Dr. Blanca Himes is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Himes is also affiliated with the Graduate Group in Genomics and Computational Biology. As a computational scientist, Dr. Himes’ research interests focus on using biomedical informatics approaches to better understand complex respiratory diseases such as asthma. Among the on-going projects in the Himes lab include understanding the function of disease-associated genes by altering cell-specific transcriptomes, integrating diverse genomic datasets to model cellular transcriptome changes involved in disease, and using geospatial demographic and environmental data to better understand factors that contribute to asthma prevalence and exacerbation. In addition to research, Dr. Himes is active in mentoring students, and she blogs occasionally to address topics posed by young students such as career advice, personal motivation for doing research, and parenthood. Dr. Himes’ research potential and leadership skills have been recognized with the UCSD Sang-keng Ma Memorial Award (2001) and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Student Leadership Award (2007).
Recent Publications
- Gleeson, PK, Morales, KH, Buckey, TM, Fadugba, OO, Apter, AJ, Christie, JD, Himes, BE. Associations of aeroallergen testing with reduced oral corticosteroid bursts among adults with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob 2025; 4 (1): 100348. PubMed PMID:39583037 PubMed Central PMC11585680.
- Schneider, JS, Williams, C, Zafar, S, Joo, J, Himes, BE. Influences of quality of maternal care and environmental enrichment on associative memory function in rats with early life lead exposure. Brain Behav 2024; 14 (9): e70040. PubMed PMID:39295102 PubMed Central PMC11410876.
- Gleeson, PK, Morales, KH, Kerlin, MP, Fadugba, OO, Apter, AJ, Christie, JD, Himes, BE. Racial differences in odds of asthma exacerbations among Aspergillus fumigatus-sensitized adults with asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2024; : . PubMed PMID:39260816 .
- Andress Huacachino, A, Joo, J, Narayanan, N, Tehim, A, Himes, BE, Penning, TM. Aldo-keto reductase (AKR) superfamily website and database: An update. Chem Biol Interact 2024; 398 : 111111. PubMed PMID:38878851 PubMed Central PMC11232437.
- Bazemore, K, Joo, J, Hwang, WT, Himes, BE. Clarifying Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Genetic Associations Observed in Biobanks via Mediation Analysis of Smoking. AMIA Jt Summits Transl Sci Proc 2024; 2024 : 499-508. PubMed PMID:38827081 PubMed Central PMC11141825.
- Gleeson, PK, Morales, KH, Buckey, TM, Fadugba, OO, Apter, AJ, Christie, JD, Himes, BE. Benefits of Aeroallergen Testing on Oral Corticosteroid Bursts in Adults with Asthma. medRxiv 2024; : . PubMed PMID:38352545 PubMed Central PMC10863005.
- Bunyavanich, S, Becker, PM, Altman, MC, Lasky-Su, J, Ober, C, Zengler, K, Berdyshev, E, Bonneau, R, Chatila, T, Chatterjee, N et al.. Analytical challenges in omics research on asthma and allergy: A National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases workshop. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2024; 153 (4): 954-968. PubMed PMID:38295882 PubMed Central PMC10999353.
- Scorletti, E, Saiman, Y, Jeon, S, Schneider, CV, Buyco, DG, Lin, C, Himes, BE, Mesaros, CA, Vujkovic, M, Creasy, KT et al.. A missense variant in human perilipin 2 (PLIN2 Ser251Pro) reduces hepatic steatosis in mice. JHEP Rep 2024; 6 (1): 100902. PubMed PMID:38074507 PubMed Central PMC10701134.
- Park, HR, Azzara, D, Cohen, ED, Boomhower, SR, Diwadkar, AR, Himes, BE, O'Reilly, MA, Lu, Q. Identification of novel NRF2-dependent genes as regulators of lead and arsenic toxicity in neural progenitor cells. J Hazard Mater 2024; 463 : 132906. PubMed PMID:37939567 PubMed Central PMC10842917.
- Gleeson, PK, Morales, KH, Buckey, TM, Fadugba, OO, Apter, AJ, Christie, JD, Himes, BE. Factors associated with aeroallergen testing among adults with asthma in a large health system. J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob 2023; 2 (4): 100167. PubMed PMID:37841071 PubMed Central PMC10570953.