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Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences
Associate Scientist, Clinical Nutrition Research Center
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Department of Nutrition Science
1675 University Blvd
435 Webb Nutrition Sciences Building
Birmingham, AL 35294-3360
Phone: (205) 934-2029
Fax: (205) 934-7050
E-mail: jose@uab.edu
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Dr. José R. Fernández is an Associate Professor in the Division of Physiology and Metabolism of the Department of Nutrition Sciences at the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a secondary appointment in the Section of Statistical Genetics. Dr. Fernández obtained his Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Health from The Pennsylvania State University, training in genetics of complex traits under the advisory of Dr. Gerald McClearn, and working with the three most commonly used models for genetic research: fruit flies, mice, and humans. He continued his academic training at the New York Obesity Research Center at Columbia University as a post-doctoral fellow focusing on genetics of obesity, under the mentorship of Dr. David B. Allison, and receiving specialized training in statistical models to improve the identification of genetic and environmental influences on obesity-related characteristics. Dr. Fernández joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in August 2001, bringing special expertise in the application of statistical models to detect genetic influences in obesity-related traits.
Dr. Fernández ’ main research interest is the identification of genes that contribute to racial differences in obesity and diabetes. He uses the genetic admixture approach as a tool to decompose the genetic, social and cultural components underlying racial and ethnic differences. He is also interested on the application of methods for QTL mapping, the use of linear statistical models to (a) identify genes in the population (b) identify gene-gene interactions and (c) identify the interaction of genes and environment, and the use of statistical approaches to improve the identification of genes in the population.
Recent Publications
Fernández JR, Casazza K, Divers J, López-Alarcón, M. (2007). Disruptions in energy balance: Does nature overcome nurture? Physiology and Behavior, Nov 22 [Epub ahead of print].
Gower BA, Ard J, Hunter GR, Fernandez JR, Ovalle F. (2007). Elements of the Metabolic Syndrome: Association with Insulin Sensitivity, and Effects of Ethnicity. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 5:89-98.
Divers J, Vaughan LK, Padilla M, Fernandez JR, Allison DB, Redden DT. (2007) Correcting for measurement error in individual ancestry estimates in structured association tests. Genetics. May 16; [Epub ahead of print].
López-Alarcón M, Hunter GR, Gower BA, Fernández JR. (2007). IGF-I Polymorphism is associated with lean mass, exercise economy and performance. Arch Med Res,38(1): 56-63
Douglas CC, Willig AL, Ard JD, López-Alarcón M, Fernández JR. (2006). Nutritional, health and behavioral factors are associated with body composition in elderly Puerto Rican women. Int J Body Com, 4(4): 177-183
Munoz J, Lok KH, Gower BA, Fernández JR, Hunter GR, Lara-Castro C, De Luca M, Garvey WT. (2006). A Polymorphism in the Transcription Factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) Gene is Associated with Reduced Insulin Secretion in Non-diabetic Women. Diabetes,55: 3630-3634.
Fernández JR, Willig A, Jones A, Shriver MD, Albu J, Allison DB. (2006). Genetic Admixture is Associated with Visceral Adipose Tissue in Puerto Rican Women. Int J Body Com, 4(3): 137-143.
Bonilla, C., Shriver M. D., Parra, E. J., Jones, A., and Fernández, J. R. (2004) Ancestral proportions and their association with skin pigmentation and bone mineral density in Puerto Rican women from New York City. Human Genetics Apr 30 [Epub ahead of print]
Fernández, J.R. and Allison, D.B. (2003) Understanding racial differences in obesity and metabolic syndrome traits. Nutrition Reviews, 61(9): 316-319.
Fernández, J.R., Shriver, M. D., Beasley, T. M., Rafla-Demetrious, N., Parra, E., Albu, J., Nicklas, B., Ryan, A. S., McKeigue, P. M., Hoggart, C. L., Weinsier, R., Allison, D. B. (2003) Association of African Genetic Admixture with Resting Metabolic Rate and Obesity Among African American Women. Obesity Research 11: 904-911.
Gower, B. A., Fernández, J.R., Beasley, T. M., Shriver, M. D., Goran, M (2003). Using genetic admixture to explain racial differences in insulin-related phenotypes. Diabetes 52(4):1047-1051.
Fernández, J. R., Heo, M., Heymsfield, S. B., Pierson, R. N. Jr., Pi-Sunyer, X., Wang, Z. M., Wang, J., Hanyes, M., Allison, D. B. Gallagher, D. (2003) Is percent body fat differentially related to BMI in Hispanics- African- and European Americans? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77(1): 71-75.
Fernandez, J. R., Etzel, C., Beasley, M., Shete, S., Amos, C. I., & Allison, D. B. (2002) Improving the power of sib-pair quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection by phenotype winsorization. Human Heredity, 53(2): 59-67.