Dr. Flowers’ program of research is focused on the complex interplay of genetic and lifestyle/behavioral risk factors for type 2 diabetes and related conditions in race and ethnic minority groups. Dr. Flowers is the Principal Investigator on NIH funded grants and the results of her research studies provide evidence that molecular biomarkers may be able to disentangle the effects of social determinants of health from underlying genetic characteristics in order to define risk for type 2 diabetes. Dr. Flowers impacts policy as a member of the board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the UC San Francisco Precision Medicine Platform committee and diversity, equity, and inclusion task force. Aligned with her research and policy work, Dr. Flowers is the director of the concentration in genomics at UC San Francisco and has been recognized for her creation of educational tools focused on direct-to-consumer genetic testing for the emerging nursing workforce.