Hosted by the London Genetics Network
Abstract: Population-scale biobanks have been an enormous boom to the biological and social sciences, and in particular to genome-wide association studies (GWASs). However, for many traits, evidence increasingly calls into question purely biological interpretations of GWAS associations. In particular, residual population stratification can remain in GWAS estimates, and this may be especially problematic as the field turns to analysis of sequence/exomic data. Moreover, indirect genetic effects and assortative mating can bias estimates of direct genetic effects. Making families the unit of sampling in the next wave of biobanks would enable large-scale family-based GWAS estimates, which are largely immune to these sources of bias. Moreover, family-based biobank samples would allow investigations into fundamental questions in genetics, biology, economics, and psychology that are difficult or impossible to study using population-based samples.
Bio: I am a professor in the Psychology & Neuroscience department at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the Director of the Institute for Behavioral Genetics. The research in my lab involves using measured single nucleotide polymorphism as well as sequencing data to gain insight into the genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders and other complex traits; and modeling and simulating genetically informative designs that better enable us to understand the causes of human trait variation and the resemblance between relatives.