Joanne Cole

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Dr. Joanne Cole (she/her) is a complex trait human geneticist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus. Her research uses large-scale genomics and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to elucidate diet’s role in human health, with a focus on cardiometabolic disease. Findings from her team’s GWAS of dietary behavior have led them to pursue how genetic variation in sensory genes influence food liking, perception, and choice. Dr. Cole received her Ph.D. in 2016 in the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program at CU Anschutz, where she studied the genetic determinants of normal human facial shape and body size in children and adolescents from Tanzania. She conducted her postdoctoral training on the genetics of diabetic kidney disease as a lead analyst in the ‘Genetics of Nephropathy – an International Effort’ (GENIE) consortium at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital. In 2019, as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School with support from the American Diabetes Association and an NIDDK K99/R00 Award, she established her independent research program on the biological basis of dietary intake, which she now continues to expand at CU. With NIGMS R35 funding, her team’s work has broadened to use genetics as a tool to improve the accuracy and depth of our understanding of associations between environmental risk factors and disease. Beyond her research, Dr. Cole is committed to teaching, mentorship, and cultivating an inclusive and dynamic research environment. Outside work, you can find her chasing her two young kids, cooking, trying a new restaurant or brewery, traveling, or playing volleyball.