Ally Avery

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify genetic, familial and environmental contributions to the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and poor health. Methods: A community sample of 1852 twin pairs was assessed for symptoms of PTSD [with the Impact of Events Scale (IES)] and self-reported global health status using a single five-level question. […]

Study objectives: To better understand the relationships of insomnia, sleepiness, and obesity. Design: Classic twin study. Setting: A community-based twin registry in Washington State. Patients or participants: One thousand forty-two monozygotic and 828 dizygotic twin pairs participating in the University of Washington Twin Registry. Interventions: N/A. Measurements and results: Twins were, on average, 32 years old; 61% were women, and 19.5% […]

Background: Asthma and obesity are common conditions that are strongly associated. This association might be due to shared genetic or environmental causes. Objective: We sought to determine whether a shared genetic cause is responsible for the association between asthma and obesity and to estimate the magnitude of shared genetic cause. Methods: The analyses were performed with 1001 monozygotic […]

PI: Niloofar AfariProject Number: 5R01AR051524Project Dates: 9/25/2005–7/31/2011 Chronic widespread pain (CWP) occurs in 4-13% of people and is one of the defining characteristics of Fibromyalgia (FM). Although tender points were originally considered as essential to the diagnosis of FM, it is now felt that they reflect pain severity and distress, and that FM lies at one […]

PI: Ellen SchurProject Number: 1K23DK070826Project Dates: 6/15/2005–5/31/2010 This K23 award will allow Dr. Schur to become an independent investigator proficient in the design and conduct of interdisciplinary research on eating behavior and weight regulation. The training and research activities focus on complex environmental and genetic influences on eating habits and appetite regulation. The application proposes an […]

PI: Mark WurfelProject Number: 1K23HL072923Project Dates: 9/8/2003–8/31/2008 The major scientific goal of this proposal is to determine the relative role that genetic mechanisms play in controlling inter-individual variability in inflammatory responses to bacterial products and to characterize the role of specific genes in determining this variability. The proposed studies will focus on inflammatory responses to bacterial […]