Christoph Rau

Dr. Christoph Rau is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics at the UNC School of Medicine, with affiliations in the Computational Medicine Program and McAllister Heart Institute. He earned a PhD in Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics from UCLA and completed a postdoc in Cardiology there. His research focuses on systems genetics approaches to study genetic and epigenetic factors influencing cardiovascular disease, particularly using mouse models like the Collaborative Cross. His work integrates genomic, epigenetic, and transcriptomic data to identify regulators of heart failure progression. Key grants include an NIH R01 and a K99/R00 award. He mentors students in the Biological & Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP) and teaches courses on animal models in disease research.

Education: BSc from Harvey Mudd College (Mathematical Biology), PhD from UCLA (201?), Postdoc at UCLA Cardiology (201?).

Research Interests:

• Epigenetic regulation of cardiac disease
• Cardiac cell-type composition dynamics
• Systems genetics approaches to heart failure
• RNA splicing regulators like RBFox1

Publications: Over 40 peer-reviewed articles since 2011, emphasizing translational genetics and computational methods in cardiovascular research. Recent work highlights DNA methylation pathways, cardiomyocyte ploidy dynamics, and cell-type composition analysis in heart failure.

Mentorship & Grants: BBSP admissions committee member; emphasized trainee development across academia/industry. Active in lab environment fostering work-life balance and scientific curiosity.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Rau Lab at UNC, collaborating on multi-omics studies with institutions like the McAllister Heart Institute.