Vinson ONPRC
Amanda Vinson's Lab
Heart disease has been described as a disease of low-grade, "smoldering" inflammation, and my work is aimed at understanding how genes and environmental influences contribute to inflammation in coronary heart disease. In particular, I am interested in characterizing genetic effects on T cell-mediated immune response in atherosclerosis. To study these effects, I use a quantitative genetic approach in large pedigrees of non-human primates to estimate the heritability of quantitative risk factors for atherosclerosis, and to locate regions of the genome (quantitative trait loci, or QTLs) harboring a gene or genes that influence these risk factors.
As a recently arrived faculty member at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, my lab is currently working to estimate heritability for multiple cytokine and lipid measures that are associated with atherosclerosis and other complex disease in 1,000 Indian rhesus macaques housed at the ONPRC. These macaques are part of a single pedigree that contains > 1,400 animals spanning 5 generations. Together with the Ferguson lab, we are also working to develop a SNP-based genetic linkage map in this large pedigreed macaque population in order to expand studies of heritability in cytokines and lipid fractions to include the location of QTLs that influence these correlates of disease.
Biography
Amanda Vinson is an Assistant Scientist in the Division of Neuroscience at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics at the Oregon Health & Science University. She received a Ph.D. in population genetics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. During her postdoctoral fellowship at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research/Southwest National Primate Research Center, she used a quantitative genetic approach to describe heritability and QTL effects on biomarkers of inflammation and lipids in pedigreed baboons, and on gene expression implicated in Th1 and Th2 immune responses in both pedigreed baboon and human study populations (the San Antonio Family Heart Study).
PUBLICATIONS
Vinson A, Mahaney MC, Diego VP, Cox LA, Rogers J, VandeBerg JL, Rainwater DL. (2008) Genotype-by-diet effects on co-variation in Lp-PLA2 activity and LDL cholesterol concentration in baboons fed an atherogenic diet. J Lipid Res 49:1295-1302.PMID: 18334716.
Vinson A, Mahaney MC, Cox LA, Rogers J, VandeBerg JL, Rainwater DL. (2008) A pleiotropic QTL on 2p influences serum Lp-PLA2 activity and LDL cholesterol concentration in a baboon model for the genetics of atherosclerosis risk factors. Atherosclerosis 196:667-673. PMID:17767937.
