Currently very little is known about the genetic causes of longevity and of
common age-related diseases. As many common diseases have complex
genetics, this remains a hard problem. Additionally, it is suspected that
genetics of common diseases often interact with the environment and
lifestyles in complex ways. In order to help focus future research on agerelated
diseases, we propose to use the Biobank data to identify tissues and
cell-types most associated with particular age-related diseases by
triangulating genomic variation, parental lifespan, and environment. By identifying tissues associated age-related diseases or healthy aging, we
will provide clues to researchers where to focus future effort. As such, this
research addresses basic underlying information leading to improvements in
common disease diagnosis as well as prevention and treatment. By focusing
on common age-related diseases, the benefit will be wide-spread
throughout society. Specifically, we will use patient genotypes along with information about
their lifestyle and family health histories to look for patterns of genetic
variation associated age-related diseases in a way that identifies which
tissues may play a part in the progression of those diseases. We will do this
by using novel statistical methods we are developing. By looking for obvious
as well as non-obvious associations these results may lead to research in
new directions in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We would like to access the full cohort with genotypes.
