Rasika Mathias, Sc.D.

Rasika Mathias, Sc.D., is the 2021 Sarah Miller Coulson CIM/HAP Scholar. She is a Professor and Genetic Epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health who is dedicated to ending health disparities by broadening genetics studies to include diverse populations. She has a long history of important genetic discovery specific to asthma and other allergic conditions.  For her HAP scholarship, she will focus on identification of genes that will help to better predict health risks among aging older adults with an emphasis on under-represented minority groups.  Toward that end, she is revolutionizing the study of telomeres: the protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes that prevent our DNA from deteriorating with increasing age through novel genetics approaches.  She is also applying these findings to many aging-related conditions, including frailty and cognitive decline.