Approved research

Determining the genetic and environmental aetiology of complex traits and diseases using existing and novel statistical methodologies

Lay summary

Complex traits are a result of many different genetic and environmental factors. However, for most traits, the identity of these factors are unknown. Understanding the genes and environmental factors that underlie complex traits is useful in terms of elucidating the biological processes underlying complex phenotypes, and in the case of common diseases and medically relevant traits, can lead to the identification of novel drug targets and the development of public health strategies to decrease future risk of pathology. Our overall aim is to understand the genetic and environmental aetiology of complex traits and diseases. Specifically we will develop and apply novel and existing statistical genetics methodologies to (a) understand the genetic and environmental aetiology of complex traits and diseases, (b) understand the source and structure of the correlation between different complex traits and diseases, and (c) to estimate the causal relationship between different complex traits and diseases. In order to achieve our aim we will (a) analyse data from the UK biobank and combine the results with other genetics and -omics data sets that we have in house, and (b) develop and apply novel and existing statistical genetics methods to these data.