancestry mean about self and about group identity.

In addition to the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, Dr. Rotimi is also the head of the Metabolic, Cardiovascular, and Inflammatory Disease Genomics Branch of NHGRI. His lab studies the roles of culture, lifestyle, and genetics on disease — one major project is comparing the prevalence, symptoms, medication responses, etc. for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and kidney disease for three groups: African Americans, Africans (from Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya) and China (Suizhou). He also started an initiative called Human Health and Heredity in Africa (H3Africa), which is working to build infrastructure for African scientists to participate as active collaborators in research, rather than just as sample collectors. H3Africa works to train African scientists, helps secure funding for technological research resources, and is developing a network of collaboration among African scientists.