340.661.11
Family Based Genetic Epidemiology
Location
East Baltimore
Term
Summer Institute
Department
Epidemiology
Credit(s)
2
Academic Year
2012 - 2013
Instruction Method
TBD
Start Date
Monday, June 25, 2012
End Date
Friday, June 29, 2012
M, Tu, W, Th, F, 8:30am - 12:00pm
Auditors Allowed
No
Available to Undergraduate
No
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Prerequisite
Basic understanding of epidemiologic and biostatistical principles.
Presents methods commonly used in genetic epidemiology, including statistical methods for measuring familial aggregation, in addition to formal segregation and linkage analysis using family data. The principles and applications of a variety of statistical methods presented in detail, and students are given the opportunity to implement these methods using both real and simulated data sets as part of the computer lab. Basic understanding of epidemiologic and biostatistical principles is required for this course. Students unfamiliar with genetics should take the "Molecular Biology for Genetic Epidemiology" course.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Explain how family data can be used to test for genetic control of a disease or quantitative phenotype through studies of recurrence risk or analysis of familial correlations
- Use currently available software to check for structural errors in family data, estimate allele frequencies, check for Mendelian inconsistencies and describe familial aggregation of both qualitative and quantitative phenotypes
- Explain how models of inheritance are fit to family data using maximum likelihood techniques in segregation analysis
- Explain what linkage analysis means, and how it can be used to map genes underlying complex diseases or associated quantitative phenotypes
- Use currently available software to test for linkage between genetic markers and a disease phenotype using both parametric and non-parametric methods
- Explain how variance components models can be used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) that are used to map genes for quantitative phenotypes
- Explain the conceptual differences between linkage and association as statistical tools to identify genes controlling complex phenotypes
- Explain how family based association tests can yield information on linkage in the presence of disequilibrium