David Conti

My research is aimed at elucidating the genetic contribution of complex diseases from population-based samples, and is comprised of both applied genetic epidemiologic studies and development of statistical methods. Presently, my applied work focuses on elucidating the genetic contribution of candidate genes within the dopamine and serotonin pathways and their role in smoking initation, progression, and cessation. My research in statistical methodology concentrates on the use of hierarchical modeling and Bayes model averaging as a general framework for the analysis of multiple genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in numerous pathways impacting disease.