Serena Sanna

Head of Research

Area of interest:

My research and that of my team has a particular focus on addressing women’s health from the genetic and microbiome perspectives. Further understanding of such mechanisms is the route toward the future development of a personalized medicine.

My research studies have for long focused on studying the genetics of quantitative traits and complex disease by applying and implementing computation models. Mathematics is my background and I use this knowledge to address biological questions by exploring large data sets. Specifically, by coupling cutting-edge technologies and methods with a special population, the Sardinians, I have identified key molecular mechanisms underlying hundreds of complex traits. During my work period in the Netherlands, I have explored the extended phenotype and molecular characterization of the Lifelines cohort and contributed to the better understanding of the complexity of diseases by incorporating non-genetic components from –omics experiments (microbiome, proteome, metabolome). In particular, thanks to the Lifelines cohort I have identified molecular and bacterial signatures of complex diseases (including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases) and of physiological variations. Furthermore, I identified sources of variability in symptoms and expressivity of Mendelian diseases. I am now taking my expertise in both genetics and omics data to deeply study biological mechanisms of sex dimorphism – different incidence and presentation of diseases between men and women. In this perspective, I have designed an unique cohort to study women’s health, the Women4Health cohort, which now has expanded to three collaborative centers: IRCCS Burlo Garofolo Trieste, AOU Cagliari, and IRCCS AOU Sant’Orsola Bologna.

Most significant publications:

2022

Lopera-Maya, E. A.; Kurilshikov, A.; Graaf, A.; Hu, S.; Andreu-Sánchez, S.; Chen, L.; Vila, A. V.; Gacesa, R.; Sinha, T.; Collij, V.; Klaassen, M. A. Y.; Bolte, L. A.; Gois, M. F. B.; Neerincx, P. B. T.; Swertz, M. A.; Harmsen, H. J. M.; Wijmenga, C.; Fu, J.; Weersma, R. K.; Zhernakova, A.; Sanna, S.; Aguirre-Gamboa, R.; Deelen, P.; Franke, L.; Kuivenhoven, J. A.; Lopera-Maya, E. A.; Nolte, I. M.; Sanna, S.; Snieder, H.; Swertz, M. A.; Vonk, J. M.; Wijmenga, C.

Effect of host genetics on the gut microbiome in 7,738 participants of the Đutch Microbiome Project Journal Article

In: Nat Genet, 54 (2), pp. 143–151, 2022.

Links | BibTeX

Sanna, S.; Kurilshikov, A.; Graaf, A.; Fu, J.; Zhernakova, A.

Challenges and future directions for studying effects of host genetics on the gut microbiome Journal Article

In: Nat Genet, 54 (2), pp. 100–106, 2022, ([DOI:hrefhttps://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00983-z10.1038/s41588-021-00983-z] [PubMed:hrefhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3278393532783935]).

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

2020

van der Graaf, A; Claringbould, A; Rimbert, A; Westra, H J; Li, Y; Wijmenga, C; Sanna, S; Heijmans, B T; Hoen, P A C '; van Meurs, J B J; Jansen, R; Franke, L

Mendelian randomization while jointly modeling cis genetics identifies causal relationships between gene expression and lipids Journal Article

In: Nat Commun, 11 (1), pp. 4930, 2020, ([PubMed Central:hrefhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7530717PMC7530717] [DOI:hrefhttps://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18716-x10.1038/s41467-020-18716-x] [PubMed:hrefhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2346866323468663]).

Abstract | BibTeX

2019

Sanna, Serena; van Zuydam, Natalie R; Mahajan, Anubha; Kurilshikov, Alexander; Vila, Arnau Vich; õ, Urmo V; Mujagic, Zlatan; Masclee, Ad A M; Jonkers, Daisy M A E; Oosting, Marije; Joosten, Leo A B; Netea, Mihai G; Franke, Lude; Zhernakova, Alexandra; Fu, Jingyuan; Wijmenga, Cisca; McCarthy, Mark I

Causal relationships among the gut microbiome, short-chain fatty acids and metabolic diseases Journal Article

In: Nature Genetics, 51 (4), pp. 600–605, 2019.

Links | BibTeX

2015

Danjou, Fabrice; Zoledziewska, Magdalena; Sidore, Carlo; Steri, Maristella; Busonero, Fabio; Maschio, Andrea; Mulas, Antonella; Perseu, Lucia; Barella, Susanna; Porcu, Eleonora; Pistis, Giorgio; Pitzalis, Maristella; Pala, Mauro; Menzel, Stephan; Metrustry, Sarah; Spector, Timothy D; Leoni, Lidia; Angius, Andrea; Uda, Manuela; Moi, Paolo; Thein, Swee Lay; Galanello, Renzo; ç, Gon; Schlessinger, David; Sanna, Serena; Cucca, Francesco

Genome-wide association analyses based on whole-genome sequencing in Sardinia provide insights into regulation of hemoglobin levels Journal Article

In: Nature Genetics, 47 (11), pp. 1264–1271, 2015.

Links | BibTeX

Sidore, Carlo; Busonero, Fabio; Maschio, Andrea; Porcu, Eleonora; Naitza, Silvia; Zoledziewska, Magdalena; Mulas, Antonella; Pistis, Giorgio; Steri, Maristella; Danjou, Fabrice; Kwong, Alan; del Vecchyo, Vicente Diego Ortega; Chiang, Charleston W K; Bragg-Gresham, Jennifer; Pitzalis, Maristella; Nagaraja, Ramaiah; Tarrier, Brendan; Brennan, Christine; Uzzau, Sergio; Fuchsberger, Christian; Atzeni, Rossano; Reinier, Frederic; Berutti, Riccardo; Huang, Jie; Timpson, Nicholas J; Toniolo, Daniela; Gasparini, Paolo; Malerba, Giovanni; Dedoussis, George; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Soranzo, Nicole; Jones, Chris; Lyons, Robert; Angius, Andrea; Kang, Hyun M; Novembre, John; Sanna, Serena; Schlessinger, David; Cucca, Francesco; ç, Gon

Genome sequencing elucidates Sardinian genetic architecture and augments association analyses for lipid and blood inflammatory markers Journal Article

In: Nature Genetics, 47 (11), pp. 1272–1281, 2015.

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2014

Pistis, Giorgio; Porcu, Eleonora; Vrieze, Scott I; Sidore, Carlo; Steri, Maristella; Danjou, Fabrice; Busonero, Fabio; Mulas, Antonella; Zoledziewska, Magdalena; Maschio, Andrea; Brennan, Christine; Lai, Sandra; Miller, Michael B; Marcelli, Marco; Urru, Maria Francesca; Pitzalis, Maristella; Lyons, Robert H; Kang, Hyun M; Jones, Chris M; Angius, Andrea; Iacono, William G; Schlessinger, David; McGue, Matt; Cucca, Francesco; ç, Gon; Sanna, Serena

Rare variant genotype imputation with thousands of study-specific whole-genome sequences: implications for cost-effective study designs Journal Article

In: European Journal of Human Genetics, 23 (7), pp. 975–983, 2014.

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2011

Sanna, Serena; Li, Bingshan; Mulas, Antonella; Sidore, Carlo; Kang, Hyun M; Jackson, Anne U; Piras, Maria Grazia; Usala, Gianluca; Maninchedda, Giuseppe; Sassu, Alessandro; Serra, Fabrizio; Palmas, Maria Antonietta; Wood, William H; ø, Inger Nj; Laakso, Markku; Hveem, Kristian; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Lakka, Timo A; Rauramaa, Rainer; Boehnke, Michael; Cucca, Francesco; Uda, Manuela; Schlessinger, David; Nagaraja, Ramaiah; ç, Gon

Fine Mapping of Five Loci Associated with Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Detects Variants That Double the Explained Heritability Journal Article

In: PLoS Genetics, 7 (7), pp. e1002198, 2011.

Links | BibTeX