70187-Mersha, Tesfaye

Tesfaye B. Mersha, PhD

Director, Precision Pulmonary Medicine Research Program

James A. Caplin Professor of Pulmonary Research

Professor of Medicine

Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics

Adjunct Professor, Biostatistics and Health Data Science

Email
tmersha@iu.edu
Address
R3 C400
PULM
IN
Indianapolis, IN
PubMed:

Bio

My career in genetics and research began with an interest in understanding the interplay between biology and the environmental conditions that contribute to disease. Over time, I’ve broadened my research interests to include genomics, genetic ancestry, racial disparities, personalized medicine and bioinformatics. One of my areas of expertise is multi-omics (genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, microbiome, proteomics and metabolomics). For more than 10 years, I’ve worked to integrate multi-omics with statistical genetics and bioinformatics methods to uncover the molecular architecture of medical conditions, such as asthma and asthma-related allergic diseases. My Lab performs a variety of computational and applied data analysis projects, including the development of statistical and genome informatics tools that enable multiethnic admixture, genome-wide association and omics integration studies of biomedical traits. Our goal is to develop an in-depth understanding of the intricate interactions between genomic variations and environmental exposure in the etiology of complex diseases — and then translate these findings into clinical practice through collaborations with clinicians. Some of our previous and ongoing research efforts include: • Using admixture mapping to localize asthma liability genes in admixed populations • Studying the interaction of asthma risk variants and environmental exposures that shape racial disparities • Identifying genetic/regulatory networks to recognize potential functional variants associated with asthma and atopic dermatitis using whole transcriptome RNA-seq profiling • Investigating the role of microbiome and epigenome on asthma pathogenesis among immigrants • Multi-omics integration using deep learning and other machine learning algorithms. My Lab is composed of a diverse and collaborative group of experts from various fields, including biostatisticians, bioinformaticians and wet lab researchers. We work closely together to tackle complex scientific questions with a focus on multi-omics approaches to understand the environmental and genetic factors that contribute to complex diseases

Key Publications

Pubmed

  1. Proper SP, Azouz NP, Mersha TB (2021). Achieving Precision Medicine in Allergic Disease: Progress and Challenges. Front Immunol. 12:720746. PMID: 34484229.
  2. Chang WC, Burkle JW, Williams LR, Hammonds MK, Weheba FA, Satish L, Martin LJ, Guilbert TW, Sherenian MG, Mersha TB, Biagini JM, Khurana Hershey GK (2025). Race-Specific and Race-Neutral Equations for Lung Function and Asthma Diagnosis in Black Children. JAMA Netw Open. 8(2):e2462176. PMID: 40019761.
  3. Kang M, Ko E, Mersha TB (2022). A roadmap for multi-omics data integration using deep learning. Brief Bioinform. 23(1):bbab454. PMID: 34791014.
  4. Correa-Agudelo E, Ding L, Beck AF, Brokamp C, Altaye M, Kahn RS, Mersha TB (2022). Understanding racial disparities in childhood asthma using individual- and neighborhood-level risk factors. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 150(6):1427-1436.e5. PMID: 35970309. Editor’s Choice.
  5. Mersha TB, Qin K, Beck AF, Ding L, Huang B, Kahn RS (2021). Genetic ancestry differences in pediatric asthma readmission are mediated by socioenvironmental factors. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 148(5):1210-1218. PMID: 34217757 (Editor’s Choice and Featured article @AAAAI website).
  6. Mersha, TB, Beck AF (2020). The social, economic, political, and genetic value of race and ethnicity in 2020. Hum Genomics 14: 37. PMCID: PMC7558251.
  7. Alemu R, Sharew NT, Arsano YY, Ahmed M, Tekola-Ayele F, Mersha TB, Amare AT (2025). Multi-omics approaches for understanding gene-environment interactions in noncommunicable diseases: techniques, translation, and equity issues. Hum Genomics. 19(1):8. PMID: 39891174.
  8. Dessie EY, Ding L, Satish L, Mersha TB(2024). Co-Expression Network and Machine Learning Analysis of Transcriptomics Data Identifies Distinct Gene Signatures and Pathways in Lesional and Non-Lesional Atopic Dermatitis. J Pers Med. 14(9):960. PMID: 39338214.
  9. Gautam Y, Satish L, Ramirez S, Grashel B, Biagini JM, Martin LJ, Rothenberg ME, Khurana Hershey GK, Mersha TB (2024). Joint genotype and ancestry analysis identify novel loci associated with atopic dermatitis in African American population. HGG Adv. 5(4):100350. PMID: 39245941.
  10. Hardy DS, Garvin JT, Mersha TB (2024). Ancestry Specific Polygenic Risk Score, Dietary Patterns, Physical Activity, and Cardiovascular Disease. Nutrients. 16(4):567. PMID: 38398891.

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