Tianzhong Yang, of the Division of Biostatistics at the University of Minnesota, will present:

“On the Mediating Role of Gene Expression in Complex Traits”

Abstract: High-throughput technologies for gene expression profiling have provided us a wealth of biological information. As an important molecular phenotype, gene expression, regulated by both genetic and environmental factors, has a mediating role in complex diseases and traits. Incorporating gene expression data in the statistical analysis can improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms and power for detecting associations. In this talk, I will present two projects: 1) Exploring the overall mediating role of the gene expression in the pathway from aging, as an example of non-genetic risk factor, to two complex traits (blood pressure and lung function); 2) Investigating the role of low-frequency genetic variants in explaining gene expression and providing a general framework for integrative analysis of sequencing studies. I will present some interesting biological findings from applications to the Framingham Heart Study and TOPMED whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data.

A social tea will be held at 11:00 a.m. in A434 Mayo. All are Welcome.