About
Sara Sarasua is a genetic epidemiologist and an assistant professor in the School of Nursing’s Healthcare Genetics Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program. She received her master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Ph.D. in Genetics at Clemson University. Her research interests include understanding the genetic contributions to rare developmental disorders (Phelan-McDermid syndrome), autism, seizures, speech delay; the etiology and epidemiology of adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder syndrome); and the relationship between genes and the environment in human health. She collaborates with investigators at Prisma and the Greenwood Genetic Center. She welcomes opportunities to collaborate across disciplines.
For more information, see her Department Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
Dr. Sarasua’s research investigates the under-explored genetic contributions to rare developmental disabilities that likely have application to common disorders and to understanding fundamental mechanisms of human health. Her work on musculoskeletal disorders seeks to identify triggers that initiate inflammatory processes with the goal of preventing disabling conditions.
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Faculty Scholar, Genetic epidemiology, Rare disease research, Developmental disabilities, Genotype-phenotype correlation in Phelan-McDermid syndrome (chromosome 22q13 deletion syndrome), Copy number variants, Speech and language delay, Seizures, Etiology and epidemiology of adhesive capsulitis, Muscoloskeletal, TRIMH
