Projects

In this project genetic engineering and functional genomics approaches will be used to describe molecular mechanisms of FMF. Using DNA/RNA samples obtained from FMF patients and healthy subjects MEFV nanopore gene sequencing will be performed to identify genetic variants and possibly find novel putative functional variants. The impact of genetic variants on transcriptome landscape will be studies by RNA-sequencing using nanopore sequencing device. Based on MEFV sequencing data and patients clinical ...

We investigate telomeric fragments in cell-free DNA in blood plasma in disease. We aim to develop novel diagnostic approaches to identify and monitor disease status in cancers and chronic disorders through liquid biopsies.

We develop bioinformatics algorithms and tools to explore the temporal dynamics of microbiome communities in response to environmental perturbations and treatments. We seek to understand the mechanisms through which the direct effects of perturbations propagate via microbial interaction networks, leading to changes in microbiome composition over time.Through application of these techniques we study antibiotic resistance in complex microbial communities, the impact of pesticides on bee gut microbiome ...

The aim of this project is to establish a bank of induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) using cell reprogramming approaches for a more comprehensive study of disease molecular mechanisms. In Armenia, FMF prevalence is about 14-100 per 10,000 inhabitants, depending on the region. For the comprehensive research of the disease, it is necessary to have appropriate cell platforms that will contain pathogenic mutations of the FMF. Created stem cell bank ...

Long-term environmental exposure to metals leads to epigenetic changes and may increase risks to human health. The human epidemiologic and the toxicologic animal model studies provide strong evidence of metal exposure related DNA methylation changes, and, consequently alterations in gene expression, in metabolic, genetic and signal transduction pathways and their functions. The current study is designed to investigate genome wide DNA methylation and transcriptomic changes induced by human chronic ...