GbyE

About the Group:

Modern, high-throughput genotyping techniques allow vast amounts of data to be collected in studies of genetic predisposition to disease. To date, the results of such studies have been disappointing. The probable reason for this is that the focus on marginal association over-simplifies the complex etiology of common disease. Modern molecular epidemiology and systems biology are now beginning to elucidate the nature of key genetic pathways and the mechanisms by which critical environmental factors influence their operation. It is becoming increasingly clear that studies of genetic variation and disease must account for the environment and the structure and function of pathways. However, doing so creates unique analytic challenges. These include identifying efficient study designs for discovery and replication, coping with the huge numbers of potential associations, tailoring statistical methods to account for what is known about the complex mechanisms at work and formally weighing evidence for competing biological explanations of the data.

Our objective is to utilize Bayesian statistical approaches to identify optimal designs and to develop efficient analytic strategies for studies of association between genes, environment and disease.