John Kauwe

John Kauwe serves as University President of Brigham Young University–Hawaii while maintaining his professorship in the Department of Biology at Brigham Young University's College of Life Sciences. An internationally recognized Alzheimer's disease genetics researcher, he directs a high-impact lab with over 120 publications and $6+ million in extramural funding.

His educational background includes:

• Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Brigham Young University (Provo)
• Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis (2007)
• Postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine (2008)

Dr. Kauwe's research employs genomic approaches to unravel Alzheimer's disease mechanisms, focusing on genetic risk factors, prevention strategies, and diagnostic biomarkers. His lab uniquely bridges human disease research with evolutionary genomics in marine species, investigating:

• Multi-ancestry genome-wide association studies for novel risk loci
• Genetic basis of rheumatic heart disease in Pacific populations
• Evolutionary adaptations in fish and reptiles through comparative genomics
• Polygenic risk score development for clinical applications

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals dominant themes in cross-population Alzheimer's genetics (73%), biomarker validation (13%), and marine genomics (14%), with increasing emphasis on health disparities in Native Hawaiian communities.

His honors include:

• BYU Sponsored Research Award (2015)

Dr. Kauwe mentors undergraduate researchers who have co-authored over three dozen manuscripts, securing major grants from NIH and other agencies for his Alzheimer's disease resilience and genetic epidemiology projects. His Kauwe Lab (kauwelab.byu.edu) integrates wet-lab genomics with computational biology through interdisciplinary collaborations with neurologists, evolutionary biologists, and Pacific Islander health specialists.