Skip to navigation Skip to main content Skip to footer

Approved research

Genetic Association Analyses of Complex Traits and Methods Development

Principal Investigator: Dr Rany Salem
Approved Research ID: 37671
Approval date: May 2nd 2019

Lay summary

Our goal is to better understand the role of genetic variation on human traits and disease. Most genetic studies only consider a single trait or disease at a single time point. However, complex human traits and diseases may not be fully understood through such simple characterization. We hypothesize that studying datasets with more comprehensive analyses will lead to more insights into disease biology. To test this hypothesis, we will investigate the role of genetic on a broad range of traits, consider and apply a wide set of statistical methods, and continue to new statistical methods to analyze complex traits. Our work will be guided by analysis of traits and diseases of significant health important, including: childhood growth and aging, heart and vascular disease, metabolic disorders (e.g. diabetes, gout, metabolic syndrome) and related traits (e.g. obesity, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, etc.), kidney function, cancer, cognitive function, and cardiovascular disease and related traits. In summary, we plan on performing analyses for a large set of complex traits and statistical techniques to guide and advance human genetics and insights into complex disease biology. Improved understanding of how genes influence human biology and disease has the potential to guide drug discovery and development, prevention strategies or reduce disease severity, and ultimately improving quality of life. We plan to analyze the full cohort in these analyses.