Statistical Analysis Of Genetic Association Studies

Analysis of Genetic Association Studies is both a graduate level textbook in statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology, and a reference book for the analysis of genetic association studies. Students, researchers, and professionals will find the topics introduced in Analysis of Genetic Association Studies particularly relevant. The book is applicable to the study of statistics, biostatistics, genetics and genetic epidemiology. In addition to providing derivations, the book uses real examples and simulations to illustrate step-by-step applications. Introductory chapters on probability and genetic epidemiology terminology provide the reader with necessary background knowledge. The organization of this work allows for both casual reference and close study.

Statistical genetics has become a core course in many graduate programs in public health and medicine. This book presents fundamental concepts and principles in this emerging field at a level that is accessible to students and researchers with a first course in biostatistics. Extensive examples are provided using publicly available data and the open source, statistical computing environment, R.

According to the National Institute of Health, a genome-wide association study is defined as any study of genetic variation across the entire human genome that is designed to identify genetic associations with observable traits (such as blood pressure or weight), or the presence or absence of a disease or condition. Whole genome information, when combined with clinical and other phenotype data, offers the potential for increased understanding of basic biological processes affecting human health, improvement in the prediction of disease and patient care, and ultimately the realization of the promise of personalized medicine. In addition, rapid advances in understanding the patterns of human genetic variation and maturing high-throughput, cost-effective methods for genotyping are providing powerful research tools for identifying genetic variants that contribute to health and disease. This burgeoning science merges the principles of statistics and genetics studies to make sense of the vast amounts of information available with the mapping of genomes. In order to make the most of the information available, statistical tools must be tailored and translated for the analytical issues which are original to large-scale association studies. Analysis of Complex Disease Association Studies will provide researchers with advanced biological knowledge who are entering the field of genome-wide association studies with the groundwork to apply statistical analysis tools appropriately and effectively. With the use of consistent examples throughout the work, chapters will provide readers with best practice for getting started (design), analyzing, and interpreting data according to their research interests. Frequently used tests will be highlighted and a critical analysis of the advantages and disadvantage complimented by case studies for each will provide readers with the information they need to make the right choice for their research. Additional tools including links to analysis tools, tutorials, and references will be available electronically to ensure the latest information is available. Easy access to key information including advantages and disadvantage of tests for particular applications, identification of databases, languages and their capabilities, data management risks, frequently used tests Extensive list of references including links to tutorial websites Case studies and Tips and Tricks

Heterogeneity, or mixtures, are ubiquitous in genetics. Even for data as simple as mono-genic diseases, populations are a mixture of affected and unaffected individuals. Still, most statistical genetic association analyses, designed to map genes for diseases and other genetic traits, ignore this phenomenon. In this book, we document methods that incorporate heterogeneity into the design and analysis of genetic and genomic association data. Among the key qualities of our developed statistics is that they include mixture parameters as part of the statistic, a unique component for tests of association. A critical feature of this work is the inclusion of at least one heterogeneity parameter when performing statistical power and sample size calculations for tests of genetic association. We anticipate that this book will be useful to researchers who want to estimate heterogeneity in their data, develop or apply genetic association statistics where heterogeneity exists, and accurately evaluate statistical power and sample size for genetic association through the application of robust experimental design.

This book presents the statistical aspects of designing, analyzing and interpreting the results of genome-wide association scans (GWAS studies) for genetic causes of disease using unrelated subjects. Particular detail is given to the practical aspects of employing the bioinformatics and data handling methods necessary to prepare data for statistical analysis. The goal in writing this book is to give statisticians, epidemiologists, and students in these fields the tools to design a powerful genome-wide study based on current technology. The other part of this is showing readers how to conduct analysis of the created study. Design and Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies provides a compendium of well-established statistical methods based upon single SNP associations. It also provides an introduction to more advanced statistical methods and issues. Knowing that technology, for instance large scale SNP arrays, is quickly changing, this text has significant lessons for future use with sequencing data. Emphasis on statistical concepts that apply to the problem of finding disease associations irrespective of the technology ensures its future applications. The author includes current bioinformatics tools while outlining the tools that will be required for use with extensive databases from future large scale sequencing projects. The author includes current bioinformatics tools while outlining additional issues and needs arising from the extensive databases from future large scale sequencing projects.

This well-organized and clearly written text has a unique focus on methods of identifying the joint effects of genes and environment on disease patterns. It follows the natural sequence of research, taking readers through the study designs and statistical analysis techniques for determining whether a trait runs in families, testing hypotheses about whether a familial tendency is due to genetic or environmental factors or both, estimating the parameters of a genetic model, localizing and ultimately isolating the responsible genes, and finally characterizing their effects in the population. Examples from the literature on the genetic epidemiology of breast and colorectal cancer, among other diseases, illustrate this process. Although the book is oriented primarily towards graduate students in epidemiology, biostatistics and human genetics, it will also serve as a comprehensive reference work for researchers. Introductory chapters on molecular biology, Mendelian genetics, epidemiology, statistics, and population genetics will help make the book accessible to those coming from one of these fields without a background in the others. It strikes a good balance between epidemiologic study designs and statistical methods of data analysis.

Genetic Association Studies is designed for students of public health, epidemiology, and the health sciecnes, covering the main principles of molecular genetics, population genetics, medical genetics, epidemiology and statistics. It presents a balanced view of genetic associations with coverage of candidate gene studies as well as genome-wide association studies. All aspects of a genetic association study are included, from the lab to analysis and interpretation of results, but also bioinformatics approaches to causality assessment. The role of the environment in genetic disease is also highlighted. Genetic Association Studies will enable readers to understand and critique genetic association studies and set them on the way to designing, executing, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting their own.