Approved Research

Trans-ethnic analyses of genetic and environmental effects on complex traits

Lay summary

Complex diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and autism are caused by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Studies have identified many genetic variants and environmental factors for the complex diseases. However, these genetic variants often added little prediction power to the current risk prediction models for complex diseases due to their small effects on the diseases. Using samples from different populations may help identify new genetic variants associated with complex diseases and may further increase the prediction power for the diseases. Using the Taiwan Biobank data sampled from the East Asian population and UK Biobank data sampled from the European population, we will perform trans-ethnic analyses to identify new genetic variants associated with complex traits. We will also develop new algorithms to construct polygenic risk scores accounting for signals from different populations. Finally, risk prediction models for different diseases will be constructed. The models can provide prevention, early detection and diagnosis for diseases.