GENETICS
OF COMPLEX HUMAN DISEASES
July 7 - 13, 2008
Application Deadline: March 15, 2008
Instructors:
Ammar
Al-Chalabi, Kings College London, UK
Laura
Almasy, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Complex
diseases are conditions that are influenced by the actions
of multiple genes, their interactions with each other and
with the environment. This lecture course will consider
the difficulties in studying the genetic basis of complex
disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer,
Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and epilepsy. We will
discuss genetic-epidemiologic study designs, including family,
twin, case/control and adoption studies, as well as methods
for quantifying the strength of the genetic influences on
a disease. A major focus will be the identification of specific
gene effects using both linkage and association analysis
and their variants. We will discuss the efficiency and robustness
of different designs for such analysis and how evidence
from epidemiologic studies informs both the design and interpretation
of molecular genetic studies. Study design and methods for
analysis of quantitative risk factors related to complex
diseases will be covered as well as the latest ideas in
data reduction such as haplotype mapping and SNP tagging.
An overview of high throughput laboratory methods will be
given to provide participants with insight into the applications
of these techniques. Illustrations will be provided through
discussion of results from ongoing studies of a variety
complex diseases and related risk factors.
Speakers
in the last course included:
Paul
de Bakker, Massachusetts General Hospital
Michael Hauser, Duke University Medical Center
Toby Johnson, University of Edinburgh, UK
Cathryn Lewis, Kings College London, UK
Eden Martin, Duke University
Shaun Purcell, Mass General Hospital
Jonathan Sebat, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Pak Chung Sham, University of Hong Kong, China
Janet Sinsheimer, David Geffen School of Medicine
The
course will be held at the Laboratory’s Banbury Conference
Center located on the north shore of Long Island. All participants
stay within walking distance of the Center, close to tennis
court, pool and private beach.
