Approved research

Genome Wide Gene Association Analysis of UK Biobank Data to Identify Novel Disease Associations

Lay summary

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have led to identification of many candidate genes and pathways associated with common diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders which greatly enabled us to gain insight into disease mechanisms and to find new therapeutic intervention opportunities. This approach focuses on one genetic variant at a time and thus may not capture all associations as it ignores how multiple variants work together within a gene. We propose to use a gene-based analysis method that takes these variant interactions into account. The aim of the project is to perform genome-wide gene-based analyses using UK Biobank data to identify novel genes associated with common diseases which are of broad public interest. Gene-based analysis will complement GWAS to identify additional associations, therefore, new opportunity for gaining insight into disease biology and therapeutic intervention opportunities. The project is expected to be completed in one year