Approved Research

Enabling discovery of genetic interactions for GWAS-informed precision therapeutics

Lay summary

Aims:

Aim 1: Ensure our computational approach to improving the development of new medicines is useful in multiple contexts.

Aim 2: Identify weaknesses or shortcomings in our computational approach, and improve that approach until it functions robustly and reliably.

Aim 3: Utilize our optimized computational approach to enable scientists to more easily find the factors that contribute to disease, so they can develop new disease-treating therapies more strategically and effectively.

Scientific rationale: Identifying why complex diseases arise is crucial to developing effective treatments for them. Important information about this lies in our DNA, but highly specialized knowledge is required to discover and utilize it, which has limited access to the information for most scientists so far. We have developed a method to make it substantially easier for scientists to connect DNA information to developing therapies. By doing this, we aim to help impactful therapies be developed faster, easier, and less expensively.

Project duration: The proposed work is expected to take between 24-36 months in its entirety.

Public health impact: The proposed work and data access will allow us to develop a new method that helps scientists use information in DNA to design better treatments for complex diseases. This will put more life-saving treatments in the hands of more people at faster rates than ever before.