Dr. Abdelnaby Khalfya’s Pediatrics Sleep Genomics (PSG) laboratory primary investigations are in the causes and complications of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity.

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) and sleep fragmentation (SF) are characteristic of OSA and induce severe metabolic and cardiovascular consequences. Obesity is strongly associated with insulin resistance and increases the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome. Adipose tissues, and more specifically visceral fat (VF), are active endocrine organs with important roles in metabolic homeostasis. The mechanistic connections between obesity and insulin may play a central role in the development of insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. Projects currently under investigation in our laboratory include animal model for intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation. My laboratory focuses on the applications of functional genomics technologies including microarrays, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPS), microRNA, gene expression and comparative genome hybridization (CGH) to answer some of the fundamental questions related to sleep-disordered breathing and eventually to develop some diagnostic biomarkers for pediatrics disordered- breathing diseases. Our goals are to develop biological and bioinformatics tools that will allow development of new diagnostic approaches and a more complete understanding of cellular networks underling disease mechanisms.