EGRP Bulletin - Winter 2008-2009

EGRP at American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting

EGRP Contributions at 2008 American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting

In September, several EGRP staff participated in the American College of Epidemiology's Annual Meeting in Tucson, AZ.

Deborah M. Winn, Ph.D., EGRP's Acting Associate Director, moderated a premeeting workshop "Measuring Our Success: Evaluating Impact of Epidemiologic Findings in the Age of Genome-Wide Association Studies." The workshop's speakers included Daniela Seminara, Ph.D., EGRP's Scientific Consortia Coordinator and Program Director; Emily Harris, O.D., Chief of the Translational Genomics Research Branch at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research; and Dr. Winn.

Recent cancer-related genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were reviewed, along with some unexpected research findings, lessons learned, and future research directions. The workshop also included discussions related to the validation and interpretation of GWAS findings, paradigms for the translation of genomic findings to clinical and/or public health applications, and the need for good risk prediction models.

The speakers all agreed that one of the most vexing challenges associated with GWAS today is achieving an appropriate balance between the timely translation of GWAS findings to clinical and public health applications without doing so prematurely.

Helpful GWAS Resources:

dbGaP: The database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP) was developed to archive and distribute the results of studies that have investigated the interaction of genotype and phenotype.

HuGENet: Human Genome Epidemiology Network, or HuGENet,™ is a global collaboration of individuals and organizations committed to assessing the impact of human genome variation on population health and how genetic information can be used to improve health and prevent disease.

NIH GWAS Web site: This site contains recent news, data access information, and policy guidance.

Recommendations of the NCI-NHGRI Working Group on Replication in Association Studies: Chanock S, Manolio T, et al. Replicating genotype-phenotype associations . Nature 2007; 447: 655-660.