Dr. Janine LaSalle is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, Davis. Dr. LaSalle has leadership roles in several research centers on campus, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her research program in epigenetics mechanisms at the interface of genes and environment in autism spectrum disorders. Dr. LaSalle is co-director of the new campus-wide IMPACT center, Perinatal Origins of Disparities (POD) Center. She also serves as the Associate Director of Genomics at the UC Davis Genome Center, Deputy Director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center, and on the Executive Committee of the IDDRC at the MIND Institute.  She served as past chair of the Genes in Health and Disease study section for the NIH.  Dr. LaSalle also serves on the editorial board of the journals Human Molecular Genetics, Molecular Autism, and Environmental Epigenetics and is on the Scientific Advisory boards of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation, Dup15q Alliance, and Foundation for Prader-Willi Research. 

The research focus in Dr. LaSalle’s laboratory is on epigenetics of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, Rett, Prader-Willi, Angelman, and Dup15q syndromes. Dr. LaSalle’s laboratory uses genomic and epigenomic technologies to investigate the role of DNA methylation and MeCP2 in the pathogenesis of Rett syndrome and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. LaSalle’s lab also takes integrative genetic and epigenomic approaches to investigate perinatal tissues such as placenta, cord blood, and newborn blood spots for prediction and prevention of health disparities.

Fun Facts about Dr. LaSalle:

• Where did you grow up?
• King George County, VA (a rural Tidewater area on the Potomac downriver from Washington DC).
• What drew you to this field?
• A desire to do research that matters. My mother was a public health nurse, my father a Cold War physicist, so I’m a hybrid of passions for both basic science and translation to societal impact.
• Where are you happiest at work?
• In our lab meetings, learning and discussing new findings with my team.
• Where are you happiest outside of work?
• Reading, running, dog adventures, family dinners.
• What is something your colleagues/students generally don’t know about you? 
• I was into theater and acted in high school and college. Mostly small roles and bit parts but had a lot of fun.