Jack W. Pattee, of the Division of Biostatistics at the University of Minnesota and candidate for a faculty position in the Division of Biostatistics and the Childhood Cancer Genomics Group, will present:

“Integrating Germline and Somatic Genetics to Identify Genes Associated with Lung Cancer”

Abstract: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified many genetic variants associated with complex traits. However, GWAS experience power issues, resulting in the failure to detect certain associated variants. Additionally, GWAS are often unable to parse the biological mechanisms driving associations. An existing gene-based association test framework, the Transcriptome-Wide Association Study (TWAS), leverages gene expression data to increase the power of association tests and illuminate the biological mechanisms by which genetic variants modulate complex traits. We extend the TWAS methodology to incorporate somatic information from tumors. By integrating germline and somatic data we are able to leverage information from the nuanced somatic landscape of tumors. Thus we can augment the power of TWAS-type tests to detect germline genetic variants associated with cancer risk. We use somatic and germline data on lung adenocarcinomas from The Cancer Genome Atlas in conjunction with a meta-analyzed lung cancer GWAS to identify novel genes associated with lung cancer.

A social tea will be held at 3:00 p.m. in A434 Mayo. All are Welcome.