Genomic Diversity
I am a world expert on the genetics of Circassian and Chechan populations in Jordan focusing on diabetes and cancer. My focus on diabetes has been driven by the rise in type II diabetes in Jordan surpassing other developing countries and a major health priority. Increasing incidence of cancer and its economic impact worldwide imposes the search for methods of early detection in order to lessen the crisis. In cancers where there is a clear genetic component this becomes very relevant. The presence of genetically isolated populations to study these particular types of cancer is rare and becoming even more rare with globalization and loss of cultural barriers among the young. Thus it is imperative to study these populations to try to identify genetic trends. In addition the majority of studies that have been conducted worldwide in studying the genetic components of cancer have been performed on European populations. There is a need to conduct studies on other world populations to discover novel risk factors from populations of different lineages that may shed new light on the genetic basis of diseases especially if we are to apply the discoveries on other populations. I have studied two genetically isolated populations in Jordan; the Circassians and Chechens. These populations have been isolated geographically and culturally for more than 1000 years in their respective countries and for the past 140 years in Jordan. It is worth mentioning that these populations are unique but fragile in the sense that the older members are dying and the younger ones are marrying outside the population losing the uniqueness of its gene pool. My contribution to the genome database by documenting the Circassains and Chechans DNA is a goldmine. Thereby preserving the heritage and genetics for generations to come. My group and I have built a data base of the ethnic populations in terms of medical and anthropological records as well as DNA. These databases can be used for future studies that aim to understand other diseases in the populations such as cardiovascular disease and cancer as well as using the databases for HLA typing for blood transfusion and transplants. The data base will also aid in development of pharmacogenomics in these populations. In addition to being on the board of the human genome project 2 aiming to sequence 1% of humanity in an ethical approach to serve humanity. And part of a a team that created BioVault, is an open-source platform that operationalizes equitable science. By enabling "data visitation” where analysis code travels to data that remains locally controlled, BioVault allows under-resourced institutions in the global south to participate in cutting-edge research as equal partners without surrendering their data sovereignty.
Select Publications:
Abudahab S, Hakooz N, Al-Etian L, Shishani K, Bashqawi A, Connolly J, Glessner JT, Qu HQ, Qu J, Hakonarson H, Dajani R. The Circassians and the Chechens in Jordan: results of a decade of epidemiological and genetic studies. J Community Genet. 2023 Dec;14(6):505-517. doi: 10.1007/s12687-023-00668-6. Epub 2023 Sep 13. PMID: 37700208; PMCID: PMC10725377.
Al-Eitan L, Saadeh H, Alnaamneh A, Darabseh S, Al-Sarhan N, Alzihlif M, Hakooz N, Ivanova E, Kelsey G, Dajani R. The genetic landscape of Arab Population, Chechens and Circassians subpopulations from Jordan through HV1 and HV2 regions of mtDNA.Gene. 2020 Mar 1;729:144314.
Damgaard PB, Marchi N, et al. (2018). 137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes. Nature. 557(7705):369-374 doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0094-2
Dajani R, Li J, et al. (2017). Genome-wide association study identifies novel type II diabetes risk loci in Jordan subpopulations. Peer J, 5:e3618 PMCID: PMC5563445 doi: 10.7717/peerj.3618
Dajani R, Li J, et al (2015). CNV analysis associates AKNAD1 with type-2 diabetes in Jordan subpopulations. Sci Rep, 5:13391. PMCID: PMC4543987 doi: 10.1038/srep13391
Dajani R, Khader YS, et al. (2012). Diabetes mellitus in genetically isolated populations in Jordan: prevalence, awareness, glycemic control, & associated factors. J Diabetes Complications, 26(3):175-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2012.03.009
BioVault: A privacy-first data visitation platform for equitable global collaboration in biomedicine Manaswitha Edupalli, TivadarPéter Török, Madhava Jay, Keelan Jordan, Zeynab Abdirahman, Devy Frederick, Carika Weldon, Rana Dajani, Xi Dawn Chen bioRxiv 2026.02.12.705603; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.12.705603