Description of Research Expertise

TRANSLATIONAL CHRONOBIOLOGY & THE HUMAN CHRONOBIOME
Dr. Skarke is studying oscillatory functional networks in the human chronobiome under basal and perturbed conditions, the modulation of these oscillatory functional networks by sex and age and their deconsolidation by disease. Time-specific study paradigms integrate a broad array of multiomics, clinical and remote sensing outputs. These studies accomplish the time-specific deep phenotyping at unprecedented scale.
• Skarke C et al. A Pilot Characterization of the Human Chronobiome. Sci Rep. 2017 PMID: 29215023 PMCID: PMC5719427
• Skarke C et al. Age and the Diurnal Oscillatory Features of the Human Chronobiome. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 PMID: 41659074 PMCID: PMC12879713 [under peer review]

TRANSLATIONAL CHRONOBIOLOGY IN THE HOSPITAL
Given that postoperative clinical care is prone to circadian desynchronization that, in turn, may influence health outcomes, we are currently developing paradigms at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital Systems to quantify sleep-wake rhythms with digital technologies. Preliminary data from a recent pilot study will inform the design of a controlled trial seeking to modify circadian/diurnal disruptors to enhance patient outcomes.
• Skarke C et al. Quantifying Sleep-Wake Rhythms in the Hospital Environment with Digital Technologies. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 PMID: 41332867 PMCID: PMC12668063 [under peer review]

DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
We are using remote/wearable sensing in real-world settings to understand the implications of time-specific phenotypes for health and disease outcomes.
• Lahens NF et al. TracMyAir: Smartphone-enabled spatiotemporal estimates for inhaled doses of particulate matter and ozone to personalize health outcome. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 PMID: 41757201 PMCID: PMC12934869 [under peer review]
• Skarke C et al. Diurnal variation of wearable device-based heart rate variability in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study. NPJ Digit Med. 2025 PMID: 41233490 PMCID: PMC12615609
• El Jamal N et al. Critically ill patients with a reverse blood pressure dipping phenotype at increased risk for delirium and death. Sci Rep. 2025 PMID: 41253888 PMCID: PMC12627465
• Genetic variants associated with chronic fatigue syndrome predict population-level fatigue severity and actigraphic measurements. Sleep. 2025 PMID: 39442002 PMCID: PMC11807886
• El Jamal N et al. Prognostic utility of rhythmic components in 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for the risk stratification of chronic kidney disease patients with cardiovascular co-morbidity. J Hum Hypertens. 2024 PMID: 38212425 PMCID: PMC11076200
• Brooks TG et al. Diurnal rhythms of wrist temperature are associated with future disease risk in the UK Biobank. Nat Commun. 2023 PMID: 37620332 PMCID: PMC10449859
• Lahens NF et al. Time-specific associations of wearable sensor-based cardiovascular and behavioral readouts with disease phenotypes in the outpatient setting of the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort. Digit Health. 2022 PMID: 35746950 PMCID: PMC9210076

CHALLENGING THE DOGMA OF INFLAMMATION RESOLUTION
A large body of work suggests that anti-inflammatory actions of fish oils are mediated through lipids called specialized pro-resolving mediators, SPMs, which can be formed from omega-3 fatty acids. Evidence of their formation in humans, however, has been scarce. In seminal studies, we were the first to demonstrate that SPM formation was not consistently detected in humans in response to omega-3 fatty acids, nor to an evoked inflammatory phenotype.
• Skarke C et al. Bioactive products formed in humans from fish oils. J Lipid Res. 2015 Sep;56(9):1808-20. PMID: 26180051 PMCID: PMC4548785
The ensuing closer examination of the published literature uncovered critical methodological flaws in the SPM analyses, calling into question not only the reported presence of many of these lipids in biological samples, but also the validity of their purported roles in inflammatory processes and their proposed utility as biomarkers (O'Donnell VB, et al. Nat Commun. 2023. PMID: 37945602 PMCID: PMC10636151) which eventually led to inquiries of scientific misconduct at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Queen Mary University of London (doi: 10.1126/science.adm8460).

Description of Other Expertise

TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLINICAL TRANSLATIONAL SCIENTISTS
Dr. Skarke directs mentored programs to provide experiential learning opportunities in the field of clinical and translational research to high school students (ITMAT FIRST), undergraduate STEM students (ITMAT TRIP), and medical students (ITMAT UCD).
• Skarke C, FitzGerald GA. Training translators for smart drug discovery. Sci Transl Med 2010 Apr 7;2(26):26cm12 PMID: 20375362

INNOVATING SCIENCE COMMUNICATION THROUGH ART
To empower undergraduate students to adopt novel strategies to communicate science, Dr. Skarke founded the ITMAT Artist-in-Residency program. Over the past 4 years, the artists Julie Rainbow, Angela McQuillan and Marguerita Hagan were instrumental to establish a model which bridges communication gaps, fosters greater public trust, and cultivates new, more accessible narratives around scientific discovery.
• German J, Itani C, Rainbow J, McQuillan A, Hagan M, Meagher EA, Skarke C. Art as a multiplier of science communication. J Clin Transl Sci. 2026 Jan 21;10(1):e28. doi: 10.1017/cts.2026.10240. eCollection 2026. PMID: 41727382 PMCID: PMC12917428