Blog Posts

Exciting to see our review article published in Communications Biology!

Great job, Darius Ramkhalawan and Paola Parrales!! A X-ray of a patient with AIS. B Anatomical components of the spine that are relevant to AIS pathology, listing major cell types of each tissue and GWAS candidate genes associated with each tissue. CEP cartilage end plate, AF annulus fibrosis, NP nucleus pulposus.

2 days ago

Exciting New Publication!

Thrilled to share our new publication in Genome Research! Congratulations, Darius, on this well-deserved achievement! Thanks to the Scoliosis Research Society for funding this work. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2026/08/14/gr281888126 Using massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) we identified regulatory risk variants underlying adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). This is the first time in scoliosis research that over 1,600 genetic variants were tested simultan

Aug 17

Congratulations to Fahim Rejanur Tasin for receiving the American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship

Fahim Rejanur Tasin Funding Agency/Mechanism: American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship Title: Identifying Genetic Risk Factors for Vascular Calcification PI: Fahim Rejanur Tasin (PhD Student)/Nadja Makki (Mentor) Total/Directs: $70,676 Dates: 7/1/2026-6/30/2028 Summary: This proposal aims to define how non-coding genetic variants contribute to vascular calcification, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The overall hypothesis is that disease-associated var

Jul 16

UF scientists unmask gene activity in scoliosis

https://ufhealth.org/news/2026/uf-scientists-unmask-gene-activity-in-scoliosis

Jul 15

Publication image: Integrated Transcriptomic and Functional Analysis Reveals Tissue-Specific Molecular Pathology in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

New Publication!

I am excited to share our new publication in collaborations with Drs. Ihnow and McQuerry in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at UF and Anat Kreimer at Rutgers.

Jun 4