Dr. Roach is interested in basic and translational analyses and applications of high-throughput systems-biology data. He is currently focusing on understanding the genetics of complex neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s Disease. His research interests include analysis of MHC haplotypes and their relationship to risk and etiology of type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. Dr. Roach is pioneering approaches for the analysis of whole genome sequencing data in the context of family pedigrees. His past studies have included (1) the systems biology of the macrophage, particularly in its role as an information processing device, at the levels of cell surface receptors, signal transduction, and nuclear regulation, (2) the molecular phylogenetics of vertebrate gene families, particularly those genes relevant to macrophage information processing, and (3) analysis and interpretation of transcript enumeration data, including RNAseq and microarray transcriptomics. Dr. Roach was a co-developer of the pairwise end-sequencing technique. The translational impact of Dr. Roach’s research contributes and has contributed to clinical areas including neurodegeneration, autoimmunity, rare genetic diseases, diabetes, inflammation, and vaccine development.